L^£H  ' 

i/s  6^>^ 


AN 


INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS  r 

OR, 

EVIDENCE  THAT  HWUI  SHlN 

AND 

A  PARTY  OF  BUDDHIST  MONKS  FROM  AFGHANISTAN 

gisrofrmb  Jmerita 

IN    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY,    A.  D. 


BY 

EDWARD  P.   VINING. 


"  If  Buddhist  priests  were  really  the  first  men  who,  -within  the  scope  of  written 
history  and  authentic  annals,  went  from  the  Old  World  to  the  New,  it  will  sooner  or 
later  be  proved.  Nothing  can  escape  history  that  belongs  to  it."  —  LELAND. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1,  3,  AND  5  BOND  STEEET. 
1885. 


£.109 


COPYBIGHT,   1885, 

BY  EDWARD  P.  VINING. 


TO 

HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT, 

AS    A    TOKEN    OF    APPRECIATION 
OF 

THE  CONSCIENTIOUS  LABOUR  BESTOWED  UPON  HIS 
"NATIVE  RACES  OF  THE  PACIFIC  STATES," 

AND  THE  OTHER  VOLUMES  OF  HIS 
HISTORIES  OF  THE  PACIFIC  STATES  OF  NORTH  AMERICA, 

THIS  WORK  IS 
RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


t 


vi  PREFACE. 


to  explain  are  far  outweighed  by  the  evidence  presented  by 
the  numerous  details  of  the  account  which  are  proved  to  be 
true.  The  explanations  suggested  as  to  some  doubtful  points 
might  seem  more  plausible  if  they  were  confined  to  that  eluci 
dation  of  the  difficulty  which,  upon  the  whole,  appears  to  be 
its  most  probable  solution.  I  have  preferred,  however,  to 
note  all  possible  explanations  that  have  suggested  themselves 
to  me,  believing  that  in  some  cases  the  truth  which  further 
investigation  will  reveal  may  possibly  lie  in  some  interpre 
tation  which  now  seems  improbable. 

Errors  will  undoubtedly  be  found  in  this  work,  but  I  have 
hoped  to  excite  sufficient  interest  in  the  question  under  ex 
amination  to  induce  more  competent  scholars  to  bring  the 
truth  to  light  regarding  those  points  as  to  which  I  have 
failed.  I  am  confident,  however,  that,  after  the  elimination  of 
all  errors,  it  will  be  found  that  the  great  mass  of  evidence  that 
is  presented  that  America  was  discovered  in  the  fifth  century 
of  the  Christian  era  remains  practically  untouched ;  and  that 
as  a  whole  the  work  will  be  much  easier  to  ignore  than  to 
answer  by  those  who  may  differ  from  its  conclusions. 

All  attempts  to  establish  a  truth  which  has  not  been  gener 
ally  received  are  met  by  the  difficulty  that  it  is  almost  impos 
sible  to  interest  in  the  subject  those  who  have  formerly  paid 
no  attention  to  it,  and  that  those  who  have  studied  it  are 
strongly  tempted  by  a  natural  regard  for  their  own  self-com 
placency  to  deny  that  there  is  anything  more  in  the  subject 
than  they  have  been  able  to  perceive  for  themselves.  I,  there 
fore,  can  not  hope  that  my  views  will  immediately  meet  with 
general  acceptance;  but  that  their  truth  will  ultimately  be 
recognized,  I  can  not  doubt. 

Some  quotations  have  been  made  at  second-hand,  and  from 
authorities  which  I  would  not  have  given  if  I  had  had  easy 
access  to  a  better  library  than  my  own  ;  and  some  books  which 
I  desired  to  consult  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain.  Due  al 
lowance  should  be  made  for  these  facts. 

It  is  proper  that  I  should  express  my  thanks  for  the  kind 
responses  which  I  have  received  to  my  applications  for  assist 
ance  and  information  from  many  to  whom  I  was  unknown, 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGB 

INTRODUCTORY  .     ..     . .    .     .     ;     .     .1 

The  birth  of  Buddha — His  titles — His  character — His  religious  belief — His 
universal  charity — His  life  as  a  hermit — The  discovery  which  he  imag 
ined  that  he  had  made — Desire  that  all  should  share  its  benefits — His 

..^command  to  evangelize  the  world — The  compliance  of  his  disciples — 
The  dispersion  from  India — Countries  visited — Traces  of  the  religion  in 
Europe — Also  throughout  Asia — And  in  Alaska — The  wanderings  of 
Buddhist  priests — Few  records  preserved — Ease  of  journey  from  Asia 
to  America — The  Gulf-Stream  of  the  Pacific — Shipwrecks  on  the  Kurile 
and  Aleutian  Islands — Records  of  journeys  of  Buddhist  priests — Their 
reliability  and  value — A  Chinese  record  of  a  visit  to  an  Eastern  country 
— Reasons  for  crediting  the  account — Object  of  this  work — Previous  dis 
cussions  of  the  subject — Plan  of  this  work — The  discovery  made  by  de 
Guignes — Humboldt's  views — Klaproth's  dissent — The  Chevalier  de  Par- 
avey's  essays — Neumann's  monograph — Leland's  translation  and  com 
ments — Articles  by  MM.  Perez,  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  d'Eichthal,  Bras- 
seur  de  Bourbourg,  Godron,  Jones,  Brown,  Simson,  Bretschneider,  Adam, 
d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  Lobscheid,  Channing  M.  Williams,  and  S. 
Wells  Williams. 

CHAPTER   II. 

DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY         .  .  .  .  .  .18 

Chinese  voyages — Knowledge  of  foreign  lands — Work  of  Li-yen,  a  Chinese  v^ 
historian — The  country  of  Fu-sang — The  length  of^the  li—  Wen-shin — 
Its  identification  with  Jesso — Ta-han — Its  identification  with  Kamtchatka 
—The  route  to  Ta-han  by  land— The  country  of  the  Ko-li-han— The  She- 
goei — The  Yu-che — Description  of  Kamtchatka — The  land  of  Lieu-kuci 
— The  description  of  Fu-sang — No  other  knowledge  of  the  country — The 
Pacific  coast  of  North  America  — A  Japanese  map— The  Kingdom  of 
Women — Its  description — Shipwreck  of  a  Chinese  vessel — American 
traditions — Civilization  of  American  tribes  on  the  Pacific  coast— The 
Mexicans — Horses — Cattle — The  fu-sang  tree — Mexican  writing — Man 
ner  in  which  America  was  peopled-^Similarity  of  customs  in  Asia  and 
AmericaV—Resemblances  in  the  people — Charlevoix's  story — Natives 
floated  upon  cakes  of  ice — The  kingdom  of  Chang- jin — Voyages  of 
other  nations — The  Arabs — Exploration  of  the  Atlantic — The  Canaries 
—Story  of  their  king — The  Cape  Verd  Islands — Conclusion. 
B 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

PAGE 

KLAPBOTH'S  DISSENT     . 

Title  of  de  Guignes's  article  incorrect— Translation  of  the  account  of  Fu-sang 

Vines  and  horses  not  found  in  America— Route  to  Japan — Length  of 

the  li Identification  of  Wen-shin  with  Jesso — Ta-han  identified  with 

""""""Taraikai  or  Saghalien— The  route  to  Ta-han  by  land— The  Shy-wei— 
Lieu-kuei — Fu-sang  south  of  Ta-han  instead  of  c^i— Fu-sang  an  ancient 
name  of  Japan— Analysis  of  name  "  Fu-sang  "—The  paper  mulberry- 
Metals— The  introduction  of  Buddhism— Fantastic  tales. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT  .  .  .  .  ,  .     49 

America  visited  by  Scandinavians— American  tribes  emigrants  from  Asia — 
Ancient  Chinese  maps — Researches  antedating  those  of  Klaproth — Let 
ter  of  Pere  Gaubil — Ta-han — Licu-kud — Identification  of  these  with 
Kamtchatka — Size  of  Fu-sang — Views  of  M.  Dumont  d'Urville — Length 
of  the  li — America  lies  at  the  distance  and  in  the  direction  indicated — 
The  Meropide  of  Elien — The  Hyperboreans — The  monuments  of  Guate 
mala  and  Yucatan — The  Shan-hai-Tcing — Identification  of  the  fu-sang 
tree  with  the  metl  or  maguey — The  Japanese  Encyclopaedia  says  Japan 
is  not  Fu-sang — The  banana  or  pisang  tree  may  have  been  the  tree  called 
fu-sang — Grapes  in  America — Milk  in  America — The  bisons  of  America 
— Llamas — Horses — Wooden  cabins — The  ten-year  cycle — The  titles  of 
the  king  and  nobles — The  worship  of  images — Resemblance  of  pyramids 
of  America  to  those  of  the  Buddhists — An  image  of  Buddha— The 
spread  of  the  Buddhist  religion — History  of  the  Chichimecas — Resem 
blance  of  Japanese  to  Mexicans — Analogies  of  Asiatic  and  American 
civilizations  pointed  out  by  Humboldt — Credit  due  de  Guignes  — Appen 
dix — Ma  Titian-tin's  account — The  fu-sang  said  to  be  the  prickly  poppy 
of  Mexico — Laws  punishing  a  criminal's  family  have  existed  in  China — 
Chinese  cycle  of  sixty  years  existed  in  India — Cattle  harnessed  to  carts 
— The  grapes  of  Fu-sang  wild,  not  cultivated — Another  Chinese  custom 
in  Fu-sang — The  route  to  Ta-han — The  route  to  Japan  very  indirect — 
Priests  called  lamas  both  in  Mexico  and  Tartary. 


CHAPTER  V. 
DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS  .  .  . 

De  Paravey's  researches  preceded  those  of  Neumann  and  d'Eichthal— Con 
nection  between  the  Malay  and  American  languages — Fu-sang  located  near 
San  Francisco — Chinese  picture  of  a  native  of  Fu-sang — Spotted  deer — 
Cattle-horns  in  Mexico— Horses— Nations  of  Northern  Asia— Appendix 
^.  A — Buddhist  monuments  in  America— A  figure  of  Buddha  in  Yucatan — 
^  The  worship  of  Siva — The  explorations  of  Dupaix — Foot-print  in  the 
rocks — The  cause  of  eclipses— Pyramids — Appendix  B — A  Buddhist 
sanctuary  near  the  Colorado  River— The  name  Quatu-zaca— The  Mexi 
cans  emigrants  from  the  north — Appendix  'C — An  engraving  of  a  native 
of  Fu-mng— The  natives  of  Oregon— The  deer  of  America— Connection 
of  American  and  Asiatic  tribes — Pearl-fishing — The  cochineal  insect  and 
the  nopal — The  people  of  Cophene — American  place-names  which  ap 
pear  to  contain  the  name  Sakya. 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGl 

NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH  .  .  .  .  .  .78 

The  knowledge  of  foreign  nations  possessed  by  the  Chinese  —  Their  precepts 

—  The  journey  of  Lao-tse  —  Embassies   and   spies  —  Knowledge  derived 
from  foreign  visitors  —  Its  preservation  in  Chinese  records  —  The  introduc 
tion  of  Buddhism  —  Its  command  to  extend  its  doctrines  to  all  nations  — 
Chinese  system  of  geography  and  ethnology  —  The  unity  of  the  Tartars 
and  Red-skins  —  American  languages  —  The  Tunguses,  or  Eastern  Barba 
rians  —  The  Pc-ti,  or  Northern  Barbarians  —  The  Ainos^  or  Jebis,  and  the 
Negritos  —  The  Wen-shin,  or  Pictured-people  —  Embassies  between  China 
and  Japan  —  The  Country  of  Dwarfs  —  The  Chinese  "  Book  of  Mountains 
and  Seas  "  —  Information  given  by  a  Japanese  embassador  —  Kamtchatka, 
the  Tchuktchi,  and  the  Aleuts  —  Lieu-kuei  —  The  length  of  the  H  —  Licu- 
kuei,  a  peninsula  —  The  land  of  the  Jc-tshay  —  The  natives  of  Kamtchat- 
ia  —  Their  dwellings  —  Their  clothing  —  The  climate  —  The  animals  of  the 
country  —  The  customs  of  the  people  —  The  country  of  the  Wen-shin  identi 
fied  with  the  Aleutian  Islands  —  Ta-han,  or  Alaska  —  The  kingdom  of  Fu- 

^_*/pff  nin^Jts  inhabitantSj^Ihfi  Amaggn^  —  Fu-sang  identified"  with  the 
western  portion  of  America  called  Mexico  —  The  fu-sang  tree  —  Only  one 
voyage  made  —  Chinese  accounts  of  Fu-sang  —  The  distance  from  Ta-han, 
or  Alaska,  indicates  that  Fu-sang  is  Mexico—  The  oldest  history  of 
America  —  Successive  tribes  —  The  ruins  of  Mitla  and  Palenque  —  Some 
thing  of  earlier  races  to  be  learned  from  the  condition  of  the  Aztecs  — 
Pyramidical  monuments  —  If  Buddhism  existed  in  America,  it  was  an  im 
pure  form  —  The  myth  of  Huitzilopochtli  —  Thefu-sang,  the  maguey,  or 
Agave  Americana  —  Connection  between  the  flora  of  America  and  that  of 
Asia  —  Metals  and  money  —  Laws  and  customs  of  the  Aztecs  —  Domestic 
animals  —  Horses  —  Oxen  —  Stag-horns  —  Chinese  and  Japanese  in  the 
Hawaiian  group  and  in  Northwestern  America  —  Shipwrecks  upon  the 
American  coast  —  The  voyages  of  the  Japanese. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  ARGUMENTS  OF  MM.  PEREZ  AND  GODKON  .  .  .104 

Knowledge  of  America  possessed  by  the  Chinese—  The  Country  of  Women 

—  Other  travelers  relate  incredible  stories  —  Klaproth's  argument  —  The 
account  contained  in  the  Japanese  Encyclopaedia  —  Note  denying  that. 
Fu-sang  is  Japan  —  Weakness  of  Klaproth's  argument  —  Identity  of  names 
of  cities  in  Asia  and  America  —  American  languages  —  Resemblance  of 
the  Tartars  to  the  Aborigines  of  America  —  Similitude  of  customs  —  A 
Buddhist  mission  to  America  in  the  fifth  century  —  The  Chinese  able  to 
measure  distances,  and  possessed  of  the  compass  —  The  musk-oxen  and 
bisons  of  America  —  Horses  —  Names  of  European  animals  misapplied  to 
American  animals  —  The  "horse-deer"  of  America  —  Vines  —  The   diffi 
culty  in  identifying  the  fu-sang  tree  —  Iron  and  copper  in  America  and 
Japan. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

D'EICHTHAL'S  "STUDY"  .  .  .  •  119 

The  Buddhistic  origin  of  American  civilization—  The  geographical  relations 
between  Northeastern  Asia  and  Northwestern  America—  The  memoirs  of 
de  Guignes  and  Klaproth—  If  Fu-sang  was  in  Japan,  there  is  no 
for  the""  Country  of  Women  "—The  Japanese  deny  that 


their  country  —  De  Guignes's  map  —  The  ease  of  a  voyage  Irom  Asia  t< 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

America— The  warm  current  of  the  Pacific  Ocean— The  Aleutian  Islands 
—Voyages  of  the  natives— The  civilization  of  New  Mexico— A  white 
population—  Cophene— Buddhism— Ho\v  it  is  modified  and  propagated— 
Its  absorption  of  the  doctrines  of  other  religions— Its  proselytism— Its 
religious  communities— The  route  from  Cophene  to  Fu-sang— A.  Bud 
dhist  sanctuary  at  Palenque— Description  of  Stephens— An  image  of 
Buddha— The  lion-headed  couch— The  winged  globe— The  aureola  about 

the  figure Decadence  in  art — The  altars  upon  which  flowers  and  fruits 

are  offered — Reply  to  observations  of  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin — The 
two  routes  to  Ta-han—  That  country  located  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Amoor  River — Traces  of  Buddhism  in  that  neighbourhood — Ease  of 
voyage  to  the  Aleutian  islands— Klaproth's  theory  untenable — No  other 
hypothesis  remaining  than  that  Fu-sang  must  be  sought  in  America. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT,  LOBSCHEID,  AND  PEESOOTT      .  142 

Extracts  from  the  "  Views  of  the  Cordilleras  "—Similarity  of  Asiatic  and 
American  civilizations — The  struggles  of  the  Brahmans  and  Buddhists — 
The  divisions  of  the  great  cycles — The  Mexicans  designated  the  days  of 
their  months  by  the  names  of  the  zodiacal  signs  used  in  Eastern  Asia — 
Cipactli  and  Capricornus — Table  of  resemblances — The  tiger  and  monkey  * 
found  only  in  southern  countries — The  Aztec  migration  from  the  north 
— Resemblance  between  certain  Mexican  and  Tartarian  words — The 
cutting-stones  of  jhe  Aztecs— The  sign  Ollin  and  the  foot-prints  of  Vish- 
• — nTT^E%eTtrDf^r^TxTm:e~oT%Several  nations— Changes  resulting  from 
changed  circumstances  and  lapse  of  time — Analogies  in  religious  cus 
toms — Analogy  in  the  fables  regarding  the  destructions  of  the  universe 
— Lobscheid's  reasons  for  thinking  the  American  Indians  to  be  one  race 
with  the  Japanese  and  Eastern  Asiatics — Similarity  of  customs — Tiles 
, — Anchors — The  route  from  Asia  to  America — Shipwrecks  of  fishing- 
boats — Head-dresses — Languages — Religion  —  Customs  —  Marriage  sol 
emnized  by  tying  the  garments  together — Extracts  from  Prescott's  "  His 
tory  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  " — Analogies  in  traditions  and  religious 
usages — Disposal  of  the  bodies  of  the  dead — The  analogies  of  science — 
The  calendar — General  conclusions. 

CHAPTER  X. 
SHORTER  ESSAYS  .  .  .  .  ...  .  161 

i  "  Where  was  Fu-sang?  "—by  the  Rev.  Nathan  Brown,  D.  D.— Difficulties  at 
tending  a  decision— Horses — Grapes — Reason  for  thinking  Fu-sang  more 

I  distant  than  Japan— Length  of  the  ft— Distances  of  the  route — Difficul 
ties  attending  Klaproth's  theory— The  military  expeditions  of  the  Japa 
nese — The  introduction  of  the  Buddhist  religion — The  Hans — Great 
Han — Identification  of  the  fu-sang  tree  with  the  bread-fruit  tree — Con 
clusion — Remarks  of  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg — The  paper  and 
books  of  the  Mexicans  and  Central  Americans— Civilization  of  New 
Mexico — Chinese  boats — Animals— Mr.  LclandVFusang" — An  earlier 
article— Who  discovered  America  ?— J.  Hanlay's  essay — The  fu-sang  tree 
identified  with  the  maguey— Metals — Resemblance  in  religion  and  cus 
toms—Also  in  features — Language — Civilization  on  Pacific  coast — Letter 
of  Mr.  Th.  Simson — The  Mexican  aloe— The  fu-sang  tree — Japan — 
Letter  of  E.  Bretschneider,  M.  D. — Accounts  of  Fu-sang  by  the  Chinese 
poets—"  The  Kingdom  of  Women  "—Verdict  of  Father  Hyacinth— The 
distance — Horses  and  deer— The  fit-sang  tree— The  fung-tree — The  pa- 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

per  mulberry— Metals— "  The  Kingdom  of  Women  "  and  Salt  Lake  City—  ** 
Fu-sang  not  Japan — Ta-han  in  Siberia — Envoys  from  Fu-sang — Contra 
dictory  fancies — Mr.  Leland's  criticism— Letter  of  Pere  Gaubil— Unre 
liability  of  Chinese  texts — The  peopling  of  Japan — Chinese  knowledge  of 
surrounding  countries — Remarks  of  liumboldt — Letter  of  the  Rt.  Rev. 

Channing  M.  Williams — The  Chinese  "  Classic  of  Mountains  and  Seas  " 

Fabulous  stories — Translation  of  extracts  therefrom — Remarks  of  M. 
Leon  de  Rosny — Passage  from  Asia  to  America — The  distance — Char 
acter  of  the  Esquimaux — An  article  from  a  newspaper  of  British  Colum 
bia — Discovery  of  Chinese  coins  in  the  bank  of  a  creek— Evidence  that 
they  had  been  buried  for  a  long  time. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
REMARKS  OF  MM.  VIVIEN  DE  SAINT-MARTIN  AND  LTTCIEN  ADAM     .  185 

"An  Old  Story  Set  Afloat" — The  route  to  Fu-sang— Identity  of  the  Ainos 
with  the  Wen-shin — Ta-han  near  the  mouths  of  the  Amoor  River — Route 
of  Buddhist  missionaries  to  the  Amoor — Civilization  of  Buddhist  origin 
— Pillars  with  Buddhist  inscriptions — Necessity  of  accurate  translation 
— Twenty  thousand  li  signify  only  a  very  great  distance — The  fu-sang 
tree — Warlike  habits — Lack  of  draught  animals — Civilization  of  Mexico 
— Difficulty  of  the  voyage — Conclusion — Remarks  of  M.  Adam — Chinese 
acquainted  with  America — Ease  of  the  journey — Travels  of  Buddhist 
monks — Points  characteristic  of  American  civilization — Ten-year  cycle — 
The  fu-sang  tree — The  fung  tree — The  hibiscus — The  Dryanda  cordata 
— The  maguey,  or  agave — Zoological  objections — Punishments — Slave 
children — Absurdities — Legend  of  Quetzalcoatl — He  came  from  the  East 
— The  legend  a  myth — Colleges  of  priests — Practice  of  confession — The 
alleged  figure  of  Buddha — The  elephant's  head — Lack  of  tusks — America 
for  the  Americans — Theory  that  ffwui  Shan  repeated  the  stories  of_£h4- — - 
nese  sailors — Remarks  of  M.  de  HelRaltTand  Professor  Joly. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

D'HERYEY'S  NOTES       *.  .  .  .  .204 

Bibliography — The  name  of  the  priest — The  city  of  King-chcu — Ta-han— 
Lieu-kuci,  a  peninsula — Earlier  knowledge  of  Fu-sang — The  construction 
of  the  dwellings — The  lack  of  arms  and  armour— The  punishment  of 
criminals— The  titles  of  the  nobles— The  title  Tui-ht  found  in  Corea— The 
colours  of  the  king's  garments — The  cycle  of  ten  years — Peruvian  his 
tory — The  long  cattle-horns — The  food  prepared  from  milk — The  red 
pears — Grapes — The  worship  of  images  of  spirits  of  the  dead — Its  ex 
istence  in  China— Cophene— The  "Kingdom  of  Women"— The  legumes 
used  as  food — Wen-shin — The  punishment  of  criminals — The  name  Ta- 
han — The  country  identified  with  Kamtchatka — Two  countries  of  that 
name — One  lying  north  of  China,  and  one  lying  east — Unwarlike  nature 
of  the  people. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  .  .  .  •  '" 

Difference  between  Hod  Shin's  story  and  other  Chinese  accounts— An 
earlier  knowledge  of  Fu-sang — The  poem  named  the  Li-sao — The  Shan- 
hai-king — The  account  of  Tong-fang-so — The  immense  size  of  the  coun 
try — The  burninf  of  books  in  China — The  origin  of  the  Chinese — The 
writer  Kuan-mei—The  arrival  of  ~ffoei  Shin  in  499— The  civil  war  then 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

raging— The  delay  in  obtaining  an  imperial  audience — The  "  History  of 
the  Four  Lords  of  the  Liang  Dynasty  "—An  envoy  from  Fu-sang— The 
presents  offered  by  him— Yellow  silk— A  semi-transparent  mirror— This 
envoy  was  Hod  Shin— The  stories  told  by  Yu-kie— The  silk  found  upon 
the  fu-sang  tree— The  palace  of  the  king— The  Kingdom  of  Women— 
Serpent-husbands— The  Smoking  Mountain — The  Black  Valley — The  ani 
mals  of  the  country — The  amusement  of  the  courtiers — The  poem  Tong- 
king-fu — The  route  to  Fu-sang — Fu-sang  east  of  Japan — Lieu-kaei — 
The  direction  of  the  route. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT       .  .  .  .  .  230 

"  Notices  of  Fu-sang  and  other  Countries  lying  East  of  China  "—The  ori 
gin  of  American  tribes — The  work  of  H.  H.  Bancroft— Mr.  Leland's  book 
— Ma  Twan-lin — His  "  Antiquarian  Researches  " — Hwui-shin's  story — 
Cophene — No  later  accounts  of  Fu-sang — The  titles  of  the  nobility — The 
ten-year  cycle — Red  pears — The  fu-sang  tree — No  mention  of  pulque — 
Brocade— Fables — Account  of  the  Shih  Chau  Ki — The  article  of  the 
Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys — Criticisms  thereon — Pang-lai — The 
distance  of  Japan  and  Fu-sang — The  name  Fu-sang  sometimes  applied 
to  Japan — Mention  of  the  fu-sang  tree  in  a  Chinese  geography — Expedi 
tions  sent  to  search  for  Fu-sang — Comparison  with  Swift's  "  Voyage  to 
Laputa  " — The  Kingdom  of  Women — Mention  by  Maundevile  and  Marco 
Polo  of  a  land  of  Amazons — The  country  of  Wan  Shan — Tattooing — Its 
existence  among  the  Esquimaux — Quicksilver — Two  kingdoms  of  Ta  Han 
— Lieu-kuci  and  the  Lewchew  Islands. 

CHAPTER  XT. 
ADDITIONAL  INFORMATION. — NATURE  OF  THE  CHINESE  LANGUAGE    .  249 

Fu-sang  wood — Nie-yao-kiun-ti—The  Warm  Spring  Valley — The  Shin  I 
King — The  kingdom  Hi-ho-koue — The  astronomer  Hi-ho — The  story  of 
a  Corean — An  island  of  women — Pung-lai — An  expedition  to  explore 
it — The  colonization  of  Japan — Lang  Yuen — The  Kwun-lun  Mountains 
— A  statue  of  a  native  of  Fu-sang — A  poem  to  his  memory — The  tree  of 
stone— Varying  translations— The  peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  language 
— The  brevity  and  conciseness  of  the  written  language — Its  lack  of 
clearness — The  meaning  of  groups  of  characters,  or  compounds — Proper 
names— No  punctuation — Difficulty  of  translating  correctly — Preparation 
of  M.  Julien — Illustrations  of  mistakes. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  .  .  .  .  260 

The  Chinese  authorities— Variations  in  the  texts — The  Chinese  text — A 
literal  translation— Parallel  translations  of  eight  authors— 'Hie  date  of 
— Hjaii^SMn's  arrival  in  China— The  location  of  Fu-sang— The  fu-sang 
trees— The  derivation  of  the  name  of  the  country— The  leaves  of  the 
fu-sang  tree— Its  first  sprouts— Red  pears — Thread  and  cloth — Dwell 
ings—Literary  characters— Paper— Lack  of  arms— The  two  places  of 

confinement — The  difference  between  them — The  pardon  of  criminals 

Marriages  of  the  prisoners— Slave-children— The  punishment  of  a  crimi 
nal  of  high  rank— The  great  assembly— Suffocation  in  ashes— Punish 
ment  of  his  family—Titles  of  the  king  and  nobles— Musicians— The 
king  s  garments— The  changing  of  their  colour— A  ten-year  cycle— Lon^ 


CONTEXTS.  xv 

cattle-horns — Their  great  size — Horse-carts,  cattle-carts,  and  deer-carts— 
Domesticated  deer — Koumiss — The  red  pears  preserved  throughout  the 
year — TO-P'U-T'AOCS — The  lack  of  iron — Abundance  of  copper — Gold 
and  silver  not  valued — Barter  in  their  markets — Courtship — The  cabin 
of  the  suitor — The  sweeping  and  watering  of  the  path — The  ceremonies 
of  marriage — Mourning  customs — The  worship  of  images  of  the  dead 
— The  succession  to  the  throne — A  visit  from  a  party  of  Buddhist  mis 
sionaries — Their  labours  and  success. 

CHAPTER  XYII. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN,  THE  LAND  OF  "MASKED  BODIES,"  AND- 

THE  GEEAT  HAN  COUNTBY        .  .  .  .  .  301 

The  accounts  of  all  these  countries  derived  from  the  same  source — The 
Chinese  text— The  location  of  the  Kingdom  of  Women — Its  inhabitants  ™ 
— Tfreir  long  locks — Their  migrations — Birth  of  their  young — Nursing 
the  young — The  acre  at  which  they  walk — Their  timidity — Their  devotion 
to  their  mates — The  salt-plant — Its  peculiarities — A  shipwreck — The 
women — A  tribe  whose  language  could  not  be  understood — Men  with 
puppies'  heads — Their  food,  clothing,  and  dwellings — The  land  of 
"  Marked  Bodies  " — Its  location — Tattooing  with  three  lines — The  char 
acter  of  the  people — Lack  of  fortifications — The  king's  residence — 
Water-silver — No  money  used — The  Country  of  Great  Han — Its  location 
— Lack  of  weapons — Its  people. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  Li. — THE  NAME  "GEEAT  HAN"  .  .  328 

The  direction  from  Japan  in  which  Fu-sang  lay — Variations  in  standards 
of  measure — The  Chinese  li  about  one  diird  of  a  mile  in  length — The 
greater  length  of  thcTjapanese  li — Possibility  of  still  another  standard 
in  Corea — Communication  between  Corea  and  Japan  and  between  Corea 
and  China — Chinese  knowledge  of  the  route  to  Japan  derived  from 
Corean  sources — Fu-sang  farther  from  "  Great  Han  "  than  Japan  is — 
Distances  stated  with  at  least  approximate  accuracy — The  country  of 
"Marked  Bodies"  identified  as  the  Aleutian  Islands — Allowances  for 
changes  and  misunderstandings — Caesar's  account  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Britain — Maundevile's  repetition  of  the  story — "  Great  Han  "  identified 
as  Alaska — Land  found  in  the  regions  indicated  by  Hwui  Sh5n — Mean 
ing  of  the  character  "Han" — Nature  of  the  Chinese  characters — The 
manner  in  which  they  are  compounded  of  two  parts — Some  characters 
in  which  the  meaning  is  affected  by  that  of  both  parts— Application  of 
the  character  "  Han  "  to  a  swirling  stream  and  to  the  Milky  Way — 
Hence  its  possible  meaning  of  "  dashing  water  " — Meaning  of  the  name 
"Alaska" — The  breakers  of  the  Aleutian  Islands — The  population — A 
philological  myth — The  hypotheses  upon  one  of  which  Hwui  Shan's 
story  must  be  explained— the  explanation  should  be  consistent. 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND  OF  "MAEKED  BODIES,"  AND  OF  GEEAT 
HAN         ... 

Necessity  of  examining  the  account  in  detail — The  resemblance  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  two  countries— Their  customs— Their  languages— The  marks 
upon  their  bodies — Tattooing  with  three  lines — Existence  of  the  custom 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

in  America— The  marks  a  sign  of  the  position  of  their  bearer— The 
merry  nature  of  the  people— Their  feasts  and  dances— Their  hospitality 

Hospitality  of  the  American  Indians — The  Iroquois — The  Esquimaux 

The  Aleutians — Absence  of  fortifications — The  chiefs — The  decora 
tion  of  their  dwellings — The  Haidah  Indians — Other  Indian  tribes  from 
British  Columbia  to  Alaska — Esquimaux  fondness  for  ornamentation — 
Ditches — The  dwellings  of  the  people — Water-silver — Proof  that  ice  is 
meant— Quicksilver — No  country  ever  had  ditches  filled  with  quicksilver 
— The  traffic  by  means  of  precious  gems — No  money  used— Value  of 
amber — The  peaceful  nature  of  the  people — The  punishment  of  crime — 
Summary  of  facts  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan — Application  of  the  doctrine 
of  chances — The  two  countries  bearing  the  name  of  Great  Han. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
THE  COUNTRY  LYING  IN  THE  REGION  INDICATED  BY  Hwui  SHAN       .  360 

The  direction  from  China,  Japan,  and  Great  Han  in  which  Fu-sang  lay — 
The  trend  of  the  American  Pacific  coast — The  distortion  of  the  com 
mon  maps — Mexico  lies  in  the  region  indicated — The  nations  inhabiting 
Mexico  in  the  fifth  century — Their  language — Traces  of  their  beliefs  and 
customs  existing  one  thousand  years  later — Aztec  traditions — The  Tol- 
tecs — Their  character — Their  civilization — The  time  of  their  dispersion 
— Their  language — The  Pacific  coast — The  evidence  of  place-names — The  *Y* 
Aztec  language — Limits  of  the  Mexican  empire — The  name  of  the  coun 
try—The  city  of  Tenochtitlan — The  application  of  the  name  "  Mexico  " 
— First  applied  to  the  country — Early  maps— Late  application  of  the 
name  to  the  city — Pronunciation  of  the  word — Similar  names  throughout 
the  country — Meaning  of  the  syllable  "  co  " — Varying  explanations — 
Real  meaning  of  the  term — "  The  Place  of  the  Century-plant " — Meaning 
of  the  syllable  "  ME  " — Meaning  of  the  syllable  "  xi  " — Its  meaning  in 
other  compounds — Other  abbreviations — Appropriateness  of  the  designa 
tion—The  god  Mexitli — Proof  that  he  was  the  god  of  the  century-plant 
— Reason  that  the  Spaniards  were  misled  as  to  the  meaning  of  "  Mexico." 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS  .  .  .  382 

Connection  between  the  name  of  the  country  and  that  of  the  "  tree  "—Ap 
plication  to  smaller  plants  of  the  Chinese  character  translated  "tree" — 
Application  of  the  term  "  tree  "  to  the  century-plant— Description  of  the 

•"y SE&  maguey,  agave,  aloe,  oiicentury-plant— The  leaves  of  the  fu-sang— 

Disagreement  oFditterent  texts— The  t'ung  tree— Evidence  of  corruption 
in  the  text— Conjecture  as  to  original  reading— Similarity  of  the  young 
sprouts  to  those  of  the  bamboo— Their  edibility— Thread  and  cloth  from 
the  fiber  of  the  plant— The  finer  fabric  made  from  it— Variation  in  the 
—Manufacture  of  paper— The  red  pear— The  prickly-pear— Resem 
blance  of  the  century-plant  to  the  cacti— Preserves  made  from  the  prickly- 
pears— Confusion  in  the  Mexican  language  between  milk  and  the  sap  of 
the  century-plant-The  Chinese  "lo,"  or  koumiss-The  liquor  made 
tronOhe  sap i  of  thft  century-plant— Its  resemblance  to  koumiss— Indians 
lever  use  milk— Confusion  in  other  Indian  languages  between  sap  and 
m'lk-^  ?amn"  tbm  name  fu-sang-Variations  in  the  characters  with 
which  it  is  written— The  spontaneous  reproduction  of  the  century-plant 
-The  decomposition  of  the  character  «  sang  "-The  tree  of  the  fergT 
wme-jar— The  tree  having  a  great  cloud  of  blossoms— Blooming  but 
once  in  a  thousand  years-The  Chinese  name  of  the  prickly-plar— 
Kitel  s  definition  of  the  term  "fu-sang  "—Professor  Gray's  statement 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

PACK 

THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FU-SANG     ....  .  403 

Peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  language — Difficulty  of  indicating  pronunciation 
of  foreign  words — Examples — Change  in  sound  of  Chinese  characters — 
The  pisang  or  banana  tree — Names  of  countries  terminated  with  KWOH 
— The  character  SANG — The  character  FU — The  most  distant  countries 
at  the  four  points  of  the  compass  distinguished  by  names  beginning 
with  FU — Mexican  dialects — FU-SANG-KWOH  and  Me-shi-co — The  title  of 

the  king — Montezuma's  title — Title  of  the  noblemen  of  the  first  rank 

The  Mexican  Tecuhtli,  or  Teule— The  Petty  TUI-LU— The  NAH-TO-SHA,  or 
Tlatoque — The  title  lower  than  that  of  Tecuhtli — Its  meaning — Tran 
scription  of  foreign  words  by  characters  indicating  both  the  meaning 
and  the  sound — TO-P'U-TA'OCS,  or  tomatoes — The  grape-vine— The  tree  of 
stone — A  Mexican  pun — Danger  of  being  misled  by  accidental  or  fancied 
resemblance. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
THE  PEOULIAEITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  .  .  .  .  .418 

The  construction  of  the  dwellings — Adobe  walls — The  "  Casas  Grandes  " — 
Houses  of  planks — Lack  of  armour — Absence  of  fortifications — Literary 
characters — The  pomp  which  surrounded  the  Aztec  monarch — Musical 
instruments — The  evanescence  of  Montezuma's  pomp — Rulers  accom 
panied  by  musical  instruments — Tangaxoan — The  king  of  Guatemala — 
The  king  of  Quiche — Homage  to  the  Spaniards  and  to  the  Spanish  priests 
— The  long  cattle-horns — The  Chinese  measure  called  a  HUH — Animals 
of  the  New  World  erroneously  designated  by  the  names  of  those  of  the 
Old  World — Bisons — Their  range — An  extinct  species — Its  gigantic 
horns — The  horns  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  sheep — Use  of  horns  by  the 
Indians — Herds  of  tame  deer — The  lack  of  iron — The  use  of  copper — 
Gold  and  silver  not  valued — Their  markets — Barter — Customs  attending 
courtship — Sprinkling  and  sweeping  the  ground  as  an  act  of  homage — 
The  customs  of  the  Apaches — The  fastened  horse — The  Coco-Maricopas 
— Serenades — Huts  built  in  front  of  those  of  the  parents — The  length 
of  the  "  year  " — The  punishment  of  criminals  of  high  rank — The  sweat- 
house,  or  estufa — Indian  councils — Severe  punishment  of  men  of  distinc 
tion — Custom  in  Darien — Punishment  witnessed  by  Cortez — Smothering 
in  ashes. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY  .  .  •  439 

The  condition  of  China  at  the  time — The  reign  of  a  Buddhist  emperor — 
The  bhikshus,  or  mendicant  priests — Their  duties — Rules  for  their  con 
duct — The  name  Hwui  ShSn — Frequency  with  which  the  name  Hwui 
occurs— Meaning  of  the  characters— The  nationality  of  Hwui  Shan— 
Cophene — Struggle  between  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism — The  route 
from  India  to  China — The  command  that  at  least  three  should  go  to- 

""  gether  when  traveling — Persecution  in  China  in  the  year  458— The 
journey  to  America  by  water — Ease  of  the  trip— Probability  that  Ilwui 
Shan  was  but  slightly  acquainted  with  the  Chinese  language— Yu  Kie's 
criticism  of  Hwui  Shan's  statements — Causes  of  errors — Use  of  the  term 
"water-silver" — Accounts  given  by  first  explorers  seldom  ^free  from 
error — Absurdities  narrated  by  other  Chinese  travelers — Pliny— Hero 
dotus — Marco  Polo — Maundevile — Caesar — The  unicorn — Elks  without 
joints  in  their  legs— The  Icelandic  account  of  Vinland— Difficulties  in 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

the  account — The  Unipeds — The  Zeno  brothers — Ignorance  of  geography 
in  the  fifteenth  century — Marvelous  tales  of  early  explorers — Allowances 
to  be  made — Hwui  Shkn  entitled  to  equal  charity. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION  .  .   '         .  .456 

The  former  ignorance  of  the  people — The  introduction  of  Buddhism — The 
changes  of  a  thousand  years — The  two  places  of  confinement — Meaning 
of  the  character  FAH — two  species  of  prisons — One  for  those  sentenced 
to  death — The  other  for  minor  criminals — The  Mexican  Hades — The 
future  abode  of  the  Aztec  hero — The  sojourn  but  temporary — The  dark 
and  dismal  "  Place  of  the  Dead,"  in  the  north — Confinement  here  eternal 
— The  slave  children — Treatment  of  illegitimate  children  and  of  orphans 
— Age  at  which  children  were  taken  to  the  temple — Boys  at  seven  years 
of  age — Girls  at  eight — Chinese  custom  of  calling  children  a  year  older 
than  they  would  be  considered  by  us — The  punishment  of  the  family  of  a 
criminal — Mourning  customs — Fasts — Funerals — Images  of  the  deceased 
— Reverence  of  these  images  and  offerings  to  them — The  custom  in 
China — The  absence  of  mourning-garments — The  king  not  fully  crowned 
until  some  time  after  his  accession  to  the  throne. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION. — (Concluded.)  .  470 

The  colour  of  the  king's  garments — Colours  in  Asia — Green  and  blue  con 
founded — The  dyes  used  by  the  Mexicans — Changes  of  the  king's  gar 
ments — Dresses  of  different  colours  for  different  occasions — Various 
species  of  mantles  worn — Changes  because  of  superstitious  ideas — Length 
of  the  "  year  " — Divisions  of  the  day — The  marriage  ceremonies — Chinese 
customs— Mexican  customs  attributed  to  Quetzalcoatl — Mexican  weddings 
— The  horse-carts,  cattle-carts,  and  deer-carts — Difficulties  of  this  passage 
— Explanations  suggested — The  introduction  of  the  horse  into  America — 
Extinct  species  of  horses  in  America— Indian  traditions — Name  may 
have  been  applied  to  some  other  animal — Mirage — The  Buddhist  descrip 
tion  of  the  "  three  carts  "  or  "  three  vehicles." 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS        .  „  .  487 

Stories  of  Amazons— Account  of  Ptolemy— That  of  Maundevile— Marco 
K         Polo— The  Arabs— The  Chinese— Similar  stories  in  America— Explana 
tions  of  these  accounts—4'  Cihuatlan,"  the  Place  of  Women— The  account 
given  by  Cortez— Nuno  de  Guzman— The  expedition  to  Cihuatlan— The 
monkeys  of  Southern  Mexico— Their  resemblance  to  human  beings- 
Stones  of  pygmies— Classical  tales— Pliny's  account— That  of  Maunde 
vile—  fhe  worship  of  Hanuman  in  India— Chinese  stories— The  Wran^- 
hng  People— The  Eloquent  Nation— The  Long-armed  People— «  Chu-iu!» 
or  the  Land  of  Pygmies— Pygmies  in  America-Mexican  monkeys— Their 
ig  locks,  queues,  or  tails— Their  migration— Their  bickering  or  chatter- 
-Their  ruttmg-season-The  period  of  gestation-The  beginning  of 
the  year  m  China  Tartary,  and  Mexico-The  absence  of  breads-Nurs 
ing  children  over  the  shoulder—Young  monkeys  carried  on  their  mothers' 

-£  rT  A°ng   +a\-  V1?  back  °f  the  head-A  different  translation  sug- 
l~-£p.  ^SE   thmy  can  walk~That  at  which  they  become  fully 
grown— Their  timidity— Their  devotion  to  their  mates 


CONTENTS.  xix 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

PAGE 

THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.— (Concluded.}       .  505 

The  habit  of  standing  erect — The  colour  of  the  inhabitants — Albinos 

Aztlan,  "  the  White  Land  " — The  mountain  Iztaccihuatl,  or  "  the  White 
Woman" — The  Iztauhyatl,  or  "salt-plant" — The  salt  of  the  Mexicans 
and  Chinese — References  of  Sahagun  to  the  Iztauhyatl — An  erroneous 
identification — References  to  it  by  Hernandez — The  salt- weed — The  sage 
brush — The  characteristic  vegetation  of  Mexico — Food  of  the  monkeys — 
Cattle  and  game  fattened  upon  the  white  sage — Its  value  in  Asia— The 
Mexican  rainy  season — The  preceding  month  of  "  hard  times" — Difficulty 
of  obtaining  food  at  this  season — Animals  coming  to  lowlands  in  the 
spring  to  feed  upon  the  early  vegetation — A  sweet  variety  of  sage — 
The  use  of  an  herb  to  sweeten  meat — Chinese  description  of  monkeys — 
An  Aztec  pun — Shipwreck  of  a  Chinese  fishing-boat — Corean  fishing- 
boats — Japanese  vessels  wrecked  on  the  American  coast — The  laud 
reached  thought  to  be  that  mentioned  by  Hwui  Sh2n — The  women  of 
the  country — The  language  that  could  not  be  understood — Heads  like 
those  of  puppies — The  Cynocephali — Their  voices — Barking  Indians — 
Their  food — Their  clothing — Their  dwellings — The  doorways. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Yu  KIE'S  STATEMENTS  REGARDING  FU-SANG    .  .  .  .519 

The  envoy  from  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang — The  commission  of  Yu  Kie — 
Hwui  Shan  the  envoy  mentioned — Yu  Kie's  story — The  presents  given 
to  the  emperor — The  custom  of  offering  tribute — The  yellow  silk — The 
term  applied  to  vegetable  fibers — Sisal  hemp — Its  strength — Probability 
that  the  agave  fiber  would  be  brought  home  by  a  traveler — The  semi- 
transparent  mirror — Mexican  obsidian  mirrors — Nature  of  obsidian — 
The  "  Palace  of  the  Sun  " — The  Chinese  zodiac — Their  horary  cycle — 
Concave  and  convex  mirrors — Obsidian  mirrors  peculiar  to  Mexico — The 
silk  taken  from  the  agave — Lack  of  cocoons — The  seeds  of  the  century- 
plant  carried  to  Corea — The  use  of  agave  leaves  as  fuel — The  ashes 
used  for  obtaining  lye — The  agave  fiber  steeped  in  an  alkaline  solution — 
The  feast  of  Huitzilopochtli — Intercourse  between  Corea  and  China — The 
Corean  records — Possibility  that  further  information  may  be  found  in 
them — The  palace  of  the  king — The  glitter  of  obsidian  in  the  morning 
light — The  Country  of  Women  again — Serpent  husbands — The  expedi 
tion  of  Nuno  de  Guzman — The  Smoking  Mountain — Volcanoes — Hairy 
worms — The  "nopal  de  la  tierra  "— The  fire-trees— The  fire-rats — The 
Black  Valley— The  Snowy  Range— Huitzilopochtli— The  intoxicating  liq 
uor— The  "Sea  of  Varnish"— Petroleum— Mineral  springs— Hot  springs 
— The  extent  of  the  land — Animals— Winged  men — Birds  that  bear  hu 
man  beings. 

CHAPTER   XXX. 
MEXICAN  TRADITIONS     .  .  .  •  •  •  •  ^36 

Mexican  hieroglyphics— The  tradition  regarding  Wixipecocha— His  arrival 
— His  appearance — His  conduct — His  teachings — Persecution— His  de 
parture—Survival  of  the  doctrines  he  taught— The  "  Wiyatao  "—Another 
version  of  the  tradition— The  written  account  preserved  by  the  Mijcs — 
The  "  Taysacaa  " — Identity  of  the  term  Wixipecocha  with  the  name  and 
title  "Hwui  Shin,  bhikshu"— The  Mexican  language— Huazontlan— 
Quetzalcoatl— His  history  not  a  myth— The  epoch  at  which  he  hved- 
His  arrival — His  garments — His  attendants — Their  knowledge  of  arts — 


xx  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Another  account— Customs  introduced— Religious  penances— The  founda 
tion  of  monasteries  and  nunneries— Belief  that  he  was  a  Buddhist  priest 
— Brahmanism  and  Buddhism — The  worship  of  Siva — The  religion  of 

Nepal The  goddess  Kali — The  worship  of  Mictlancihuatl — QuetzalcoatPs 

horror  of  bloodshed — The  arts  he  taught — The  calendar — His  promise 
to  return— His  vow  to  drink  no  intoxicating  liquor— His  temptation  and 
fall — His  sorrow — Etymology  of  his  name — Its  true  meaning  not  "  the 
Plumed  Serpent,"  but  "the  Revered  Visitor" — Term  applied  to  the 
priests  of  Nepal— The  Mexican  "  Cihuacoatl  " — The  arrival  of  Quetzal- 
coatl  from  the  east — Possible  explanations — The  crosses  on  his  mantle 
— Explanation  of  occurrence  of  crosses  in  Yucatan — Intercourse  with 
the  West  Indian  Islands — The  god  Hurakan — Oracles  and  prophecies — 
Veneration  of  the  cross  in  ancient  times— Its  occurrence  in  India  and 
Egypt — Its  use  in  Asia  as  a  symbol  of  peace — The  patchwork  cloaks  of 
the  Buddhist  priests — Buddha's  commands — The  mark  of  a  foot-print 
in  the  rocks — Occurrence  of  such  foot-prints  in  America  and  Asia — 
Veneration  shown  them. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
VARIOUS  AMERICAN  TRADITIONS. — BUDDHISM  .  .  .    '        .-  555 

White  and  bearded  men  wearing  long  robes — The  great  numbers  of  coun 
tries  in  which  such  traditions  exist — Non-intercourse  between  them — 
Traditions  of  Yucatan — Zamna  and  Cukulcan — The  introduction  of  the 
alphabet — Attendants — The  name  Cukulcan — The  three  brothers  of 
Chichen  Itza — The  buildings  erected — The  teachings  of  Cukulcan — His 
departure — The  survival  of  his  doctrines — Votan — His  long-robed  attend 
ants — Resemblance  of  name  "  Votan  "  to  Asiatic  perversions  of  "  Gau 
tama" — The  time  of  these  visits — The  "katuns"  of  Yucatan — South 
American  traditions— The  Muyscas — Their  civilization — The  arrival  of  a 
white  stranger — His  names — The  arts  he  taught — His  doctrines — The 
veneration  of  the  people  for  him — Resemblance  of  his  names  to  Buddhist 
titles— A  Pachcheko — The  Updsakas — The  Chinese  Ho  Shang— Tradition 
of  the  Guaranis — Tamoi,  Tamu,  Tume,  or  Zume — His  teachings — The 
impress  of  his  foot-prints — The  tradition  in  Paraguay — His  promise  to 
return — Adventure  of  the  fathers  de  Montoya  and  de  Mendoza — The 
Brazilian  tradition — The  great  road — Foot-prints — Another  tradition — 
The  story  in  Chili — Tonapa  in  Peru — His  appearance — His  mildness — 
His  teachings— His  departure— Viracocha — The  pyramids  of  Peru — Con, 
or  Contice — The  Buddhist  decalogue — Avoidance  of  women — Buddhist 
practices— The  dress  of  the  priests — Hats  not  worn  by  the  Indians — 
Resemblance  of  teachings  of  the  American  culture-heroes  to  those  of  the 
Roman  Catholics— Resemblances  between  Buddhism  and  Roman  Catholi 
cism — Their  monasteries — Their  doctrines — The  costume  of  the  Grand 
Lama — Belief  in  an  early  mixture  of  Christianity  and  Buddhism— A  Cen 
tral  American  image — The  calendar — The  arts  practiced  by  Buddhist 
priests — The  art  of  casting  metals — Sculptured  vases. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

EELIGIOTJS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS        .  .  .  .  .  574 

The  incongruity  of  the  religious  system  of  the  Aztecs— The  Toltecs— Con 
tentions  between  rival  sects— Monasteries— The  "  Tlamacazqui " The 

herb-eaters— Their  asceticism— The  monastery  and  nunnery  attached  to 
the  chief  temple  of  the  city  of  Mexico— The  duties  of  the  devotees— The 
clothing— The  discipline— The  differences  in  rank— Other  ascetics— Pro 
bation  of  candidates— Vows  not  for  life— Married  priests— The  monas- 


CONTENTS.  ^ 

tery  of  the  Totonacas — The  pontiff  of  Mixteca — The  title  "  Taysacaa  " 

Auricular  confession — The  practice  of  bearing  a  calabash — The  dress  of 
the  priests — Continence — Prayers — Fasting — The  early  disciples  of  Sakya 
Muni — The  Buddhist  monasteries — Candidates  for  the  priesthood — Edu 
cation  of  children — Food  and  clothing — Penances — Nunneries — Life  of 
the  inmates — Punishment  of  incontinence — Time  for  meals — Clothing  of 
idols — Absence  of  vital  points  of  Christian  doctrine — Marriage  of  the 
priests — Vegetarianism — Failure  of  the  Buddhists  to  strictly  comply  with 
the  tenets  of  their  religion — The  eating  of  flesh — A  curious  anomaly  in 
Buddha's  teachings — Religious  terms — The  name  Sakya — Its  occurrence 
in  Mexico — Otosis — Gautama — Guatemala — Quauhtemo-tzin — Tlama  and 
lama — Teotl  and  Deva — Refutation  of  a  negative  argument — Religious 
tenets — The  road  to  the  abode  of  the  dead — The  divisions  of  the  abode 
of  the  dead — Transmigration — Yearly  feast  for  the  souls  of  the  dead — 
The  tablet  at  Palenque — The  lion-headed  couch— Seated  figures— An 
image  of  Quetzalcoatl — The  story  of  Camaxtli — Preservation  of  his 
blonde  hair. 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

THE  PYRAMIDS,  IDOLS,  AND  ARTS  OF  MEXICO  ....  597 

Temples  built  upon  truncated  pyramids — Mounds  antedating  Aztec  occupa 
tion — Speculations  as  to  the  date  of  their  erection — The  Place  of  the 
House  of  Flowers — The  monuments  of  San  Juan  Teotihuacan — Their  size 
— Their  construction  —  Mexican  "teocallis" — Their  proportions  —  Re 
semblances  to  the  pyramids  of  India — Pyramids  found  wherever  Bud 
dhism  prevails — The  tumulus  or  tope — Its  occurrence  at  Nineveh,  in 
China,  and  Ceylon — Resemblances  noticed  by  several  authors — The  tem 
ple  of  Boro-Budor  in  Java — The  palace  at  Palenque — Dome-shaped 
edifices — The  dome  at  Chichen — The  construction  of  the  pyramids — The 
layer  of  stone  or  brick — The  layer  of  plaster — The  false  arch— Decora 
tive  paintings — The  priests  the  artists — The  ornament  upon  the  breast — 
The  name  Chaacmol  —  Cornices — Friezes  —  Representation  of  curved 
swords — An  elephant's  head  as  a  head-dress — Other  ornaments  in  shape 
of  an  elephant's  trunk — The  elephant  the  symbol  of  Buddha — The  tapir 
— Remains  of  the  elephant  or  mastodon  in  America — Their  possible  con 
temporaneity  with  man — Pipes  carved  in  the  shape  of  elephants — Their 
discovery — An  inscribed  tablet — The  elephant-mound  of  Wisconsin — A 
Chippewa  tradition — Ganesa — Teoyaomiqui — Their  resemblance  —  The 
conception  of  Huitzilopochtli — The  story  of  Cuaxolotl — Tezcatlipoca — 
The  mirror  held  by  him — Similar  idols  in  Asia — The  imprint  of  the  hand 
— The  cataclysms  by  which  the  human  race  has  been  destroyed — The 
cardinal  points — Their  connection  with  certain  colours — The  temples  of 
Thibet — The  palace  of  Quetzalcoatl — A  small  green  stone  buried  with 
the  dead — Sweeping  the  path  before  the  monarch — The  use  of  garments 
and  dishes  but  once — The  breech-cloth — Quilted  armour — Suspension- 
bridges — Books — Marriage  ceremonies  and  customs  —  Tying  the  gar 
ments  together — Postponement  of  the  consummation  of  marriage — Po 
lygamy — Children  carried  on  the  hip — Children's  toys — The  cakes  used 
as  food — A  game — Practices  of  many  Asiatic  countries — Milk  not  used 
— Authors  led  to  believe  in  a  connection  between  Asiatic  and  Mexican 
civilization — Differences  between  the  Mexicans  and  other  American  tribes 
— Erroneous  criticism. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN  ,  .  .  •  •  •  623 

Records  reaching  back  nominally  to  660  B.  c.— Gaps  in  the  history— Great 
age  of  sovereigns — A  giant — Absence  of  exact  dates — The  introduction 


xxii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

of  writing — Manufacture  of  paper — Chinese  records  of  embassies — Men 
tion  of  a  Japanese  sovereign  whose  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Japa 
nese  annals — Translation  of  extracts  from  the  Japanese  history — Inter 
course  with  Corea  and  China — Embassies — Wars — Introduction  of  Bud 
dhism — Titles  of  nobility — Copper,  silver,  and  gold — Intercourse  of  Corea 
with  Japan  and  China — The  Chinese  account  of  Japan — The  route  from 
China  to  Japan — The  distance — Cattle  and  horses  not  raised — Tattooing 
— Clothing — Cities — Polygamy — Laws — Burial  of  the  dead — The  "  Chi- 
shuai " — An  envoy — A  later  embassy — A  Japanese  princess — The  king 
dom  of  Kiu-nu ;  that  of  Chu-ju — The  Eastern  Fish-People — A  Chinese 
expedition  to  seek  for  P'ung-lai — Tan-cheu — Route  to  Japan — The  divis 
ions  of  Japan — Titles  of  the  officers — Embassies — Tattooing — Absence 
of  writing — Mourning-garments — Buddhism — Route  to  Japan — Discovery 
of  gold,  silver,  iron  ore,  and  copper — The  Country  of  Women — Reasons 
why  Fu-sang  can  not  have  been  situated  in  Japan — Consideration  of 
other  theories — Proof  that  Hwui  Shan  had  visited  some  unknown  land — 
Had  the  Chinese  any  earlier  knowledge  of  America  ? — The  Shan  Hai  King. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
THE  CHINESE  "  CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS  "   .  .  .  643 

Preface— SUH-CHU  Mountain— The  Mountain  of  Creeping  Plants — Aspen 
Mountain — Hairy  birds — The  Foreign  Range — KAN  fish — KU-MAO,  KAO- 
SHI,  Lofty,  Wolf,  Lone,  Bald,  and  Bamboo  Mountains — K'UNG-SANG, 
TS'AO-CHI,  YIH-KAO,  and  Bean  Mountains — An  excessively  high  peak — 
TU-FU,  KANG,  LU-K'I — KU-SHE,  Green  Jade-stone,  WEI-SHI,  KIT-FUNG, 
FU-LI,  and  YIN  Mountains — SHI-HU,  K'I,  CHU-KEU,  Middle  Fu,  HU-SHE, 
MANG-TSZ',  K'I-CHUNG,  MEI-YU,  and  WD-KAO  Mountains — The  Fu-tree  (or 
FU-SANG)— North  HAO,  MAO,  Eastern  SHI,  NU-CHING,  K'IN,  TSZ'-TUNG, 
YEN,  and  T'AI  Mountains — The  CHA  Hill — The  Great  Men's  Country — 
SHE-PI'S  body— The  Country  of  Refined  Gentlemen— HUNG-HUNG— The 
Valley  of  the  Manifestation  of  the  Dawn — The  Green  Hills  Country — The 
journey  of  SHU-HAI— The  Black-Teeth  Country— The  Warm  Springs  Ra 
vine— FU-SANG— The  Place  where  the  Ten  Suns  bathe— An  account  of 
the  Ten  Suns— Yu-sm's  concubine— The  Black-Hip  Country— The  Hairy 
People's  Country— A  boat  upon  the  sea-shore— The  Distressed  People's 
Country— K'KU-WANG— A  great  valley— SHAO-HAO— PI-MU-TI  Hill— Place 
where  the  Sun  and  Moon  rise— The  Great  Men's  Country— Giants  and 
dwarfs— The  Great  People's  Market— The  Little  People— KUEH  Mount 
ain—The  Country  of  Plants— HOH-HU  Mountain— The  Mountain  of  the 
astern  Pass— The  Mountain  of  the  Bright  Star— The  White  People's 
Country— The  Green  Hills  Country— The  Nation  of  Courteous  Vassals— 
1  he  Black-Teeth  Country— Summer  Island— The  KAI-YU  Country— CHEH- 
TAN  and  the  Place  of  the  Rising  of  the  Sun— YU-KWOH— Qualdno-  Mount 
ain— The  Black-Hip  Country— The  Needy  Tribe— King  HAI— NU-CHEU— 
YEH-YAO-KIUN-TI  Mountain— The  Fu-tree  — Warm  Springs  Valley— 
I-TiEN-su-MAN  Mountain  —  The  YING  Dragon— The  Mountain  of  the 
1  lowing  Waves. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
COMMENTS  UPON  THE  "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS"  .  .  669 

T1ionsld  rrof^1?^7  °f  -the  ™rld-Article  by  M.  Bazin,  Sr.-Its  divis- 

.roups  of  mountams-Taoists  of  the  fourth  century-The  spirits 

bonT     Th    v    e*rth-?XtraVagancies  of  the  work-First  mention  of  the 

or  co7™ntedamiTar  D'?COUrsQcs  of  Confucius-Thought  to  be  apocryphal 

-  Tseu-hia  —  Sse-ma-ts'ien  —  Sse-ma-ching  —  Chao-shi  — 


CONTENTS.  xxiii 

Wang-chong — Tso-sse — The  "  Book  of  Waters  " — Chang-hoa — Consider- ** 
ation  of  the  western  and  southern  kingdoms — Summaries  of  the  geogra 
phy  of  Tu-yu — Lo-pi — Kia-ching-shi— Cheu-pang— Tsu-tse-yu — The  En 
cyclopaedia  of  Tu-yeu — Conclusion  of  M.  Bazin — The  imperial  academy 
of  the  Han-lin — The  Shan  Hai  King  read  as  a  romance  or  pastime — 
Particularly  by  young  men — Opinions  of  commentators — Notes — Gaps 
or  omissions — The  "Bamboo  Books" — Length  of  the  work — Xo  transla 
tion  heretofore  made — M.  Burnouf's  intention  to  translate  it — Change 
of  opinion  among  scholars  as  to  its  value — Monsters  mentioned  by  other 
writers — Tacitus — Men  clothed  in  skins — A  river  with  eight  mouths — 
The  compass — The  T'ien  Wu  :  Lord  of  the  Water — Seals,  sea-lions,  and 
sea-otters — The  Islands  of  the  Flowing  Stream — Cuttle-fish— Birds  with 
hairy  legs — Serpents  as  ear-ornaments — The  Shan  Hai  King  a  compila 
tion  of  a  number  of  distinct  accounts — Regions  mentioned  twice  or  more 
— Description  of  Japan — The  genii  who  once  ruled  the  earth — The  state 
of  civilization — Tigers  and  bears — A  poisonous  insect — The  Ravine  of 
the  Manifestation  of  the  Dawn — The  Hairy  People — Fu-sang  and  the 
Black-Teeth  Country — The  Malay  custom  of  blackening  the  teeth — The 
Philippine  or  Luzon  Islands — The  banana  or  plantain  (pisany) — The 
"ten  suns." 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
BECAPITULATIOX  .  .  .  .  ...  .  684 

Summary  of  reasons  for  thinking  that  Hwui  ShSn  visited  Mexico— The  com 
mand  of  Buddha — The  ease  of  the  journey — The  "  silk  "  and  mirror 
brought  back  by  him — The  belief  of  his  contemporaries — Fu-sang  must 
have  been  in  Japan  or  America,  and  was  not  in  Japan — Hwui  Shan's 
story  paralleled  with  accounts  of  the  countries  by  other  authors — The 
Country  of  Marked  Bodies — Great  Han — Fu-sang — The  Country  of  Wom 
en —  Summary  of  facts  mentioned  by  Hwui  Sh&n —  The  transparent 
mirror  could  not  have  been  obtained  elsewhere  than  in  Mexico — The 
Mexican  tradition  of  Hwui  Sh&n's  visit — Coincidences  between  Asiatic 
and  American  civilizations — Pyramids — Architecture — Arts — Religious 
structures — Religious  customs  and  beliefs — Idols — Marriage  ceremonies 
— Dress — Food — Books — Games — The  working  of  metals — Suspension- 
bridges — The  calendar — Civilized  nations  of  America  all  upon  the  Pacific 
coast — Allowances  to  be  made — Errors  of  first  explorers — Hwui  Shan 
not  a  Chinaman — Errors  of  manuscripts — Changes  in  language— Changes 
in  customs — Our  imperfect  knowledge  of  Mexican  civilization — The  ar 
gument  stronger  than  its  weakest  parts — Conclusion. 

APPENDIX. 
LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  AND  KEFERENCES  .  .  •  •  711 

INDEX  .  ....  741 


2  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

mentioned  in  history  either  under  his  family  name  of  Gautama, 
or  under  the  appellation  of  Buddha,  "the  Enlightened";  or, 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  of  the  race  called  Sakya,  he  is  re 
ferred  to  as  Sakya-muni,  "the  hermit  of  the  Sakyas." 

This  prince,  although  handsome,  strong,  and  heroic— sur 
rounded  by  pleasures  and  tempted  by  the  most  brilliant  worldly 
prospects1278 — took  little  part  in  the  sports  of  his  mates,  and 
used  frequently  to  retire  by  himself  into  solitude,  where  he 
seemed  lost  in  meditation.1890  Educated  in  the  belief  that  death 
was  immediately  followed  by  a  new  birth,  and  that  all  living 
creatures  were  chained  to  a  never-ending  series  of  transmigra 
tions,  he,  as  he  grew  in  age,  was  more  and  more  oppressed  by 
the  conviction  that  all  is  vanity,  and  that  a  man  hath  no  profit 
of  all  his  labour  which  he  taketh  under  the  sun.  Possessed  of 
wealth  and  power,  and  lacking  no  earthly  good,  but  saddened 
by  the  knowledge  that  age  must  follow  youth,  and  that  death 
would  soon  put  an  end  to  all  his  possessions  ;  and  believing  that 
he  must  then  commence  a  new  life  which  death  would  again 
end,  and  that  so  for  all  eternity  he  must  struggle  on,  being  able 
to  retain  for  but  a  moment  all  that  seemed  good  to  his  eyes,  and 
then  being  compelled  to  abandon  it — the  prospect  thus  stretch 
ing  out  before  him  so  appalled  him  that  he  finally  determined  to 
devote  his  life  to  the  endeavour  to  find  some  escape  from  this 
eternal  series  of  deaths. 

It  was  not  for  himself  alone  that  he  desired  to  find  this  relief, 
but  for  his  dearly  loved  wife  and  infant  child  as  well  ;  and,  fur 
thermore,  his  heart  was  filled  with  an  anxious  yearning  to  be  the 
saviour  of  mankind,  no  matter  what  the  cost  to  himself  might  be. 

Born  at  a  time  when  tyranny  and  the  oppression  of  the  law 
of  castes  had  become  as  intolerable  in  the  civil  world  of  India  as 
the  dogma  of  eternal  metempsychoses  had  become  in  its  relig 
ion  ; 1879  when  woman  was  looked  upon,  as  she  still  is  in  Oriental 
countries,  as  but  the  plaything  of  the  stronger  sex  ;  when 
throughout  the  world  the  citizens  of  each  petty  nation  consid 
ered  all  other  tribes  as  barbarians  or  wild  beasts — he,  being  the 
first  of  the  human  race 1882  to  rise  above  the  accidents  of  fate, 
looked  upon  all  mankind  as  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  would 
fain  save  them  all  from  the  woe  of  the  innumerable  deaths  that 
awaited  them.  High  and  low,  bond  and  free,  rich  and  poor, 
male  and  female,  old  and  young,  countrymen  and  foreigners, 


INTRODUCTORY.  3 

for  all  he  felt  the  same  tender  pity,  and  no  living  creature  was 
so  mean  as  to  be  beneath  his  all-embracing  love  and  sympathy. 

Filled  with  this  anxious  devotion,  he  stole  softly  away  from 
his  home  by  night,  and  adopted  the  life  of  a  Brahmanical  her-  \ 
mit.     For  years  he  tortured  himself,  often  fasting  until  life  was    » 
almost  extinct  ;  striving,  vainly,  but  with  an  inextinguishable 
desire,  to  find  the  path  which  led  away  from  eternal  misery. 
Finally,  light,  as  he  believed,  dawned  upon  him.     Misery  was 
merely  the  result  of  unsatisfied  desire.     If  all  desire  could  be 
extinguished,  unhappiness  would  perish  with  it. 

By  sitting  in  a  state  of  inward  contemplation,  it  was  possible 
to  arrive  at  a  condition  of  mind  when,  for  a  time,  all  surrounding 
objects  would  fade  awray  and  be  forgotten.  In  this  state  of 
ecstasy,  neither  hunger  nor  cold  nor  any  bodily  want  could  be 
the  source  of  discomfort,  for  the  mind  would  be  so  fixed  upon 
its  meditation  that  it  would  not  know  that  these  existed.  Be 
yond  this  state,  however,  another  condition  could  be  reached,  in 
which,  after  attaining  to  a  forgetfulness  of  everything  but  self- 
existence,  the  abstraction  would  become  so  great  that  even  the 
consciousness  of  self-existence  would  be  lost.  From  this  state  of 
entire  unconsciousness,  a  state  neither  of  existence  nor  of  non- 
existence,  there  would  be  no  awakening  forever.  The  dreary 
round  of  transmigrations  would  be  forever  over  with  ;  the 
dreamless  sleep  would  never  end. 

It  was  only  after  continual  striving  through  myriads  of  ex 
istences  that  this  end  could  be  reached,  but  he  who  set  out  upon 
the  path  to  Nirvana  would  never  turn  back  ;  and  ultimately  the 
extinction  of  consciousness,  which  was  held  to  be  the  supreme 
good,  would  be  attained. 

There  was  only  one  thing  of  such  importance  that  even  the 
state  of  quiescence  and  meditation,  which  was  the  foretaste  of 
the  final  beatitude,  could  be  abandoned  for  it,  and  that  was  the 
desire  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  to  others,  that  they  too  might 
set  out  upon  the  happy  path.  The  love  of  one's  neighbours  was 
recognized  as  the  most  sacred  law,  and  it  was  to  be  only  by  the 
exercise  of  this  virtue  that  it  should  be  possible  to  reach  the 
rank  of  the  perfect  Buddha.1885  As  he  himself  had  come  for  self- 
sacrifice,  and  only  by  surrendering  himself  had  learned  how  the 
world  might  be  saved,  so  all  who  desired  to  follow  him  must 
tread  in  these  footprints.  Charity  and  love  must  extinguish  all 


4  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

egotism  in  the  heart,  and  so  fill  the  possessor  with  a  spirit  of 
devotion  that  he  would  surrender  himself  utterly,  and  forget 
everything  personal,  his  own  existence  even,  in  order  to  save 
others.1896 

In  the  Chinese  liturgy  there  is  recorded  a  vow  of  the  Bod- 
hisattva  Kwan  Yin— the  Great  Compassionate  Heart,  or  Mercy— 
which  is  characteristic  of  this  religion  :  *  "  Never  will  I  seek  or 
receive  private,  individual  salvation  ;  never  enter  final  peace 
alone,  but  forever  and  everywhere  will  I  live  and  strive  for  the 
universal  redemption  of  every  creature  throughout  all  worlds. 
Until  all  are  delivered,  never  will  I  leave  the  world  of  sin,  sor 
row,  and  struggle,  but  will  remain  where  I  am." im 

Buddha  declared  that  the  good  news  was  for  all  the  world  ; 
and  his  disciples  were  commanded  to  hasten  to  preach  it  to  every 
creature.  "  Let  us  part  with  each  other,"  the  legend  reports  him 
as  saying,  "  and  proceed  in  various  and  opposite  directions.  Go 
ye  now  and  preach  the  most  excellent  law,  expounding  every 
point  thereof,  and  unfolding  it  with  care.  Explain  the  begin 
ning  and  middle  and  end  of  the  law  to  all  men  without  excep 
tion"1*91  "Since  the  doctrine  which  I  proclaim  is  altogether 
pure,  it  makes  no  distinction  between  high  and  low,  rich  and 
poor.  Like  water  it  is,  which  washes  and  purifies  all  alike. 
It  is  like  the  sky,  for  it  has  room  for  all ;  men,  women,  boys, 
girls,  rich  and  poor." 1892 

This  command  was  faithfully  obeyed  by  his  disciples.  Max 
Milller  states  196°  that  at  a  very  early  period  a  proselytizing 
spirit  awoke  among  the  disciples  of  the  Indian  reformer — an  ele 
ment  entirely  new  in  the  history  of  ancient  religions.  No  Jew, 
no  Greek,  no  Roman,  no  Brahman,  ever  thought  of  converting 
people  to  his  own  national  form  of  worship.  Religion  was 
looked  upon  as  private  or  national  property.  It  was  to  be 
guarded  against  strangers.  Here  lay  the  secret  of  Buddha's 
success.  He  addressed  himself  to  castes  and  outcasts.  He 
promised  salvation  to  all ;  and  he  commanded  his  disciples  to 
preach  his  doctrine  in  all  places  and  to  all  men.  A  sense  of 
duty,  extending  from  the  narrow  limits  -of  the  house,  the  vil 
lage,  and  the  country,  to  the  widest  circle  of  mankind,  a  feel 
ing  of  sympathy  and  brotherhood  toward  all  men — the  idea, 
in  fact,  of  humanity— were  first  pronounced  by  Buddha.  In  the 
*  See  Bell's  "  Catena,"  pp.  4C5,  406,  and  409. 


INTRODUCTORY.  5 

third  Buddhist  council,  the  acts  of  which  have  been  preserved 
to  us  in  the  "  Mahavanso,"  we  hear  of  missionaries  being  sent  to 
the  chief  countries  beyond  India. 

Some  centuries  after  the  days  of  Buddha,  upon  the  death  of 
Asoka,  a  powerful  king  of  India,  who  had  been  an  ardent  devo 
tee  of  the  Buddhist  faith,  his  immense  empire  was  dismem 
bered,1883  and,  profiting  by  this  opportunity,  the  Brahmans  raised 
their  heads,  stirred  up  the  smouldering  hatred  in  the  hearts  of 
the  castes  that  were  formerly  privileged,  and  by  such  aid  recon 
quered  the  land  which  they  had  lost,  and  commenced  a  war  of 
bloody  persecution  against  Buddhism,  which  resulted  in  the 
complete  expulsion  of  that  sect  from  Central  India.  Ceylon, 
Burmah,  Siam,  and  Gamboge  gave  them  asylum.  Some  of  the 
proscribed  sect  went  even  to  the  distant  islands  and  founded  a 
church  in  Java,  which,  judging  from  the  ruins  that  still  remain, 
must  at  one  time  have  flourished.  Others  went  to  the  north, 
were  arrested  by  the  deserts  of  Persia,  and,  after  halting  in 
Nepal,  crossed  the  mountains,  and  carried  their  religion  and 
their  arts  into  China,  whence  they  soon  passed  into  Japan  and 
Thibet. 

This  religion  was  introduced  into  China  about  A.  D.  66,251J 
and  reached  Corea  in  the  year  372. 1964  There  is  no  part  of 
Northern  Asia  to  which  it  did  not  make  its  way.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  its  missionaries  penetrated  into  Europe. 
Mr.  Leland  mentions  a  Buddhistic  image1717  discovered  in  an 
excavation  in  London,  at  a  depth  of  fifteen  feet,  nine  feet  of 
which  consisted  of  loose  soil  or  debris  of  a  recent  character,  but 
the  remaining  six  feet  were  hard,  solid  earth,  of  a  character 
which  indicated  a  probability  that  the  image  might  have  been 
left  a  thousand  years  or  more  ago  where  it  was  found.  Profes 
sor  Holmboe  has  written  a  work 1555  in  which  strong  grounds  are 
adduced  for  believing  that  Buddhist  devotees  reached  Norway, 
or  at  least  that  part  of  Europe  which  was  then  occupied  by  the 
ancestors  of  the  Norwegians  of  to-day.  Professor  Max  Miiller 195' 
refers  to  the  existence  of  Buddhism  in  Russia  and  Sweden,  as 
well  as  in  Siberia,  and  throughout  the  north  of  Asia,  and  says 
that  a  trace  of  the  influence  of  Buddhism  among  the  Kudic 
races,  the  Finns,  Lapps,  etc.,  is  found  in  the  name  of  their 
priests  and  sorcerers,  the  Shamans — "  Shaman  "  being  supposed 
to  be  a  corruption  of  ^ramana,  the  name  of  Buddha,  and  of 


6  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Buddhist  priests  in  general.  The  suppression  of  the  "r"  is 
probably  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  Pali,  which  shows  a  great 
delicacy,851  or,  if  the  term  is  preferred,  an  extreme  poverty,  in 
the  combinations  of  two  or  more  consonants,  and  which  always 
drops  the  letter  "  r "  when  it  follows  an  initial  consonant  of  a 
Sanskrit  word.862  Thus,  for  instance,1897  the  Sanskrit  words 
"prakrama"  and  "pratikrama"  became  in  Pali  "pakkama"  and 
"  parikkama." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  this  word  "  Shaman,"  applied  to  a 
priest  or  magician,  is  found,  not  only  throughout  nearly  every 
part  of  Asia,  but  that  it  passed  over  into  America  so  long  ago 
as  to  become  so  thoroughly  incorporated  into  the  Yakut  lan 
guage  of  Alaska,  that  it  and  its  derivatives  were  thought  by  Dall 
to  have  belonged  originally  to  that  language,1167  and  he  claims 
that  those  authors  who  have  thought  it  to  be  an  (East)  Indian 
word  are  mistaken.  The  religious  ideas  of  some  of  the  tribes  of 
Alaska  strongly  point  to  an  earlier  knowledge  of  some  more  or 
less  impure  form  of  Asiatic  Buddhism,  and  thus  indicate  that 
the  word  was  really  borrowed  from  the  disciples  of  that  faith, 
and  is  not  a  mere  case  of  accidental  resemblance  in  sound  and 
meaning.  Pinart2045  says  that  the  belief  in  metempsychosis  is 
generally  spread  abroad  among  the  Koloches  ;  they  believe  that 
the  individual  never  really  dies,  and  that  apparent  death  is  but 
a  momentary  dissolution,  the  man  being  reborn  in  another  form: 
sometimes  in  the  body  of  a  human  being,  and  sometimes  in  that 
of  certain  animals,  such  as  the  bear,  the  otter,  or  the  wolf  ;  of 
certain  birds,  such  as  the  crow  or  the  goshawk ;  and  of  certain 
marine  animals,  but  principally  the  cachalot.  Veniaminoff,  in 
his  great  work,  commits  an  error  in  saying  that  the  Koloches  do 
not  believe  in  any  other  form  of  metempsychosis  than  a  change 
into  the  body  of  another  human  being.  This  purely  human 
metempsychosis  is  not  exclusive,  although  it  predominates. 

Pinart  also  states  that 2042  the  primitive  religion  of  the  Ka- 
niagmioutes  and  the  western  Esquimaux  in  general  appears  to 
present  an  order  of  ideas  much  superior  to  those  of  the  Koloches, 
or  other  American  tribes.  This  religion,  if  the  conjecture  may  be 
permitted,  is  the  remains  of  a  religious  system  now  lost,  but  in 
dicating  a  very  elevated  order  of  ideas.  .  .  .  They  divided  the 
heaven  into  five  regions,  superposed  one  upon  another.  .  .  .  We 
find  in  these  different  heavens,  as  we  rise  from  one  to  another. 


INTRODUCTORY.  7 

successive  transformations  and  purifications.  Each  individual, 
if  he  lives  an  honourable  life  and  conforms  to  their  religious  ideas, 
can  rise  to  the  highest  of  these  heavens  by  means  of  these  dif 
ferent  transformations.  Every  individual,  in  their  belief,  dies 
and  returns  to  life  five  times,  and  it  is  only  after  having  died 
for  the  fifth  time  that  he  quits  the  earth  forever  and  passes  into 
another  existence. 

It  can  not  be  denied  that  these  dogmas  are  strikingly  analo 
gous  to  those  of  the  Buddhist  faith,  and,  when  added  to  other 
reasons  for  believing  that  this  religion  may  have  been  preached 
in  Alaska,  the  existence  of  these  religious  ideas,  and  of  the  Bud 
dhist  designation  for  a  priest,  furnishes  reasonable  grounds  for 
at  least  entertaining  the  question  whether  there  was  not  some 
early  communication  of  the  Buddhists  of  Asia  with  America. 

Even  at  the  present  day,  the  Buddhist  priests,  or  lamas,  of 
Central  Asia,  are  divided  into  three  classes,  comprising  not 
only2093  the  religious,  who  devote  themselves  to  study  and  ab 
straction,  and  become  teachers  and  eventually  saints,  and  the 
domestic,  who  live  in  families  or  attach  themselves  to  tribes 
and  localities,  but  also  the  itinerant,  who  are  always  moving 
from  convent  to  convent,  and  traveling  for  travel's  sake,  often 
without  aim,  not  knowing  at  alt  where  they  are  going.  Prin- 
sep  says  that  there  is  no  country  that  some  of  these  have  not 
visited,  and  that  when  they  have  a  religious  or  partisan  feeling 
they  must  be  the  best  spies  in  the  world. 

Hue  also  speaks1566  of  those  lamas  who  live  neither  in  lama 
series  nor  at  home  with  their  families,  but  spend  their  time 
vagabondizing  about  like  birds  of  passage,  traveling  all  over 
their  own  and  the  adjacent  countries,  and  subsisting  upon  the 
rude  hospitality  which,  in  lamasery  and  in  tent,  they  are  sure 
to  receive,  throughout  their  wandering  way.  They  take  their 
way,  no  matter  whither,  by  this  path  or  that,  east  or  west, 
north  or  south,  as  their  fancy  or  a  smoother  turf  suggests,  and 
lounge  tranquilly  on,  sure  at  least,  if  no  other  shelter  presents 
itself  by-and-by,  of  the  shelter  of  the  cover,  as  they  express  it, 
of  that  great  tent,  the  world  ;  and  sure,  moreover,  having  no 
destination  before  them,  never  to  lose  their  way. 

The  wandering  lamas  visit  all  the  countries  readily  accessi 
ble  to  them — China,  Mantchooria,  the  Khalkhas,  the  various 
kingdoms  of  Southern  Mongolia,  the  Ouriaughai,  the  Koukou- 


g  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

noor,  the  northern  and  southern  slopes  of  the  Celestial  Mount 
ains,  Thibet,  India,  and  sometimes  even  Turkestan.  There  is 
no  stream  which  they  have  not  crossed,  no  mountains  they  have 
not  climbed. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  journeys  of  these  wander 
ing  priests  have  been  going  on  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years,  and  that,  so  far  as  known,  no  records  of  them  have  been 
preserved,  except  those  which  have  been  kept  in  China,  and 
which  will  be  mentioned  a  little  farther  on.  Hence  it  is  impos 
sible  to  define  the  limits  which  they  may  have  reached  ;  but,  if 
it  is  shown  that  the  journey  to  America,  from  some  of  the  regions 
(such  as  that  at  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor  River),  which  it  is  well 
known  that  they  did  reach,  is  neither  longer  nor  more  difficult 
than  many  of  the  journeys  that  they  undertook,  this  fact  will 
give  reasonable  ground  for  the  conjecture  that  they  may,  in 
some  one  or  more  instances,  have  even  extended  their  wanderings 
as  far  as  to  the  American  Continent. 

Mr.  Leland,  in  his  book,  entitled  "Fusang,"1715  embodies 
a  long  letter  from  Colonel  Barclay  Kennon,  formerly  of  the 
United  States  North  Pacific  Surveying  Expedition,  in  which  the 
ease  of  the  voyage  from  Northern  Asia  to  Northern  America  is 
fully  described.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  quote  additional  au 
thorities,  for  the  fact  mentioned  by  Mr.  Bancroft,103  that  on  the 
shore  of  Behring's  Strait  the  natives  have  constant  commercial 
intercourse  with  Asia,  crossing  easily  in  their  boats  ;  but  the 
facts  mentioned  by  Captain  Cochrane,1086  that  two  natives  of  a 
nation  on  the  American  Continent,  called  the  Kargaules,  were 
present  at  a  fair  held  at  Nishney  Kolymsk,  a  town  situated  in 
Asia,  on  an  island  in  the  Kolyma  River,  and  that  large  armies 
of  mice1087  occasionally  migrate  from  Asia  to  America,  or  in 
the  other  direction,  make  it  evident  that  there  is  no  great  diffi 
culty  in  the  passage. 

Lewis  H.  Morgan  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that mi  the  Ja 
panese  Islands  sustain  a  peculiar  physical  relation  to  the  north 
west  coast  of  the  United  States.  A  chain  of  small  islands— 
the  Kurilian— breaks  the  distance  which  separates  Japan  from 
the  peninsula  of  Kamtchatka  ;  and  thence  the  Aleutian  chain 
of  islands  stretches  across  to  the  peninsula  of  Alaska  upon 
the  American  Continent,  forming  the  boundary  between  the 
•North  Pacific  and  Behring's  Sea.  These  islands,  the  peaks  of  a 


INTRODUCTORY.  9 

submarine  mountain-chain,  are  thickly  studded  together  within 
a  continuous  belt,  and  are  in  substantial  communication  with 
each  other,  from  the  extreme  point  of  Alaska  to  the  Island  of 
Kyska,  by  means  of  the  ordinary  native  boat  in  use  among  the 
Aleutian  islanders.  From  the  latter  to  Attou  Island  the  greatest 
distance  from  island  to  island  is  less  than  one  hundred  miles. 
Between  Attou  Island  and  the  coast  of  Kamtchatka  there  are 
but  two  islands,  Copper  and  Behring's,  between  which  and 
Attou  the  greatest  distance  occurs,  a  distance  of  about  two  hun 
dred  miles  ;  while  from  Behring's  Island  to  the  mainland  of  Asia 
it  is  less  than  one  hundred  miles.  These  geographical  features 
alone  would  seem  to  render  possible  a  migration  in  the  primitive 
and  fishermen  ages  from  one  continent  to  the  other.  But,  su- 
peradded  to  these,  is  the  great  thermal  ocean-current,  analogous 
to  the  Atlantic  Gulf-Stream,  which,  commencing  in  the  equato 
rial  regions  near  the  Asiatic  Continent,  flows  northward  along 
the  Japan  and  Kurilian  Islands,  and  then,  bearing  eastward,  di 
vides  itself  into  two  streams.  One  of  these,  following  the  main 
direction  of  the  Asiatic  coast,  passes  through  the  Straits  of 
Behring  and  enters  the  Arctic  Ocean  ;  while  the  other,  and  the 
principal  current,  flowing  eastward,  and  skirting  the  southern 
shores  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  reaches  the  northwest  coast  of 
America,  whence  it  flows  southward  along  the  shores  of  Oregon 
and  California,  where  it  finally  disappears.  This  current,  or 
thermal  river  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  would  constantly  tend, 
by  the  mere  accidents  of  the  sea,  to  throw  Asiatics  from  Japan 
and  Kamtchatka  upon  the  Aleutian  Islands,  from  which  their 
gradual  progress  eastward  to  America  would  become  assured. 
It  is  common  at  the  present  time  to  find  trunks  of  camphor- wood 
trees,  from  the  coasts  of  China  and  Japan,  upon  the  shores  of  the 
Island  of  Unalaska,  one  of  the  easternmost  of  the  Aleutian 
chain,  carried  thither  by  this  ocean  current.  It  also  explains 
the  agency  by  which  a  disabled  Japanese  junk  with  its  crew  was 
borne  directly  to  the  shores  of  California  but  a  few  years  since. 
Another  remarkable  effect  produced  by  this  warm  ocean-current 
is  the  temperate  climate  which  it  bestows  upon  this  chain  of 
islands  and  upon  the  northwest  coast  of  America.  These  con 
siderations  assure  us  of  a  second  possible  route  of  communica 
tion,  besides  the  Straits  of  Behring,  between  the  Asiatic  and 
American  continents. 


10  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  "  Histoire  de  Kamtchatka  " 1638  mentions  a  report  that  a 
Japanese  vessel  was  wrecked  upon  Kituy,  one  of  the  Kurile 
Islands;  and  M.  Pinart2038  states  that  a  number  of  Japanese 
junks,  borne  by  the  currents,  and  probably  by  the  great  Ja 
panese  current,  the  Kuro-siwo,  or  "  Black  Stream,"  have  been 
shipwrecked  upon  the  Aleutian  Islands— one  such  case  having 
occurred  in  1871  :  thus  showing  that  if  a  boat  were  merely 
allowed  to  drift  with  the  current  along  the  eastern  shore  of 
Asia,  it  would  pass  by  the  way  of  the  Kurile  and  Aleutian  Isl 
ands,  and,  if  not  stopped  by  these,  would  soon  drift  to  the 
American  coast. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  records  have  been  pre 
served  in  China  of  a  number  of  journeys  made  by  the  devo 
tees  of  the  Buddhist  religion.  The  "Encyclopaedia  Britanni- 
ca"1  !11  gives  the  following  list  of  clerical  travelers,  the  accounts 
of  which  are  now  known  to  us,  and  adds  :  "  The  importance  of 
these  writings,  as  throwing  Tight  on  the  geography  and  history 
of  India  and  adjoining  countries,  during  a  very  dark  period,  is 
great." 

Shi  Tao-an  (died  A.  D.  385)  wrote  a  work  on  his  travels  to  the 
"  western  lands  "  (an  expression  applying  often  to  India),  which 
is  supposed  to  be  lost. 

Fa  Hian  traveled  to  India  in  399,  and  returned  by  sea  in  414. 

Hwai  Seng  and  .Sung  Yun,  monks,  traveled  to  India  to  col 
lect  books  and  relics,  518-521. 

Hwen  Tsang  left  China  for  India  in  629,  and  returned  in  645. 

To  which  should  be  added  : 

"  The  Itinerary  of  Fifty-six  Religious  Travelers,"  compiled 
and  published  under  imperial  authority,  730  ;  and 

"  The  Itinerary  of  Khi  Nie,"  who  traveled  (964-976)  at  the 
head  of  a  large  body  of  monks  to  collect  books,  etc.  Neither  of 
the  last  two  has  been  translated. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Edkins1271  says  that  both  Fa  Hian  and  Hwen 
Tsang  will  be  admitted  by  every  candid  reader  to  deserve  the 
reputation  for  patience  in  observation,  perseverance  in  travel, 
and  earnestness  in  religious  faith,  which  they  have  gained  by 
the  journals  and  translations  they  left  behind  them. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  these  men  were  influenced  by 
the  same  motives  which  actuate  our  Christian  missionaries  of 
recent  times.  They  went,  seeking  not  for  glory  or  riches  for 


INTRODUCTORY.  n 

themselves,  but  either  to  preach  their  faith,  in  accordance  with 
Buddha's  command,  in  countries  in  which  it  was  not  known,  or 
to  meet  their  brethren  in  foreign  lands,  or  that  they  themselves 
might  obtain  more  complete  information  as  to  the  details  of  the 
teachings  of  their  master  than  they  could  find  in  their  own 
country.  Hence  it  may  fairly  be  claimed  that  the  accounts  of 
these  men,  wTho  braved  all  dangers  from  a  devotion  to  their  re 
ligious  duty,  are  entitled  to  far  more  than  the  ordinary  degree 
of  credit,  and  that  their  statements  should  be  very  carefully 
weighed  before  we  undertake  to  reject  them  or  to  brand  their 
authors  as  romancers.  We  can  well  afford  the  same  degree  of 
charity  toward  them  that  was  shown  by  Sir  John  Maundevile 1836 
in  darker  days  than  our  own  : 

"  And  alle  be  it  that  theyse  folk  han  not  the  Articles  of  cure 
Fythe,  as  wree  han,  natheles  for  hire  gode  Fey  the  naturelle,  and 
for  hire  gode  entent,  I  trowe  fulle,  that  God  lovethe  hem,  and 
that  God  take  hire  Servyse  to  gree,  right  as  he  did  of  Job,  that 
was  a  Paynem,  and  held  him  for  his  trewe  Servaunt.  And  there 
fore  alle  be  it  that  there  ben  many  dy  verse  Lawes  in  the  World,  yit 
I  trowe,  that  God  lovethe  alweys  hem  that  loven  him,  and  serven 
him  mekely  in  trouthe  ;  and  namely,  hem  that  dispysen  the  veyn 
Glorie  of  this  World  ;  as  this  folk  don,  and  as  Job  did  also  : 
And  therf ore  seye  I  of  this  folk,  that  ben  so  trewe  and  so  f eythe- 
f ulle,  that  God  lovethe  hem." 

With  this  prelude,  as  to  the  motives  which  have  led  the  fol 
lowers  of  Buddha  to  undertake  numerous,  difficult,  and  hazardous 
journeys  to  countries  previously  unknown,  and  as  to  the  degree 
of  credence  to  which  their  accounts  are,  as  a  rule,  entitled,  we 
come  to  the  object  of  this  book. 

There  is,  among  the  records  of  China,  an  account  of  a  Bud-    vf 
dhist  priest,  who,  in  the  year  499  A.  D.,  reached  China,  and  stated     / 
that  he  had  returned  from  a  trip  to  a  country  lying  an  immense 
distance  east.     In  the  case  of  the  other  travelers  to  whom  we    , 
have  referred,  the  accounts  which  we  possess  of  their  journeys 
were  either  written  by  themselves  or  their  followers  ;  but,  in  the    i 
case  of  Hwui  Shan,  the  interest  excited  in  his  story  was  so  great  yKw 
that  the  imperial  historiographer,  whose  duty  it  was  to  record 
the  principal  events  of  the  time2417  (each  dynasty  having  its 
official  chronicle  concerning  the  physical  and  political  features 
of  China  and  the  neighbouring  countries1306),  entered  upon  his 


12  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

official  records  a  digest  of  the  information  obtained  from  this 
traveler  as  to  the  country  which  he  had  visited.  It  is  this  offi 
cial  record,  or  rather  a  copy  of  it,  contained  in  the  writings  of 
Ma  Twan-lin,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  scholars  that  the  Chi 
nese  Empire  ever  knew,  which  is  discussed  in  this  work. 

It  is  certainly  no  more  than  reasonable  to  start  with  the  pre 
sumption  that  the  account  may  be  true,  and  that  the  story  should 
not  be  rejected  as  false  because  of  any  slight  difficulties,  which 
further  investigation  might  remove. 

All  the  reasons  which  lead  us  to  accept  the  accounts  of  other 
Buddhist  missionaries  apply  with  equal  force  to  this  record,  and 
we  have,  in  addition,  the  fact  that  Hwui  Shan  succeeded  in 
convincing  the  Chinese  Emperor,  and  the  scholars  by  whom  he 
was  surrounded,  of  the  truth  of  his  tale,  and  that  he  also  ob 
tained  the  belief  of  the  people  of  China  and  of  all  Eastern  Asia 
so  thoroughly  that  even  now,  after  the  lapse  of  some  fourteen 
centuries,  there  is  scarcely  a  man  in  China,  Japan,  or  Corea,  who 
does  not  have  at  least  some  slight  knowledge  of  the  account  of 
the  marvelous  land  of  Fusang  that  was  visited  by  him.  The 
fact  that  he  obtained  such  universal  credence  is  certainly  one  of 
some  weight.  An  impostor  would  not  be  likely  to  be  so  suc 
cessful.  Among  those  whom  Hwui  Shan  convinced  were  many 
c.areful  scholars  and  bright,  intelligent  men,  who  knew  well  how 
to  weigh  and  sift  evidence,  and  who  would  have  found  the  flaw 
in  his  story  if  one  had  existed. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  book  to  show  that  the  land  visited  by 
Hwui  Shan  was  Mexico,  and  that  his  account,  in  nearly  all  its 
*.  details,  as  to  the  route,  the  direction,  the  distance,  the  plants  of 
the  country,  the  people,  their  manners,  customs,  etc.,  is  true  of 
Mexico,  and^f^n^other  country  in  the  world  ;  such  a  multitude 
of  singular  facts  being  named,  that  it  is  inconceivable  that  such 
a  story  could  have  been  told  in  any  other  way  than  as  the  result 
of  an  actual  visit  to  that  country.  It  is  true  that  there  are  a  few 
difficulties  to  be  surmounted  ;  but  the  author  believes  that  he  has 
succeeded  in  removing  a  number  upon  which  some  of  his  prede 
cessors  have  stumbled,  and  that  the  few  that  remain  can  not 
outweigh  the  immense  volume  of  evidence  that  is  presented  as 
to  the  general  truth  of  the  account. 

After  giving  translations  of  all  that  is  known  to  have  been 
written  in  French  or  German  upon  the  subject,  and  also  includ- 


INTRODUCTORY. 


13 


ing  a  full  statement  of  substantially  all  that  has  been  written 
about  it  in  English  (with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Leland's  book — 
which  the  reader  is  recommended  to  obtain,  if  he  has  failed  so 
far  to  do  so,  and  if  he  finds  the  subject  at  all  interesting),  the 
original  Chinese  account  will  be  given,  with  copies  of  the  several 
translations  that  have  heretofore  been  made,  and  with  a  new 
translation  by  the  present  author.  Each  statement  made  by 
Hwui  Shan  will  then  be  carefully  examined  in  connection  with 
the  histories  of  Mexico,  to  see  whether  the  statement  was  or  was 
not  true  of  that  country  prior  to  the  time  of  its  conquest  by  the 
Spaniards. 

After  a  full  discussion  of  his  account,  the  histories  of  Mexico 
and  other  parts  of  America  will  be  examined  to  determine,  if 
possible,  whether  any  traditions  as  to  his  visit,  or  any  results  of 
his  teachings,  still  lingered  in  the  country  at  the  time  when  the 
Spaniards,  more  than  a  thousand  years  later,  entered  it,  and 
whether  any  such  coincidences  were  found  in  the  civilization  of 
these  two  regions  of  the  world,  in  their  customs,  religious  be 
liefs,  arts,  architecture,  etc.,  as  to  lead  to  a  reasonable  presump 
tion  that  they  may  have  had  an  early  connection  with  each 
other.  As  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  country  visited  by  Hwui 
Shan  may  have  been  located  in  some  part  of  Japan,  its  history 
will  also  be  reviewed  for  the  same  purpose.  The  book  will  con 
clude  with  a  consideration  of  the  question  as  to  whether  the 
Chinese  had  any  earlier  knowledge  of  America,  or  any  further 
information  regarding  it  than  that  which  was  given  them  by 
Hwui  Shan. 

The  first  detailed  information  which  was  given  to  European 
scholars,  as  to  the  existence  of  this  account  among  the  Chinese 
records,  was  afforded  them  in  an  article  published  by  M.  de 
Guignes,  in  the  "  Literary  Memoirs  extracted  from  the  Registers 
of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres,"  Vol. 
XXVIII,  published  in  Paris  in  1761,  and  entitled  "Investigation 
of  the  Navigations  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Coast  of  America,  and 
as  to  Some  Tribes  situated  at  the  Eastern  Extremity  of  Asia"; 14: 
a  translation  of  which  article  is  given  in  the  following  chapter. 

It  would  appear,  however,  that  de  Guignes  must  have  given 
some  earlier  account  of  his  discovery  of  this  relation,  among  the 
Chinese  books  which  he  had  read  in  preparing  for  his  great 
work  upon  the  "  General  History  of  the  Huns,  the  Turks,  the 


14;  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Mongolians,  and  other  Western  Tartars,"  as  (unless  there  is  an 
error  in  the  date)  we  find  a  letter  written  by  the  Pere  Gaubil1409 
to  M.  de  1'Isle,  dated  at  Pekin,  August  28,  1752,  in  which  he 
mentions  M.  de  Guignes's  discovery  of  this  account,  but  states 
his  disbelief  of  the  reliability  of  the  Chinese  works  from  which 
his  translations  were  made.  An  extract  from  this  letter  is  given 
in  Chapter  X. 

V  Philippe  Buache,1543  in  a  work  entitled  "Considerations  Geo- 
graphiques  et  Physiques  sur  les  Nouvelles  Descouvertes  au  Nord 
de  la  Grande  Mer,"  published  at  Paris  in  1753,  in  which  he  cor 
rectly  advanced  the  opinion  of  the  existence  of  the  Strait  of 
Anian  (since  called  Behring's  Strait),  evidently  borrowed  from 
de  Guignes,  when  he  stated  that  in  the  year  458  a  colony  of  Chi 
nese  was  established  on  the  coast  of  California,  in  a  region  called 
Fusang,  which  he  placed  at  about  55°  north  latitude.  Her-' 
vas,1543  in  commenting  upon  this  statement,  says  that  this  colony 
has  not  been  found,  and  that  it  is  certain  that  none  of  the  lan 
guages  which  are  spoken  along  that  coast,  between  the  forty- 
ninth  and  sixty-fourth  degrees  (a  number  of  the  words  of  which 
are  to  be  found  in  the  account  of  Cook's  third  voyage),  have 
any  close  connection  with  the  Chinese  language. 

Alexander  von  Humboldt,  in  his  "Views  of  the  Cordille 
ras,"1  '2  mentions  a  number  of  surprising  coincidences  be 
tween  the  Asiatic  and  Mexican  civilizations,  of  such  a  nature 
and  of  such  importance  as  to  lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  must  have  been  an  early  communication  between  these 
two  regions  of  the  world  ;  but  he  makes  no  reference  in  this 
work  to  the  history  brought  to  light  by  de  Guignes  ;  and  in  his 
"Political  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  New  Spain"  he  says1607 
that,  according  to  the  learned  researches  of  Father  Gaubil,  it  ap 
pears  doubtful  whether  the  Chinese  ever  visited  the  western 
coast  of  America  at  the  time  stated  by  de  Guignes. 

^  No  further  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  to  the  subject 
until  the  year  1831,  when  M.  J.  Klaproth  published,  in  Vol. 
LI  of  the  "New  Annals  of  Voyages,"  an  article  entitled  "Re 
searches  regarding  the  Country  of  Fusang,  mentioned  in  Chi 
nese  Books,  and  erroneously  supposed  to  be  a  Part  of  Amer 
ica,"1 47  in  which  he  took  the  ground  that  the  country  mentioned 
Chinese  account  was  probably  located  in  some  part  of 
Japan.  A  translation  of  this  article  is  given  in  Chapter  III. 


INTRODUCTORY.  ,~ 

For  some  reason,  which  it  seems  difficult  to  explain,  Klap- 
roth's  assertions  and  assumptions  (for  of  argument  there  is  but 
little,  and  that  is  partly  based  upon  mistaken  premises)  seem  to 
have  been  generally  accepted  as  a  settlement  of  the  question.  « 

This  did  not  deter  the  Chevaliejxdfi^a£avey,  however,  from  ^T 
publishing2015  two  pamphlets,2017  one  in  1844  and  the  other  at  a 
somewhat  later  date,  in  which  he  argued  that  the  country  of 
Fusang  should  be  looked  for  in  America,  and  not  in  Japan. 
Translations  of  these  pamphlets  are  given  in  Chapters  IV  and  V. 
De  Paravey  also  published  two  other  essays,2011  in  which  he  at 
tempted  to  prove  that  the  natives  of  Bogota  must  have  derived 
from  Asiatic  sources  such  partial  civilization  as  they  possessed.2012  / 

The  next  to  discuss  the  subject  was  Professor  Karl  Friedrich  K 
Neumann,  who  published  his  views  in  the  "  Zeitschrift  fur 
Allgemeine  Erdkunde,"  Vol.  XVI  of  the  new  series,1966  under 
the  title  of  "  Eastern  Asia  and  Western  America,  according  to 
Chinese  Authorities  of  the  Fifth,  Sixth,  and  Seventh  Centuries." 
Mr.  Leland  published  a  translation  of  this  opuscule  in  his  book, 
entitled  "  Fusang,"  and  a  translation  is  also  given  in  the  present 
volume,  Chapter  VI. 

Since  that  time,  articles  upon  the  subject  have  followed  each 
other  so  thick  and  fast  that  it  is  difficult  to  give  a  complete  list 
of  them.  I 

In  1850  Mr.J^la»d  172°  published  a  resume  of  the  arguments  W 
upon  this  subject,  in  the  New  York  "  Knickerbocker  Maga-  ' 
zine  "  ;  and  in  1862  this  was  republished,  with  additions,  in  the 
New  York  "  Continental  Magazine."  In  1875  Mr.  Leland  pub 
lished  a  much  fuller  work,  entitled  "  Fusang,  or  the  Discovery 
of  America  by  Chinese  Buddhist  Priests  in  the  Fifth  Century." 
This  treats  the  subject  at  much  greater  length  than  any  other 
work,  and  hence  it  is  impossible  for  the  present  author  to  do 
more  than  refer  to  it ;  but  it  adxlucesjnuch  new  and  valuable 
evidence  as  to  the  true  location  of  Fusang,  and  well  merits  care 
ful  perusal. 

In  1862  M.  Jose  Jkcez2026  published  a  "Memoir  upon  the  Re 
lations  of  the  Americans  in  Former  Times  with  the  Nations  of 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,"  one  section  of  which  related  to  the 
knowledge  of  America  possessed  by  the  Chinese. 

In  18651277M.  Gustave  d'Eichthal  published  a  "Study  con-  r\ 

cerning  the  Buddhistic  Origin  of  American  Civilization."  n 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

In  the  same  year  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,2458  in  a  chapter 
of  his  "  Geographical  Annual "  for  that  year,  entitled  "  An  Old 
Story  Set  Afloat,"  combated  the  idea  that  the  Chinese  had  any 
early  knowledge  of  America. 

In  1866  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  in  the  work  en 
titled  "Ancient  Monuments  of  Mexico,"763  argued  against  the 
views  of  the  author  of  the  "  Geographical  Annual." 

In  1868  Dr.  A.  Godron,  President  of  the  Academy  of  Sci 
ences  at  Nancy,  published,  in  the  "  Annals  of  Voyages  of  Geog 
raphy,  History,  and  Archaeology,"1411  an  article  entitled  "A 
Buddhist  Mission  to  America  in  the  Fifth  Century  of  the  Chris 
tian  Era." 

According  to  the  "American  Philological  Magazine"  for 
August,  1869,  the  Rev.  N.  W.  Jones  published  in  his  "  Indian 
Bulletin "  an  able  argument  to  show  that  the  Chinese  Fusang 
was  America. 

In  the  same  number  of  the  "  American  Philological  Maga 
zine  "  there  appeared  an  article  85°  upon  the  subject,  by  the  Rev. 
Nathan  Brown,  under  the  heading,  "  Where  was  Fusang  ?  " 

In  May,  1869,  a  letter  upon  the  subject  from  Mr.  Theos. 
Simson 1719  was  published  in  the  "  Notes  and  Queries  for  China 
and  Japan";  and  in  October,  1870,  a  letter  by  E.  Bretschneider, 
Esq.,  M.  D.j"4  was  published  in  the  "  Chinese  Recorder  and  Mis 
sionary  Journal."  Both  of  these  letters  were  copied  by  Mr.  Le- 
land  in  his  work. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  International  Congress  of  Ameri 
canists,  held  at  Nancy  in  1875,  M.  Lucien  Adam  read  an  argu 
ment  against  the  identification  of  Fusang  with  America. 

These  various  articles,  some  of  them  more  or  less  condensed, 
are,  with  the  exception  of  the  argument  by  the  Rev.  N.  W. 
Jones  (of  which  I  have  been  unable  to  find  a  copy),  given  in 
Chapters  VII  to  XI  of  this  work. 

In  1876  M.  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys  published 
a  "  Memoir  regarding  the  Country  known  to  the  Ancient  Chi 
nese  by  the  Name  of  Fusang "  ; 1544  but  as  his  views,  and  the 
exceedingly  valuable  new  material  that  he  presents,  are  given 
more  fully  in  his  notes  to  his  translation  of  Ma  Twan-lin's  work, 
entitled  "  Ethnography  of  Foreign  Nations,"  and  as,  moreover, 
much  of  the  "  Memoir  "  is  quoted  by  Professor  Williams  in  his 
comments  upon  it,  it  has  not  seemed  necessary  to  copy  the  "  Me- 


INTRODUCTORY.  17 

moir"  in  this   work.      The   substance  of  the  notes  upon  the 
"  Ethnography  "  is,  however,  given  in  Chapters  XII  and  XIII. 

Mr.  Bancroft,  in  his  "Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States,"404 
gives  Klaproth's  translation  of  the  story  of  Fusang,  and  com 
ments  briefly  upon  it. 

Professor  S.  Wells  Williams  presented  to  the  American  Ori-       / 
ental  Society,  on  October  25,  1880,  an  article  entitled  "Notices    ' 
of  Fusang  and  Other  Countries  lying  East  of  China,"  in  which 
he  urges  some  new  grounds  for  adopting  the  conclusion  of  Klap- 
roth  that  Fusang  should  be  decided  to  have  been  located  in 
Japan.     This  article,  slightly  condensed,  is  copied  in  Chapter 
XIV. 

The  last  article  on  the  subject  is  contained  in  the  "  Maga 
zine  of  American  History,"  for  April,  1883,  in  which  there  is 
given  a  letter  from  the  Rt.  Rev.  Channing  M.  Williams,  refer 
ring  to  the  accounts  of  Fusang  contained  in  the  Shan  Hal  King, 
the  Chinese  classic  of  lands  and  seas.  This  will  be  found  in 
Chapter  X  ;  and  a  translation  of  all  that  portion  of  the  Shan 
ffai  King  which  relates  to  Eastern  regions  will  be  found  in 
Chapter  XXXY. 

An  extract  from  the  Introduction  to  the  "  Grammar  of  the 
Chinese  Language,"  by  the  Rev.  W.  Lobscheid, 1759  in  which 
many  singular  coincidences  are  mentioned  between  the  civiliza 
tions  of  Mexico  and  China  ;  and  some  extracts  from  Mr.  Pres- 
cott's  "  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  in  which  he  ex 
presses  his  conviction  of  a  connection  between  the  civilizations 
of  the  two  countries,  are  also  given  (in  Chapter  IX),  as  having  a 
bearing  upon  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DE  GUIGNES'S   DISCOVERT. 

Chinese  voyages-Knowledge  of  foreign  lands-Work  of  Li-yen,  a  Chinese  histo 
rian—The  country  of  Fu-sang— The  length  of  the  li- Wen-shin— Its  identifi 
cation  with  Jesso— Ta-han— Its  identification  with  Kamtchatka— The  route  to 
Ta-han  by  land— The  country  of  the  Ko-li-han— The  She-goei— The  Yu-che— 
Description  of  Kamtchatka— The  land  of  Lieu-kuci— The  description  of  Fu- 
sang— No  other  knowledge  of  the  country— The  Pacific  coast  of  North  America 
—A  Japanese  map— The  Kingdom  of  Women— Its  description— Shipwreck 
of  a  Chinese  vessel— American  traditions— Civilization  of  American  tribes 
on  the  Pacific  coast— The  Mexicans— Horses— Cattle— The  fu-sang  tree- 
Mexican  writing — Manner  in  which  America  was  peopled — Similarity  of  cus 
toms  in  Asia  and  America— Resemblances  in  the  people— Charlevoix's  story 
—Natives  floated  upon  cakes  of  ice— The  kingdom  of  Chang-jin— Voyages  of 
other  nations — The  Arabs — Exploration  of  the  Atlantic — The  Canaries — 
Story  of  their  king — The  Cape  Verd  Islands — Conclusion. 

Investigation  of  the  Navigations  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Coast  of 
America,  and  as  to  some  Tribes  situated  at  the  Eastern  Ex 
tremity  of  Asia — by  M.  de  Gruignes.ul5 

THE  Chinese  have  not  always  been  confined  within  the  bound 
aries  which  Nature  appears  to  have  established  to  the  country 
in  which  they  dwell ;  they  have  often  crossed  the  deserts  and 
the  mountains  which  shut  them  in  on  their  northern  side,  and 
sailed  the  Indian  and  Japanese  seas  which  bound  their  kingdom  on 
the  east  and  the  south.  The  principal  object  of  these  voyages  has 
been,  either  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  or  the  intention  to 
extend  the  limits  of  their  empire.  In  these  voyages  observations 
have  been  made  that  are  important,  as  well  in  regard  to  history 
as  to  geography.  Several  of  their  generals  have  rectified  the 
maps  of  the  countries  which  they  reconnoitered,  and  their  histo 
rians  have  reported  some  details  as  to  routes,  bearings,  and  dis 
tances,  which  can  be  made  useful. 

In  the  enumeration  of  all  the  different  foreign  nations  that 


DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  ^9 

the  Chinese  have  known,  it  appears  that  some  of  them  must 
have  been  situated  easterly  from  Tartary  and  Japan,  in  a  region 
which  was  included  within  the  limits  of  the  American  Continent. 

A  knowledge  of  this  region  of  the  world  could  have  been 
obtained  only  by  means  of  a  cruise  that  is  very  remarkable  and 
unusually  daring  for  the*  Chinese — who  have  always  been  con 
sidered  as  but  mediocre  sailors,  hardly  capable  of  undertaking 
long  voyages,  and  whose  vessels  are  constructed  of  so  little 
strength  as  to  be  poorly  adapted  to  resisting  the  hardships  of  a 
sail  over  a  distance  so  great  as  that  from  China  to  Mexico. 
These  voyages  have  appeared  to  me  to  be  so  important,  and  to 
have  so  intimate  a  relation  with  the  history  of  the  tribes  of 
America,  as  to  induce  me  to  devote  myself  to  collecting  and 
placing  in  order  all  that  could  contribute  to  their  elucidation. 

I  intend  this  memoir  to  establish  the  voyages  of  the  Chi 
nese  to  Jesso,  to  Kamtchatka,  and  to  that  part  of  America  which 
is  situated  opposite  the  easternmost  coast  of  Asia.  I  dare  flatter 
myself  that  these  researches  will  be  the  more  favourably  received, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  novel,  and  rest  wholly  upon  authentic  facts, 
and  not  upon  conjectures,  such  as  those  which  we  find  in  the 
works  of  Grotius,  Delaet,  and  other  writers  who  have  investi 
gated  the  origin  of  the  American  tribes.  It  is  surprising  to  see  v 
that  Chinese  vessels  made  the  voyage  to  America  many  centuries 
before  Christopher  Columbus — that  is  to  say,  more  than  twelve 
hundred  years  ago.  This  date,  anterior  to  the  origin  and  the  es 
tablishment  of  the  Mexican  Empire,  leads  us  to  inquire  whence 
these  nations,  and  some  other  nations  of  America,  received  that 
degree  of  civilization  which  distinguishes  them  from  the  barbar 
ous  tribes  of  the  continent. 

Li-yen,  a  Chinese  historian,  who  lived  at  the  commencement 
of  the  seventh  century,  speaks  of  a  country  called  Fit-sang,  more 
than  forty  thousand  li  distant  from  China,  toward  the  east.  He 
says  that,  in  order  to  reach  it,  one  should  set  forth  from  the  coast 
of  the  province  of  Leao-tong,  situated  to  the  north  of  Pe-ltin, 
and  that,  after  having  traveled  twelve  thousand  li,  one  reaches 
Japan  ;  that  from  that  country,  toward  the  north,  after  a  voy 
age  of  seven  thousand  li,  the  country  of  Wen-shin  is  attained  ; 
that  at  a  distance  of  five  thousand  li  eastwardly  from  the  last 
the  country  of  Ta-han  is  found,  from  which  Fit-sang  may  be 
reached,  which  is  at  a  distance  of  twenty  thousand  li  from  Ta- 


20  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

han.  Of  all  these  countries  we  know  no  others  than  Leao-tong, 
a  northerly  province  of  China,  the  point  of  embarkation,  and 
Japan,  which  was  the  principal  halting-place  for  the  Chinese 
vessels.  The  three  other  places  at  which  they  arrived  in  suc 
cession  are  Wen-shin,  Ta-han,  and  Fu-sang.  I  shall  show  that 
the  first  must  be  understood  as  Jesso;  and  the  second  as  Kam- 
tchatka,  and  that  the  third  must  be  a  country  situated  near  Cali 
fornia.  But  before  examining  this  route  particularly,  I  wish  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  li  which  the  Chinese  geographers  employed 
as  the  standard  for  measuring  the  distance  between  these  places. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  the  true  length  of  this  measure. 
To-day,  two  hundred  and  fifty  li  make  a  geographical  degree, 
which  gives  ten  li  to  each  French  league  of  about  three  English 
miles.  But  the  length  of  the  li,  like  that  of  the  French  league, 
has  varied  under  the  different  imperial  dynasties  and  in  the  dif 
ferent  provinces  of  the  empire.  Pere  Gaubil,  who  has  made  able 
researches  concerning  the  astronomy  of  the  Chinese,  does  not 
dare  to  attempt  to  prove  the  true  length  of  this  measure.  He 
informs  us  that  the  majority  of  the  scholars  of  the  reign  of  the 
Han  dynasty  maintained  that  a  thousand  li,  measured  from  the 
south  to  the  north,  gave  a  difference  of  an  inch  in  the  length  of 
the  shadow  of  an  eight-foot  hand  of  a  sun-dial,  when  measured 
at  noon.  The  scholars  of  later  days  have  believed  this  deter 
mination  to  be  wrong,  because  they  have  been  guided  in  their 
judgment  by  the  measure  of  the  li  in  use  in  the  times  in  which 
they  lived.  If  we  cast  our  eyes  upon  the  li  adopted  by  the 
astronomers  of  the  Liang  dynasty,  which  flourished  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  sixth  century,  we  find  a  material  difference, 
since  two  hundred  and  fifty  li,  measured  from  the  north  to  the 
south,  give  a  similar  difference  in  the  length  of  the  shadow.  In 
order  to  judge  of  the  distance  of  the  countries  by  the  statement 
as  to  the  number  of  li  between  them,  it  is  therefore  necossary  to 
know  the  length  of  the  li  at  the  time  of  the  author.  We  may 
be  assured  that  he  has  considered  the  length  of  this  measure,  and 
has  given  the  distances  with  precision.  The  difficulty  in  deter 
mining  the  length  of  the  li  may  be  avoided  by  considering  the 
report  of  the  same  author  regarding  two  places  that  are  well 
known.  The  distance  which  is  reported  from  the  shore  of  Leao- 
tong  to  the  island  of  Tui-ma-tao  is  seven  thousand  li.  In  con 
formity  with  the  length  of  the  li  established  by  this  distance, 


DE   GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  21 

the  twelve  thousand  U  from.  Leao-tong  to  Japan  terminate  at 
about  the  center  of  the  island,  near  Meaco,  which  is  the  capital, 
and  which  then  bore  the  name  of  Shan-ching,  or  the  City  of  the 
Mountain.  Wen-shin,  which  is  found  seven  thousand  li  from 
Japan  toward  the  northeast,  can  not  be  anything  else  than 
Jesso,  situated  to  the  northeast  of  Japan,  and  at  which  the  seven 
thousand  li  terminate.  A  Chinese  historian,  who  has  given  us  a 
very  curious  memoir  concerning  Japan,  has  furnished  us  with 
additional  proofs.  In  speaking  of  the  limits  of  this  empire,  he 
says  that  to  the  northeast  of  the  mountains  which  bound  Japan 
is  placed  the  kingdom  of  the  Mao-jin,  or  of  hairy  men,  and  be 
yond  them  that  of  Wen-shin,  or  the  country  of  painted  bodies, 
about  seven  thousand  U  from  Japan.  The  first  are  the  inhab 
itants  of  Matsumai;  the  latter  are  their  neighbours  on  the  north, 
the  people  of  Jesso,  which,  as  a  consequence,  must  be  Wen-shin. 
This  country,  according  to  the  Chinese  historian,  was  made 
known  about  510  or  520  A.  D.,  its  inhabitants  having  figures 
similar  to  those  of  animals.  They  traced  different  lines  upon 
their  faces,  the  form  of  which  served  to  distinguish  the  chief 
men  of  the  nation  from  the  common  people.  They  exposed 
their  condemned  criminals  to  wild  beasts,  and  they  deemed  those 
innocent  from  whom  the  animals  took  flight.  Their  towns  or 
villages  were  unwalled.  The  dwelling  of  the  king  was  orna 
mented  with  precious  things.  They  added,  again,  that  a  ditch 
might  be  seen  there  which  appeared  to  be  filled  with  quicksilver, 
and  that  this  matter,  esteemed  in  commerce,  became  liquid  and 
flowing  when  it  had  imbibed  water  from  the  rain.  It  was,  for 
the  rest,  a  fertile  country,  where  all  that  is  necessary  to  sustain 
life  might  be  found  in  abundance. 

This  description  agrees  with  what  we  read  in  the  accounts  of 
those  who  have  explored  the  island  of  Jesso.  The  Japanese,  who 
were  formerly  sent  there  by  an  emperor  of  Japan,  found  hairy 
men  there  who  wore  their  beards  in  the  manner  of  the  Chinese, 
but  who  were  so  rude  and  brutish  that  they  would  not  receive  any 
instruction.  When  the  Hollanders  discovered  Jesso,  in  1 643,  the 
same  barbarians  were  living  there  that  had  been  described  by  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese,  and  their  country  appeared  to  abound  in 
mines  of  silver.  But  that  which  agrees  the  most  remarkably 
with  the  account  of  the  Chinese  is,  that  the  Hollanders  found 
there  a  mineral  earth  which  glistened  in  the  sun  as  if  it  consisted 


22  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

of  silver.  This  earth,  mixed  with  a  very  friable  sand,  they  found 
where  water  had  been  placed.  It  is  this  which  the  Chinese  had 
taken  for  quicksilver.  These  proofs,  and  the  situation  of  Wen- 
shin,  and  its  distance  from  Japan  according  to  the  Chinese 
writers,  do  not  permit  us  to  doubt  that  it  must  be  the  island  of 
Jesso.  At  a  distance  of  five  thousand  li  from  this  country,  toward 
the  east,  the  ancient  Chinese  navigators  found  Ta-han.  They 
declared  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  had  no  military 
weapons  ;  that  their  customs  were  essentially  the  same  as  those  of 
the  people  of  Wen-shin,  but  that  they  had  a  different  language. 
At  almost  exactly  the  distance  of  five  thousand  li,  indicated 
by  the  Chinese,  we  find  upon  our  maps  the  southern  coast  of  an 
island  which  Don  Jean  de  Gama  discovered  when  going  from 
Mexico  to  China.  Because  of  the  agreement  as  to  distance,  I  at 
first  believed  that  this  coast  was  that  of  Ta-han  y  but  the  details 
of  the  route  which  was  taken  to  reach  that  country  by  land,  a 
route  which  can  not  be  reconciled  with  the  island  of  Gama,  which 
is  said  to  be  separated  from  Asia,  has  compelled  me  to  seek  else 
where  for  the  true  location  of  the  country,  and  to  place  it  in  the 
easternmost  part  of  Asia.  The  statements  of  our  navigators  who 
have  sailed  these  seas  have  contributed  not  a  little  to  confirm  me 
in  this  opinion.  They  have  remarked  that,  in  the  route  from 
China  to  California,  they  usually  took  the  wind  carrying  them 
to  the  north  of  Japan  and  into  the  sea  of  Jesso,  from  which  they 
sailed  to  the  east,  but  that  at  the  Strait  of  Uries  the  current  car 
ried  them  rapidly  toward  the  north.  Thus  the  Chinese,  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  close  to  the  coast,  have  entered  into  the  Strait 
of  Uries,  beyond  which  they  have  found  a  number  of  islands 
which  extend  as  far  as  the  southernmost  point  of  Kamtchatka, 
where  the  five  thousand  li,  the  distance  between' Jesso  and  Ta- 
han,  also  terminate  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  have  reached  the  port  of 
Avatcha,  at  which  the  Russians  recently  embarked,  to  attempt 
the  discovery  of  the  western  coast  of  America,  and  whence  they 
have  taken  the  route  of  Captain  Spanberg,  who  was  commis 
sioned  by  the  Russian  empress,  in  1739,  to  reconnoitre  the  coast 
of  Japan.  But,  in  order  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  this  point, 
I  believe  that  we  should  be  able  to  show  by  the  route  indi 
cated  by  the  Chinese  author  that  Ta-han  is  more  to  the  north 
than  the  place  discovered  by  Gama,  and  that  it  forms  a  part  of 
Siberia, 


DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  23 

I  shall  not  examine  in  full  detail  all  the  Tartarian  tribes  men 
tioned  by  the  Chinese  historian,  but  shall  confine  myself  to 
speaking  only  of  those  that  are  situated  in  the  easternmost  part 
of  Asia,  and  shall  devote  myself  to  relating  the  customs  of  the 
inhabitants,  so  that  they  may  be  compared  with  those  of  the 
nations  whom  I  place  in  America,  and  that  it  may  be  conclu 
sively  shown,  by  the  differences  which  are  found,  that  these  last 
can  not  be  placed  in  Kamtchatka.  Moreover,  this  circumstantial 
account  has  seemed  very  interesting  to  me,  because  of  the  infor 
mation  that  it  gives  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  Eastern  Siberia. 

The  Chinese  travelers,  who  desired  to  reach  the  country  of 
Ta-han,  set  forth  from  a  city  situated  to  the  north  of  the  river 
Hoang-lio  toward  the  country  of  the  Tartar  Ortous.  This  city, 
which  the  Chinese  called  Ckung-sheu-kiang-ching,  must  be  the 
same  as  that  which  now  bears  the  name  of  Piljotaihotun.  The 
great  desert  of  Shamo  was  then  passed,  and  Caracorum  was 
reached,  which  was  the  principal  encampment  of  the  Iloei-ke^ 
important  Tartarian  tribes,  from  which  they  came  into  the  coun 
try  of  the  Ko-li-han  and  of  the  Tu-po,  situated  to  the  south  of 
a  large  lake,  upon  the  frozen  surface  of  which  the  travelers  were 
obliged  to  cross.  To  the  north  of  this  lake,  great  mountains 
were  found,  and  a  country  where  the  sun,  says  one,  is  not  above 
the  horizon  longer  than  the  length  of  time  that  it  takes  to  cook  a 
breast  of  mutton.  This  is  the  singular  expression  of  which  the 
Chinese  author  makes  use  to  describe  a  country  situated  very 
far  to  the  north.  The  Tu-po,  neighbours  of  the  I£o-li~han,  have 
their  dwelling-places  upon  the  south  of  the  same  lake.  These 
people,  who  do  not  distinguish  the  different  seasons  of  the  year, 
shut  themselves  up  in  cabins  made  of  interlaced  brush- wood, 
where  they  live  upon  fish  and  birds  and  other  animals  which  are 
found  in  their  country,  and  upon  roots.  They  neglect  to  feed 
herds,  and  do  not  apply  themselves  at  all  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
earth.  The  richest  among  them  clothe  themselves  in  the  skins 
of  sables  and  of  reindeers,  others  being  clad  in  birds'-feathers. 
They  attach  their  dead  to  the  branches  of  trees.  They  thus  leave 
them  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  or  to  fall  from  putrefaction, 
which  is  a  practice  also  found  among  the  Tunguses  who  live  in 
the  same  country. 

Another  Chinese  historian  informs  us  as  to  where  we  may 
look  for  the  true  abode  of  the  Eb-li-han,  which  appears  to  us  Ux 


2±  AN"  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

be  the  same  as  the  country  of  the  ICerkis  or  Kergis.  He  men 
tions  the  rivers  Obi  and  Angara  under  the  names  of  0-pu  and 
Gang-ko-la.  We  must  conclude  from  this  that  the  lake  placed 
to  the  north  of  the  Ko-li-han  is  the  famous  Lake  Baikal,  which 
those  who  come  from  Russia,  or  from  Siberia,  to  China,  are 
obliged  to  cross  upon  the  ice  when  they  arrive  there  in  winter. 
The  Chinese  employed  eight  days  in  crossing  it.  Less  time  is 
taken  at  present ;  but  it  is  still  as  dangerous  as  ever,  because  of 
the  force  of  the  winds  and  the  abundance  of  snow.  It  follows 
from  this  account  that  the  country  of  Ko-li-han  is  that  of  the 
KerJcis,  a  warlike  people,  who  lived  among  the  mountains,  and 
who  have  been  regarded  as  the  ancestors  of  the  Circassians,  who, 
among  themselves,  call  themselves  l&rkez,  and  who  live  to  the 
north  of  Georgia,  where  they  have  finally  penetrated.  The  an 
cient  country  of  the  Kerkis  is  situated  in  the  provinces  which 
we  now  call  Selinginskoy  and  Irkutskoy,  between  the  Obi  and 
the  Selinga.  This  is  what  it  was  necessary  to  determine  in 
order  to  arrive  at  an  exact  knowledge  of  the  route  which  led  to 
Ta-han.  Upon  leaving  the  country  of  the  Ko-li-han,  one  comes 
into  that  of  the  She-goei.  These  people  are  situated  to  the  east 
of  Lake  Baikal  and  of  the  country  of  the  KerJcis,  upon  the  north 
ern  bank  of  the  river  Amoor.  From  the  detailed  description 
which  has  been  preserved  for  us  by  the  Chinese  historians,  it 
may  be  seen  that  these  barbarians  extended  in  the  north  of  Siberia 
along  the  Lena  River  up  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  sixtieth 
degree.  This  important  tribe  was  divided  into  five  principal 
hordes,  which  appeared  as  so  many  different  nations.  The  first, 
called  Nan  She-goei,  that  is  to  say,  Southern  She-goei,  were  situ 
ated  to  the  north  of  the  Tartarian  Niu-che  and  Khi-tans,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  river  Amoor,  in  a  country  marshy,  cold,  and  ster 
ile,  where  no  sheep  were  raised,  and  where  but  few  horses  were 
found,  but  which  produced  swine  and  cattle  in  great  numbers, 
and  even  a  greater  number  of  wild  beasts,  from  which  the  in 
habitants  protected  themselves  with  difficulty.  The  barbarians 
were  clothed  in  hog-skins,  and  at  the  summer  solstice  they  re 
tired  into  the  midst  of  the  mountains.  They  had  wagons  cov 
ered  with  felt,  such  as  are  used  by  the  Turks,  which  were  drawn 
by  cattle.  They  built  their  cabins  of  wood,  with  some  reeds. 
Their  writing  was  by  means  of  small  pieces  of  wood,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  disposed  them  expressed  their  different 


DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  25 

ideas.  He  who  wished  to  marry,  commenced  by  carrying 
away  the  destined  bride  by  force,  and  afterward  sent  a  present 
of  cattle  or  horses  to  her  parents.  After  the  death  of  her  hus 
band,  the  laws  of  the  country  compelled  the  woman  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  her  life  in  widowhood,  and  the  family  continued 
the  mourning  for  three  years,  as  is  the  custom  among  the  Chi 
nese.  The  corpses  of  the  dead  were  placed  upon  piles  of  wood 
and  abandoned.  The  other  branches  of  the  same  nation  con 
sisted  of  the  She-goei  of  the  north  (which  were  called  Po  She- 
goei)  and  the  Great  She-goei.  They  were  clothed  in  fish-skins, 
and  had  no  other  industry  than  fishing  and  hunting  sables,  and 
during  the  winters  they  retired  into  caverns.  At  the  north  of 
the  last  there  lived  another  nation,  whose  excursions  carried 
them  to  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

This  is  the  account  given  by  the  Chinese  historians  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  the  north  of  Asia,  across  whose  country 
those  who  wished  to  go  to  Ta-han  were  obliged  to  pass.  In  fact, 
after  having  left  the  country  of  the  She-goei  and  traveling  east 
ward  for  five  days,  the  Yu-che  are  found,  a  people  who  derive 
their  origin  from  the  She-goei  ;  from  there,  after  ten  days'  jour 
ney  toward  the  north,  the  country  of  Ta-han  is  reached,  which 
is  the  terminus  of  the  route  which  I  have  undertaken  to  exam 
ine.  Ta-han  may  be  reached  by  sea  also,  as  I  have  shown  above, 
and  by  setting  sail  from  Jesso ;  from  which  we  must  necessarily 
conclude  that  the  country  of  the  Yu-che,  which  makes  part  of 
Siberia,  is  situated  toward  the  river  Ouda,  which  discharges 
itself  into  the  Sea  of  KamtchatJca,  and  that  Ta-han,  placed  to  the 
north  of  the  Yu-che,  is  the  easternmost  part  of  Siberia,  and  not 
the  island  of  Gama,  which  is  entirely  detached  from  the  conti 
nent,  and  is  situated  more  to  the  south  and  nearer  to  Jesso. 

This  part  of  Siberia,  called  Kamtchatka,  is  the  region  which 
the  Japanese  call  OJcu-jesso,  or  Upper  Jesso.  They  place  it  upon 
their  maps  to  the  north  of  Jesso,  and  represent  it  as  being  twice 
as  large  as  China,  and  extending  much  farther  to  the  east  than 
the  eastern  shore  of  Japan.  This  is  the  country  which  the  Chi 
nese  have  named  Ta-han,  which  may  signify  "  as  large  as  China," 
a  name  which  corresponds  with  the  extent  of  the  country  and 
to  the  idea  which  the  Japanese  have  given  us  of  it.  But,  ac 
cording  to  the  more  detailed  accounts  given  by  the  Russians, 
the  country  is  a  tongue  of  land  which  extends  from  north  to 


V\ 


J 


26  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

south,  from  the  Cape  of  Suetoi-noss  as  far  as  to  the  north  of 
Jesso,  with  which  several  writers  have  confounded  it.  It  is  a 
part  of  Siberia  which  is  separated  from  the  rest  by  a  gulf  of  the 
Eastern  Sea,  which  runs  from  the  south  to  the  north.  Toward 
the  northern  extremity  it  is  inhabited  by  very  savage  tribes. 
Those  who  live  in  the  southern  part  are  more  civilized,  and  have 
much  in  common  with  the  Japanese,  which  has  occasioned  the 
belief  that  they  were  originally  colonists  from  that  country.  It 
is  probable  that  their  commerce  with  the  Chinese  and  Japanese, 
who  traded  upon  their  coasts,  has  contributed  to  render  them 
more  friendly  and  affable  than  those  of  the  north,  to  whom  these 
two  civilized  nations  penetrated  but  very  rarely. 

The  southern  part  of  Kamtchatka,  or  Ta-han,  has  also  been 
known  to  the  Chinese  by  the  name  of  Lieu-kuei.  Formerly,  the 
Tartars  who  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  river  Amoor 
reached  the  country  after  five  days'  navigation  toward  the  north. 
The  Chinese  historian  reports  that  this  country  is  surrounded 
by  the  sea  upon  three  sides,  that  the  people  dwell  along  the 
coast  and  in  the  neighbouring  islands,  and  that  they  have  their 
dwellings  in  deep  caverns  and  woody  thickets.  They  make  a 
species  of  cloth  from  dog-hair.  The  skins  of  swine  and  reindeer 
serve  for  their  clothing  during  the  winter,  and  fish-skins  during 
the  summer.  The  weather  of  the  country  is  cold,  because  of 
the  fogs  and  snows  which  they  have  in  abundance.  The  rivers 
are  frozen  over,  and  several  lakes  are  found,  supplying  fish,  which 
the  people  salt  in  order  to  preserve  them.  They  have  no  knowl 
edge  of  the  division  of  the  seasons.  They  love  to  dance,  and 
wear  their  mourning-garments  for  three  years.  They  have  large 
bows,  and  arrows  pointed  with  bone  or  stone.  In  the  year  640 
A.  D.  the  king  of  this  country  sent  his  sons  to  China. 

These  long  details  have  been  necessary  to  arrive  at  an  exact 
understanding  of  the  situation  of  the  country  of  Fti-sang,  which 
is  the  utmost  limit  of  the  navigations  of  the  Chinese.  The  fol 
lowing  is  the  description  of  it  which  their  historians  have  pre 
served  for  us.  It  was  given  by  a  priest  who  went  to  China  in 
the  year  499  A.  D.,  in  the  reign  of  the  T£i  dynasty  : 

"  The  Kingdom  of  Fu-sang  is  situated  twenty  thousand  li  to 
the  east  of  the  country  of  Ta-han.  It  is  also  east  of  China.  It 
produces  a  great  number  of  a  species  of  tree  called  fu-sang,  from 
which  has  come  the  name  borne  by  the  country.  The  leaves  of 


DE   GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY. 


27 


ihefu-sang  are  similar  to  those  of  the  tree  which  the  Chinese  call 
fung.  When  they  first  appear,  they  resemble  the  shoots  of  the 
reeds  called  bamboos,  and  the  people  of  the  country  eat  them.  V 
The  fruit  has  the  form  of  a  pear,  and  inclines  toward  red  in 
colour  ;  from  its  bark  they  make  cloth  and  other  stuffs,  with 
which  the  people  clothe  themselves,  and  the  boards  which  are 
made  from  it  are  employed  in  the  construction  of  their  houses. 
No  walled  cities  are  found  there.  The  people  have  a  species  of 
writing,  and  they  love  peace.  Two  prisons,  one  placed  in  the 
south  and  the  other  in  the  north,  are  designed  to  confine  their 
criminals,  with  this  difference,  that  the  most  guilty  are  placed  in 
the  northern  prison,  and  are  afterward  transferred  into  that  of 
the  south  if  they  obtain  their  pardon  ;  otherwise  they  are  con 
demned  to  remain  all  their  lives  in  the  first.  They  are  per 
mitted  to  marry,  but  their  children  are  made  slaves.  When 
criminals  are  found  occupying  one  of  the  principal  ranks  in  the 
nation,  the  other  chiefs  assemble  around  them  ;  they  place  them 
in  a  ditch,  and  hold  a  great  feast  in  their  presence.  They  are 
then  judged.  Those  who  have  merited  death  are  buried  alive 
in  ashes,  and  their  posterity  is  punished  according  to  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  crime. 

"The  king  bears  the  title  of  noble  Y-chi ;  the  nobles  of  the 
nation  after  him  are  the  great  and  petty  Tui-lu  and  the  Na- 
to-sha.  The  prince  is  preceded  by  drums  and  horns  when  he 
goes  abroad.  He  changes  the  colour  of  his  garments  every  year. 
The  cattle  of  the  country  bear  a  considerable  weight  upon  their 
horns.  They  are  harnessed  to  wagons.  Horses  and  deer  are 
also  employed  for  this  purpose.  The  inhabitants  feed  hinds  as 
in  China,  and  from  them  they  obtain  butter.  A  species  of  red 
pear  is  found  there,  which  is  kept  for  a  year  without  spoiling  ; 
also  the  iris,  and  peaches,  and  copper  in  great  abundance.  They 
have  no  iron,  and  gold  and  silver  are  not  valued.  He  who 
wishes  to  marry,  builds  a  house  or  cabin  near  that  of  the  maid 
whom  he  desires  to  wed,  and  takes  care  to  sprinkle  a  certain 
quantity  of  water  upon  the  ground  every  day  during  the  year  ; 
he  finally  marries  the  maid,  if  she  wishes  and  consents ;  other 
wise  he  goes  to  seek  his  fortune  elsewhere.  The  marriage  cere 
monies,  for  the  most  part,  are  similar  to  those  which  are  prac 
ticed  in  China.  At  the  death  of  relatives,  they  fast  a  greater  or 
less  number  of  days,  according  to  the  degree  of  relationship,  and 


28  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

during  their  prayers  they  expose  the  image  of  the  deceased 
person.  They  wear  no  mourning-garments,  and  the  prince  who 
succeeds  to  his  father  takes  no  care  regarding  the  government 
for  three  years  after  his  elevation.  In  former  times  the  people 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  religion  of  Fo;  but  in  the  year  458  A.  D., 
in  the  Sung  dynasty,  five  priests  of  Samarcand  went  preaching 
their  doctrine  in  this  country,  and  then  the  manners  of  the  peo 
ple  were  changed." 

The  historian  from  whom  Ma  Twan-lin  has  copied  this  rela 
tion  adds  that  there  was  no  knowledge  of  the  country  of  Fu- 
sang  before  the  year  458  A.  D.,  and,  up  to  the  present  time,  I 
have  not  seen  any  other  than  these  two  writers  who  speak  of  it 
with  full  details.  Some  writers  of  dictionaries,  who  have  also 
made  mention  of  it,  content  themselves  by  saying  that  it  is  situ 
ated  in  the  region  where  the  sun  rises. 

This  account  informs  us  that  Fa-sang  is  twenty  thousand  li 
from  Ta-han  or  Kamtchatka,  a  distance  almost  as  great  as  that 
from  the  shore  of  Leao-tong  to  Kamtchatka.  So,  in  setting  forth 
from  one  of  the  ports  of  this  last-named  country,  as  that  of 
Avatcha,  and  sailing  eastward  for  a  distance  of  twenty  thousand 
li  (which  presents  to  us  a  great  expanse  of  sea),  the  route  termi 
nates  upon  the  westernmost  coast  of  America,  not  far  from  the 
spot  where  the  Russians  landed  in  1741.  In  all  this  vast  waste 
of  waters  we  do  not  find  any  land,  not  even  an  island,  to  which 
the  distance  of  twenty  thousand  li  could  be  applied,  and  we  can 
not  suppose  that  the  Chinese  had  followed  the  coast  of  Asia  and 
landed  upon  its  most  easterly  extremity,  and  there  found  the  land 
of  Fu-sang.  The  excessive  coldness  of  the  weather  which  exists 
in  Kamtchatka  and  the  neighbouring  northern  regions  renders 
them  almost  uninhabitable.  The  distance  is  far  from  sufficient, 
and  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  appear  to  be  given  over  to 
barbarism,  when  their  customs  are  compared  with  those  of  the 
people  of  Fu-sang. 

In  vain  we  flatter  ourselves  that  we  know  the  western  coast 
of  America  perfectly  ;  we  know  nothing  of  the  country  situated 
to  the  west  and  northwest  of  Canada.  Our  first  geographers, 
from  conjectures,  as  to  the  foundation  of  which  we  are  ignorant, 
have  prolonged  the  western  shores  of  America  so  that  they  ap 
proach  Asia,  supposing  that  they  are  not  separated,  otherwise  than 
by  a  strait  to  which  they  have  given  the  name  of  Anian.  Fran- 


/ 


DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY. 


29 


9ois  Gualle,  who  endeavours  to  prove  the  existence  of  this  strait, 
calls  our  attention  to  the  changing  of  the  currents  and  the  waves, 
and  to  the  whales  and  other  Arctic  fish  that  are  found  in  the  north 
ern  part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  but,  since  the  publication  of  M.  de 
PIsle's  map  of  this  part  of  the  globe,  we  have  learned  the  results 
of  the  explorations  of  the  Russians,  who,  without  giving  us  the 
contour  of  the  coasts  of  America  with  precision,  have  made 
known  to  us,  in  general,  that  the  coast  of  California  trends  toward 
the  west  and  approaches  quite  near  to  that  of  Asia,  leaving  noth 
ing  between  the  two  countries  except  a  strait  of  small  width,  re 
establishing  the  shape  of  the  American  Continent  as  it  was  given 
by  the  earliest  geographers,  apparently  from  a  knowledge  more 
exact  than  we  have  thought,  and  which  has  been  lost  to  us. 

The  Japanese,  who  have  also  cultivated  the  arts,  and  naviga 
tion  in  particular,  appear  not  to  have  been  ignorant  of  the  situa 
tion  of  the  countries  which  lie  to  the  north  of  their  empire. 
Kaempfer  claimed  to  have  seen  in  Japan  a  map,  made  by  the 
people  of  that  country,  upon  which  they  represented  Kamtchatka, 
which  extends  farther  east  than  Japan.  Upon  the  eastern  shore, 
opposite  to  America,  there  is  a  gulf  of  a  square  form,  in  the  mid 
dle  of  which  a  small  island  is  seen  ;  farther  to  the  north  a  second 
may  be  perceived,  which  appears  to  touch  the  two  continents 
with  its  two  extremities.  Upon  a  map  which  this  celebrated 
traveler  brought  to  Europe,  and  which  has  passed  into  the  collec 
tion  of  the  late  M.  Hans  Sloan,  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Kam 
chatka  a  strait  is  seen,  and  beyond  it  a  large  country  which  is 
America.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  strait  is  an  island  which 
extends  toward  the  two  continents.  M.  Hans  Sloan  has  wished 
me  to  call  attention  to  this  curious  map,  and  Mr.  Birch,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  has  sent  me  an  exact  copy 
of  it. 

This  map  agrees  quite  closely  with  our  old  maps  of  America, 
and  with  the  new  discoveries  of  the  Russians.  No  island  is  seen 
where  M.  de  1'Isle  has  placed  the  coast  which  the  Russians  have 
discovered  ;  but,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  strait,  America  ap 
pears  to  advance  considerably,  and  to  form  a  long  tongue  of  land 
which  extends  nearly  to  Asia.  I  am  led  to  believe  that  this  coast 
must  form  part  of  the  continent  of  America,  from  the  fact  that 
M.  de  1'Isle  states  that  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants  came 
to  meet  the  Russians  with  boats  similar  to  those  of  the  Green- 


30  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

landers  or  Esquimaux,  which  indicates  some  relationship  be 
tween  the  people,  and  at  the  same  time  a  connection  of  this  land 
with  America.  In  this  case  it  is  readily  seen  that  the  Chinese 
could  reach  Fu-sang  much  more  easily  than  would  otherwise  be 
possible,  for  they  could  follow  the  coasts  almost  all  the  way. 

I  think  that  I  have  given  sufficient  proof  that,  at  a  distance  of 
twenty  thousand  li  from  Kamtchatka,  there  is  found  a  land  where 
Fa-sang  may  be  placed  ;  that  this  land  is  that  of  the  continent 
of  America,  from  which  it  results  that  Fu-sang  is  situated  in  this 
continent.  The  Chinese  historians  speak  also  of  a  country  a 
thousand  li  farther  east  than  Fu-sang.  They  call  it  the  "  King 
dom  of  Women."  But  their  account  is  filled  with  fables,  similar 
to  those  which  our  first  explorers  have  related  concerning  newly 
discovered  countries. 

"The  inhabitants  of  this  kingdom  are  white.  They  have 
hairy  bodies,  and  long  locks  that  fall  down  to  the  ground.  At 
the  second  or  third  month  the  women  come  to  bathe  in  a  river, 
and  they  become  pregnant.  They  bear  their  young  at  the  sixth 
or  seventh  month.  Instead  of  breasts,  they  have  white  locks  at 
the  back  of  the  head,  from  which  there  issues  a  liquor  that  serves 
to  nourish  their  children.  It  is  said  that,  one  hundred  days  after 
their  birth,  the  children  are  able  to  run  about,  and  appear  fully 
grown  when  three  or  four  years  of  age.  The  women  take  flight 
at  sight  of  a  stranger,  and  they  are  very  respectful  toward  their 
husbands.  These  people  feed  upon  a  plant  which  has  the  taste 
^  wnich  f°r  this  reason  bears  the  name  of  the 
ves  are  similar  to  those  of  the  plant  which 
the  Chinese  call  Sie-hao,  which  is  a  species  of  absinthe." 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  from  this  tale  that,  as  is  the  custom  in 
several  places  in  the  Indies,  the  women  of  the  country  nursed 
their  children  over  their  shoulders,  and  the  fable  reported  above 
must  have  originated  from  this  practice. 

We  also  find  in  the  same  authors  that,  in  the  year  507  A.  D., 
in  the  reign  of  the  Liang  dynasty,  a  Chinese  vessel,  which  was 
sailing  the  ocean,  was  driven  by  a  tempest  to  an  unknown  island. 
The  women  resembled  those  of  China,  but  the  men  had  a  figure 
and  a  voice  like  those  of  dogs.  These  people  fed  upon  small 
beans,  and  had  clothing  made  of  a  species  of  linen  cloth,  and  the 
walls  of  their  houses  were  constructed  of  earth  built  up  in  a  cir 
cular  form.  The  Chinese  could  not  understand  their  language. 


DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  31 

There  is  room  for  the  belief  that  the  beans  that  are  mentioned 
are  grains  of  maize  ;  and  the  Chevalier  de  Tonti,  in  his  accounts 
of  Louisiana,  reports  that  the  Taen9as,  when  speaking  to  their 
king,  have  the  custom  of  making  a  great  howling,  by  means  of 
which  they  intend  to  show  their  respect  and  admiration  for  him. 
A  similar  practice  among  the  people  of  the  last-mentioned  island 
may  have  led  the  Chinese  to  say  that  their  voices  resembled 
those  of  dogs.  * 

We  can  not  doubt  at  present  that  the  Chinese  had  penetrated 
very  far  into  the  ocean  toward  the  south,  sailing  back  and 
forth  across  it,  and  that,  in  consequence,  they  had  sufficient 
boldness  and  experience  in  navigation  to  enable  them  to  sail  to 
California  direct.  The  examination  of  the  route  which  they 
took,  and  the  distances  which  they  have  given,  prove  that  they 
went  there  in  the  year  458  A._p.  In  fact,  we  find  some  traces 
of  this  commerce  in  our  own  accounts.  George  Home  tells  that, 
at  the  west  of  the  country  of  the  Epiceriniens,  neighbours  of  the 
Hurons,  there  lived  a  people  among -whom  there  arrived  foreign 
merchants  who  had  no  beards  and  who  were  carried  by  large 
vessels.  Francisco  Yasquez  de  Coronado  states  also  that,  at  Qui- 
vira,  vessels  were  found  of  which  the  sterns  were  gilded  ;  and 
Pierre  Melendez,  in  Acosta,  speaks  of  the  wrecks  of  Chinese 
vessels  seen  upon  the  coast.  It  is  also  an  unquestionable  fact 
that  foreign  merchants  clothed  in  silk  formerly  came  among  the 
Catualcans.  All  these  accounts,  added  to  those  which  we  have 
adduced,  become  so  many  proofs  that  the  Chinese  traded  at  the 
north  of  California,  near  the  country  of  Quivira.  We  may  also 
notice,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  such  commerce,  that,  of  all 
the  American  tribes,  the  most  civilized  are  situated  near  the 
coast  which  faces  China.  In  the  region  of  New  Mexico  there 
are  found  tribes  that  have  houses  of  several  stories,  with  halls, 
chambers,  and  bath-rooms.  They  are  clothed  in  robes  of  cotton 
and  of  skin  ;  but  that  which  is  most  unusual  among  savages  is,  that 
they  have  leather  shoes  and  boots.  Each  village  has  its  public 
criers,  who  announce  the  orders  of  the  king,  and  idols  and  tern- 

*  The  Chinese  geographers  have  also  made  mention  of  an  island,  called  Kia-y, 
which  is  situated  to  the  east  of  Japan.  In  the  year  659  some  of  these  islanders 
came  to  China  with  the  Japanese.  The  Japanese  map,  which  has  been  sent  to 
me  by  M.  Sloan,  places  the  island  of  Kia-y  to  the  east  of  Japan  and  of  Jesso,  in 
the  midst  of  twelve  other  smaller  islands. 


32  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

pies  are  seen  everywhere.  Baron  de  la  Hontan  speaks  also  of 
the  Morambecs,  who  lived  in  walled  cities  situated  near  a  great 
salt  lake,  and  made  woolen  cloth,  copper  hatchets,  and  various 
other  manufactures.  Some  writers  have  maintained  that  the 
civilized  people  situated  to  the  north  are  the  remnants  of  the 
Mexicans  who  took  flight  at  the  time  when  Hernando  Cortez 
penetrated  into  Mexico,  and  who  fled  to  the  north  and  founded 
several  considerable  kingdoms,  among  others  that  of  Quivira. 
Although  this  conjecture  appears  not  to  be  devoid  of  some 
foundation,  we  read,  nevertheless,  in  Acosta,  that  the  Mexicans 
themselves,  a  long  time  before  the  Spanish  invasion,  came  to 
Mexico  from  the  north,  which  leads  me  to  believe  that  the  Chi 
nese  who  landed  in  northern  America  had  contributed  to  their 
civilization.  The  foundation  of  the  Mexican  Empire  does  not 
date  back  of  the  year  820  A.  D.,  a  time  several  centuries  later 
than  the  navigations  of  the  Chinese,  of  which  the  first  occurred 
in  458.  The  people  who  inhabited  Mexico  before  820,  and  who 
bore  the  'name  of  Chichimecas,  were  savages,  who  retired  into 
the  mountains,  where  they  lived  without  laws,  without  religion, 
and  without  a  prince  to  govern  them.  About  the  year  820  the 
Nahuatalcas,  a  wise  and  civilized  nation,  came  to  Mexico,  from 
which  they  drove  the  inhabitants,  and  there  founded  the  power 
ful  empire  which  the  Spaniards  destroyed.  The  Nahuatalcas 
did  not  bring  from  the  north  the  custom  of  sacrificing  human 
victims.  These  barbarous  sacrifices  were  not  instituted  until 
after  their  arrival  in  Mexico,  and  upon  the  occasion  of  a  circum 
stance  which  is  related  in  full  by  Acosta. 

Before  terminating  this  essay,  it  is  necessary  to  make  some 
remarks  regarding  the  description  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  and 
to  reply  to  some  objections  that  may  be  raised,  particularly  as  to 
the  occurrence  of  horses,  which  have  not  been  found  in  an^-part 
of  America.  The  great  advantages  which  are  derived  from  the 
possession  of  these  animals  would  appear  to  be  sufficient  to  in 
sure  their  preservation.  We  observe  upon  this  subject  that  all 
nations  do  not  seem  to  have  been  equally  persuaded  of  their  use 
fulness.  Tartary,  which  is  filled  with  horses,  is  near  to  Siberia, 
where,  in  several  places,  they  have  not  been  found  at  all,  and 
where  the  dog  or  the  reindeer  is  used  instead.  Nevertheless, 
horses  could  have  been  taken  to  these  places — no  difficulty,  such 
as  that  of  crossing  the  sea,  preventing  their  transportation — and 


DE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  33 

these  tribes  have  known  of  them  among  their  neighbours  without 
having  made  use  of  them.  Possibly  the  Chinese  vessels  formerly 
carried  a  few  of  them  to  America,  and  some  tribes  then  used 
them.  But  it  is  well  known  to  what  a  point  the  savages  of  Amer 
ica  carried  their  cruelty  toward  conquered  tribes.  Their  wars 
caused  frequent  migrations  and  the  complete  annihilation  of 
several  nations,  and  consequently  the  destruction  of  the  usages 
which  these  exterminated  tribes  may  have  received  by  means 
of  commerce.  Finally,  no  one  undertakes  to  guarantee  all  that 
is  contained  in  the  relations  of  Marco  Polo,  of  Plan  Carpin,  and 
of  Rubruquis.  These  ancient  travelers  have  sometimes  wan 
dered  from  the  truth  ;  and  yet  we  can  not,  merely  upon  this  ac 
count,  sweepingly  condemn  all  of  their  statements.  The  Chinese 
traveler  may  have  allowed  himself  to  be  deceived  by  something 
that  he  saw,  and  may  have  applied  the  name  of  horses  to  certain 
animals  of  the  country  of  Quivira  and  of  Cibola,  which  resembled 
them  in  size,  and  which  the  Spaniards  have  called  sheep,  on  ac 
count  of  the  wool  that  they  bear.*  In  the  same  way  we  have 
given  the  names  of  European  animals  to  several  animals  of 
America,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  are  of  a  different 
species.  In  regard  to  the  cattle  mentioned  in  the  account  :  since 
we  have  discovered  the  country  of  Quivira,  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
the  Mississippi,  a  species  of  cattle  has  been  found  with  large 
horns,  so  that  no  difficulty  remains  regarding  this  point,  and  we 
may  conclude  that  the  Chinese  navigators  landed  to  the  north 
of  California,  where  they  found  these  animals. 

A  more  exact  description  of  the  tree  called  fu-sang  would 
contribute  toward  enabling  us  to  determine  the  region  more 
definitely.  All  that  is  said  of  it  agrees  rather  with  some  tree  of 
America  than  with  any  that  occurs  in  the  frozen  land  of  Kam- 
tchatka;  and  the  uses  that  are  made  of  it,  such  as  the  manufact 
ure  of  the  stuffs,  the  cloth,  and  the  paper  spoken  of  in  the^ 
account,  appear  to  indicate  a  civilized  people  inhabiting  a  tem 
perate  country,  such  as  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Calif  ornia^ 
rather  than  a  country  like  Kamtchatka,  the  inhabitants  oT which 
retire  into  caverns,  and  are  clothed  in  skins,  and  are  too  barbar 
ous  to  make  cloth  or  paper,  or  to  have  letters  or  true  literary 
characters  for  the  expression  of  their  ideas — a  thing  unknown 

*  "  These  animals,"  says  Acosta,  "  are  of  as  great  use  to  the  Indians  aa  asses 
are  among  us,  and  are  used  to  carry  heavy  burdens." 
3 


34  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

even  to  several  nations  in  the  southern  part  of  Kamtchatka, 
who,  as  we  have  previously  observed,  are,  from  their  southerly 
location,  much  nearer  to  China  than  Fu-sang  can  be  supposed 
to  be,  if  we  locate  it  in  the  northern  part  of  Kamtchatka,  or  any 
where  upon  the  northeastern  coast  of  Asia  ;  in  America,  on  the 
contrary,  and  particularly  among  the  Mexicans,  there  is  found  a 
species  of  writing  which  consists  not  of  alphabetical  characters, 
but  hieroglyphic  characters  or  representations  of  ideas,  such  as 
the  oldest  characters  of  China  were. 

Be  it  as  it  may,  it  is  not  my  design  to  produce  a  multitude 
of  conjectures  as  to  the  people  of  Fu-sang  and  as  to  the  Ameri 
cans.  I  confine  myself  to  that  which  appears  to  me  to  be  sol 
idly  confirmed.  The  Chinese  penetrated  to  a  country  very  far 
from  the  shores  of  the  Orient.  I  have  examined  the  distances 
stated  by  them,  and  the  length  of  the  standard  of  measure  used 
by  them,  and  they  have  led  me  to  the  coast  of  California.  I 
have  concluded  from  this  that  they  have  known  America  since 
the  year  458  A.  D.  In  the  countries  near  to  the  spot  where  they 
landed  were  found  the  most  civilized  nations  of  America.  I 
have  thought  that  they  are  indebted  for  their  civilization  to  the 
commerce  which  they  have  had  with  the  Chinese.*  This  is  all 
that  I  proposed  to  establish  in  this  essay. 

It  is  now  easy  to  perceive  the  manner  in  which  America  has 
been  peopled.  There  is  much  probability  that  several  colonies 
have  passed  to  it  from  the  north  of  Asia,  in  the  place  where  the 
two  continents  are  the  nearest  together,  and  where  a  great  island 
that  extends  from  the  east  to  the  west,  and  which  appears  to 
unite  them,  renders  the  passage  still  easier.  They  may  have 
reached  it  either  by  means  of  the  ice,  which  in  these  seas  some 
times  lasts  two  or  three  years,  as  we  have  seen  examples  in  our 
own  days,  or  by  the  help  of  the  canoes  in  use  among  the  Green- 
landers  and  other  northern  barbarians  living  in  the  easternmost 
part  of  Siberia. 

A  certain  agreement  in  the  manners  and  customs  which  are 
found  among  the  Tunguses  and  the  Samoyedes  with  those  of  the 
tribes  of  Hudson's  Bay,  of  Mississippi,  and  of  Louisiana,  adds  a 

*  George  Home,  1,  iv,  c.  13,  goes  further.  He  affirms  that  the  Mexicans  are 
a  colony  of  Chinese  who  came  into  America  in  1279  A.  D.  with  their  emperor 
named  Ti-pun,  after  the  conquest  of  China  by  the  Mongols.  But  this  statement 
is  erroneous,  since  Ti-pun  with  his  fleet  was  swallowed  up  by  the  waters. 


DE   GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  35 

new  force  to  these  reflections.  It  is  known  that  in  general  all 
the  nations  of  the  same  country  are  distinguished  by  peculiari 
ties  of  countenance,  and  by  an  exterior,  that  proclaims  their  com 
mon  origin.  Such  are  the  Chinese,  for  example,  who  are  easily 
recognized  among  other  nations.  The  nations  of  Europe  have  a 
long  and  bushy  beard,  while  that  of  the  Chinese,  the  Tartars, 
and  the  people  of  Siberia  is  but  slight  ;  in  which  point  they  re 
semble  the  Americans,  from  which  it  might  be  inferred  that 
these  last  came  from  Tartary.  In  examining  the  animals,  we  are 
compelled  to  make  the  same  reflection.  Several  are  found  in 
America  which  are  not  met  with  elsewhere,  except  in  the  north 
of  Asia — as  the  hairy  cattle,  and  the  reindeer,  so  common  in 
Siberia  and  in  the  northern  part  of  America. 

A  number  of  additional  facts  can  also  be  stated  which  con 
firm  the  ease  of  the  passage.  We  extract  them  from  Charlevoix, 
who  reports  that  Pere  Grellon,  after  having  laboured  for  some 
time  in  the  missions  of  New  France,  went  from  there  to  China, 
and  thence  to  Tartary,  where  he  met  a  Huron  woman  whom 
he  had  known  in  Canada.  She  had  been  captured  in  war,  and 
taken  from  one  nation  to  another  until  she  had  reached  Tartary. 
Another  Jesuit,  upon  returning  from  China,  related  also  that  a 
Spanish  woman  from  Florida,  who  met  with  the  same  misfortune, 
after  having  passed  through  extremely  cold  regions  was  finally 
met  in  Tartary. 

However  remarkable  these  accounts  may  be,  it  is  neverthe 
less  not  impossible  to  reconcile  them  with  geography.  The 
women  reached  the  shore  of  the  sea  that  washes  the  western 
coast  of  America,  whence  they  first  passed  by  canoes  to  the 
island  that  is  found  in  the  strait,  from  which  they  landed  upon 
the  continent  of  Asia,  and  finally,  taking  the  route  from  Ta-han, 
to  which  I  have  referred,  they  approached  China. 

There  is  room  for  the  belief  that  this  is  one  of  the  ways  by 
which  America  has  been  peopled  ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  it  has  been  the  only  one  on  the  side  of  the  north.  Some 
among  the  writers  who  have  investigated  the  origin  of  the 
Americans  have  made  some  conjectures  upon  the  subject  which 
seem  not  to  be  destitute  of  foundation.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Kolyma,  in  Siberia,  is  found  a  thickly  peopled  island,  which 
is  often  frequented  by  those  who  come  to  hunt  for  the  fossil 
ivory  of  the  mammoth,  which  is  more  beautiful  than  that  of  the 


36  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

elephant,  and  is  used  for  making  different  objects.  They  arrive 
there,  with  all  their  families,  by  crossing  the  ice,  and  it  frequently 
happens  that,  surprised  by  a  thaw,  they  are  carried  away  upon 
large  cakes  of  ice  toward  the  opposite  point  of  America,  which 
is  not  very  far  distant.  That  which  seems  to  give  more  weight 
to  this  conjecture  is  the  fact  that  the  Americans  who  inhabit  this 
country  have  the  same  physiognomy  as  the  unfortunate  island 
ers,  who,  from  too  great  a  desire  for  gain,  expose  themselves  to 
the  danger  of  thus  being  transported  to  a  strange  country.  It  can 
not  be  doubted  that  floating  ice  has  sometimes  carried  men,  and, 
even  more  frequently,  animals,  to  neighbouring  countries.  Great 
cakes  of  ice,  detached  from  more  southerly  lands,  have  been  seen 
to  arrive  upon  the  coast  of  Iceland,  laden  with  wood  and  with 
animals,  of  which  the  Icelanders  take  so  great  advantage  that 
they  neglect  the  interior  of  the  island,  and  remain  more  willingly 
upon  the  coast,  in  order  to  be  on  hand  to  profit  by  them.  It  is 
in  this  manner  that  a  number  of  ferocious  animals  have  pene 
trated  into  regions  where  men  would  never  wish  to  have  brought 
them. 

I  conclude,  from  all  these  observations,  that  a  part  of  Amer 
ica  has  been  peopled  by  the  barbarians  who  inhabit  the  north  of 
Asia.  Adding  also  that  the  commerce  of  the  Chinese  has  not 
only  carried  new  inhabitants  to  them,  but  has  also  contributed 
much  to  the  civilization  of  the  American  people,  and  to  give 
them  a  knowledge  of  the,  most  useful  arts.  And  if,  upon  the 
evidence  of  the  Japanese  map,  we  place  the  kingdom  of  Chang- 
jin  to  the  south  of  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  it  is  certain  in  that 
case  that  the  Chinese  and  the  Coreans  have  known  the  southern 
part  of  America  ;  that  their  navigators  have  frequented  it ;  and 
that  by  this  means  they  have  civilized  the  Peruvians,  among 
whom  certain  arts  flourished,  and  who  felt  themselves  not  to  be 
barbarians  in  anything. 

Other  nations,  less  civilized  than  the  Chinese,  have  also  had 
means  for  reaching  America  no  less  easily  at  the  south.  Those 
who  have  populated  the  islands  of  Sumatra  and  Borneo,  the 
Moluccas,  and  the  Philippines,  are  connected  with  the  inhab 
itants  of  India  and  of  China  ;  they  have  been  from  island  to 
island  in  their  canoes  ;  they  have  penetrated  successively  to  New 
Guinea,  New  Holland,  and  New  Zealand,  immense  countries  of 
which  we  do  not  know  the  extent.  In  that  way  they  have  ap- 


BE  GUIGNES'S  DISCOVERY.  37 

preached  the  American  Continent.  Some  of  them  may  have 
reached  the  islands  which  are  found  between  the  tenth  and  twen 
tieth  degrees  of  south  latitude — islands  so  near  to  each  other 
that  they  form,  as  it  were,  a  chain,  which  they  could  have  fol 
lowed.  They  have  been  peopled  one  after  another,  until  those 
most  distant  from  their  original  starting-point,  and  the  nearest  to 
America,  have  received  their  colonies. 

Perhaps  the  same  reasoning  might  be  applied  to  some  parts 
of  Europe.  The  British  Islands,  Norway,  Iceland,  and  Green 
land  may  have  been  the  places  of  passage  of  American  colonies, 
and,  as  these  regions  became  more  thickly  peopled,  some  of  the 
inhabitants  would  go  to  seek  new  and  more  distant  habitations. 
But  without  stopping  here  to  make  conjectures  regarding  the 
navigation  of  the  ancients,  history  furnishes  us  with  a  proof  that 
civilized  nations  have  attempted  to  discover  new  lands  to  the 
west  of  Europe,  and  to  penetrate  far  into  this  vast  sea.  It  is 
true  of  the  Arabs. 

It  is  known  that  under  the  dynasty  of  the  Ommiades  these 
tribes  made  the  conquest  of  a  part  of  Africa.  Thence,  under 
the  leadership  of  Tharic,  they  passed  into  Spain,  which  they  re 
duced  to  a  province  of  their  empire  ;  but  after  the  Ommiades 
had  been  destroyed  in  Syria,  a  prince  of  that  house  escaped  the 
general  massacre  made  by  the  Abbassides,  and  fled  to  Spain, 
where  he  was  proclaimed  caliph,  and  founded  a  powerful  mon 
archy,  which  was  destroyed  by  other  princes  coming  from  Africa. 
These  possessed  the  greater  part  of  Spain,  until  they  were  driven 
out  by  the  Christians.  It  was  during  the  reign  of  the  Arabs  in 
Spain  that  some  of  their  sailors,  setting  sail  from  Lisbon,  where 
they  then  were  masters,  embarked  upon  the  gloomy  sea  or  West 
ern  Ocean,  with  the  intention  of  penetrating  as  far  as  they  could 
toward  the  west,  and  of  discovering  the  islands  and  lands  which 
existed  there.  But  their  enterprise  did  not  meet  with  the  suc 
cess  with  which  they  flattered  themselves.  After  eleven  days  of 
navigation  before  a  favourable  wind,  they  found  a  thick  sea, 
which  exhaled  a  bad  odor,  where  they  met  a  number  of  rocks, 
and  where  the  darkness  commenced  to  make  itself  perceived. 
They  were  not  so  bold  as  to  penetrate  any  farther.  Making  sail 
then  to  the  south,  they,  after  twelve  days  of  navigation,  ex 
plored  the  Canaries,  where  they  met  a  man  who  spoke  Arabic. 
They  traveled  about  among  the  islands,  and  landed  upon  one, 


38  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

where  they  were  stopped  by  the  islanders.  Questioned  by  the 
king  of  the  country  as  to  the  object  of  their  voyage,  they  an 
swered  him  that  their  design  had  been  to  penetrate  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  The  king  informed  them  that  his  father  had  ordered 
some  of  his  subjects  to  make  the  same  attempt,  but  that,  after 
having  sailed  the  sea  for  a  month  without  discovering  anything, 
they  had  returned  to  the  Canaries.  These  strange  voyages  of 
the  Arabs,  and  particularly  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Cana 
ries,  cause  us  to  suspect  that  others  of  the  islanders,  equally 
bold  and  more  fortunate,  may  have  reached  America  ;  since  they 
had  the  courage  to  abandon  themselves,  with  their  vessels,  to  the 
mercy  of  this  vast  sea,  although  they  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
compass,  and,  as  we  regard  them,  were  but  little  skilled  in  the 
art  of  navigation. 

Other  Arabs,  and  the  people  of  Senegal,  knew  also  at  the 
same  time  of  the  Cape  Verd  Islands.  We  have  not  found  in 
any  writer  that  the  Arabs  penetrated  any  farther.  Nevertheless, 
they  approached  at  least  this  near  to  the  lands  of  America,  and, 
if  they  were  not  bold  enough  to  sail  directly  to  it,  some  of  those 
who  sailed  the  sea  may  have  been  carried  by  the  tempests  to  the 
islands  of  the  Azores,  which  are  in  the  same  degree  of  latitude, 
where  pieces  of  wood  and  dead  bodies  from  America  are  often 
found.  It  is  this  which  gave  birth  to  the  belief  of  Christopher 
Columbus  that  there  must  be,  and  were,  lands  near  the  Azores. 

After  this  recital,  we  see  that  even  the  most  barbarous  people 
have  had  sufficient  skill  in  the  art  of  navigation  to  reach  very 
distant  islands,  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  to  go  even  as  far 
as  to  America  ;  but  it  is  not  my  intention  to  exhaust  the  subject. 
We  shall  not  be  able  to  succeed  in  doing  that  until  after  we  have 
obtained  an  exact  knowledge  of  all  the  globe,  and  have  discov 
ered  all  the  southern  lands.  I  must  stop  with  having  collected 
the  facts  which  are  scattered  in  the  Chinese  geographies  con 
cerning  the  voyages  of  the  Chinese  in  the  South  Sea  and  to 
America,  and  with  having  made,  in  consequence,  some  reflections 
concerning  the  passage  of  colonies  to  America. 


CHAPTER  III. 

KLAPROTH'S  DISSENT. 

Title  of  de  Guignes's  article  incorrect — Translation  of  the  account  of  Fu-sang — 
Vines  and  horses  not  found  in  America — Route  to  Japan — Length  of  the  li 
— Identification  of  Wen-shin  with  Jesso — Ta-han  identified  with  Taraikai  or 
Saghalien— The  route  to  Ta-han  by  land— The  Shy-ivd — Li&i-kuei — Fv^sang 
south  of  Ta-han  instead  of  east — Fu-sang  an  ancient  name  of  Japan — Analy 
sis  of  name  "  Fu-sang  " — The  paper  mulberry — Metals — The  introduction  of 
Buddhism— Fantastic  tales. 

Researches  regarding  the  Country  of  Fu-sang,  mentioned  in 
Chinese  Books,  and  erroneously  supposed  to  be  a  Part  of 
America.— By  J.  Klaproth.™ 

THE  celebrated  de  Guignes,  having  found  in  Chinese  books 
a  description  of  a  country  situated  a  great  distance  to  the  east 
of  China,  and  thinking  it  probable  that  this  country,  called  Fu- 
sang,  must  be  a  part  of  America,  set  forth  this  opinion  in  an 
essay  read  before  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres, 
entitled  "  Investigation  of  the  Navigations  of  the  Chinese  to  the 
Coast  of  America,  and  as  to  some  Tribes  situated  at  the  Eastern 
Extremity  of  Asia." 

It  should  be  first  observed  that  this  title  is  incorrect.  Noth 
ing  is  said  in  the  Chinese  original,  which  de  Guignes  had  before 
his  eyes,  concerning  any  voyage  undertaken  by  the  Chinese  to 
Fu-sang,  but,  as  is  shown  farther  on,  it  is  simply  a  question  of  a 
description  of  this  country,  given  by  a  priest  who  was  a  native 
of  it,  and  who  had  come  to  China.  This  notice  is  found  in  that 
part  of  the  Great  Annals  of  China  *  entitled  Nan-szu,  or  "  His- 

*  These  are  the  Nan-eul-szu,  or  the  "Twenty-two  Historians,"  of  which  the 
works  form  a  collection  of  more  than  six  hundred  Chinese  volumes,  and  which 
should  not  be  confounded  with  the  annals  entitled  T'ung-kian-kang-mu,  which 
are  known  in  Europe  by  the  meager  extracts  which  Pere  Mailla  has  given  in 
twelve  volumes,  in  4°. 


40  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

tory  of  the  South."  After  the  destruction  of  the  dynasty  of 
Tain,  in  420  A.  D.,  China  was  overwhelmed  with  troubles,  which 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  two  empires,  one  in  the  northern 
provinces,  the  other  in  those  of  the  south.  The  last  was  succes 
sively  governed,  from  420  to  589  A.  D.,  by  the  four  dynasties  of 
Sung,  Tsi,  Liang,  and  Cfiin.  The  history  of  the  two  empires 
was  written  by  Li-yan-cheu,  who  lived  about  the  commencement 
of  the  seventh  century.  This  is  what  he  says  about  Fu-sang  : 

"  In  the  first  of  the  years  yung-yuan,  of  the  reign  of  Fe-ti,  of 
the  dynasty  of  Tsi,  a  shaman  (or  Buddhist  priest),  called  Hoei 
Shin,  arrived  from  the  country  of  Fu  -  sang  at  King  -  cheu* 
He  related  what  follows  :  Fu-sang  is  twenty  thousand  li  to  the 
east  of  the  country  of  Ta-han,  and  equally  to  the  east  of  China. 
In  this  country  there  grow  many  trees  called  fu-sang,\  of  which 
the  leaves  resemble  those  of  the  fung  (Bignonia  tomentosa), 
and  the  first  shoots  those  of  the  bamboo.  The  people^  of  the 
country  eat  them.  The  fruit  is  red  and  of  the  shape  of  a  pear. 
The  bark  of  this  tree  is  prepared  in  the  same  way  as  that  of 
hemp,  and  cloth  and  clothing  are  made  of  it.  Flowered  stuffs 
are  also  manufactured  from  it.  Wooden  planks  are  used  for  the 
construction  of  their  houses,  for  in  this  country  there  are  no 
cities  and  no  walled  habitations.  The  inhabitants  have  a  species 
of  writing,  and  make  paper  from  the  bark  of  ilaefu-sang.  They 
have  no  weapons  or  armies,  and  do  not  make  war.  According 
to  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  there  are  a  southern  prison  and  a 
northern  prison.  Those  who  have  committed  crimes  that  are 
not  very  serious  are  sent  to  the  southern  prison,  but  great  crimi 
nals  are  shut  up  in  the  northern  one.  Those  who  may  receive 
pardon  are  sent  to  the  first ;  those,  on  the  contrary,  to  whom 
it  can  not  be  accorded  are  confined  in  the  northern  prison.]; 
The  men  and  the  women  who  are  shut  up  in  the  latter  are  per 
mitted  to  marry  each  other.  The  male  children,  born  from 
these  unions,  are  sold  as  slaves  at  the  age  of  eight  years  ;  the 

*  King-clieu  is  a  city  of  the  first  order,  situated  upon  the  left  side  of  the 
great  Kiang,  in  the  present  province  of  Hu-pe. 

\  Fu-sang  in  Chinese,  or,  according  to  the  Japanese  pronunciation,  Fouls-sob, 
is  the  shrub  which  we  call  "  Hibiscus  rosa  Chirunsis" 

t  De  Guignes  has  very  badly  translated  this  passage,  as  follows  :  "  The  most 
guilty  are  placed  in  the  northern  prison  and  afterward  transferred  into  that  of 
the  south  if  they  obtain  their  pardon  ;  otherwise  they  are  condemned  to  remain 
all  their  lives  in  the  first." 


KLAPROTH'S  DISSENT.  41 

girls  at  the  age  of  nine  years.  The  criminals  who  are  confined 
there  never  come  forth  alive.  When  a  man  of  high  rank  com 
mits  a  crime,  the  people  assemble  in  great  numbers.  They  sit 
down  face  to  face  with  the  criminal,  who  is  placed  in  a  ditch, 
and  regale  themselves  with  a  banquet,  and  take  leave  of  him  as 
of  a  dying  man.*  Then  he  is  surrounded  by  ashes.  For  an 
offense  of  little  gravity  the  criminal  alone  is  punished,  but  for  a 
great  crime,  the  culprit,  his  sons,  and  grandsons  are  punished  ; 
finally,  for  the  greatest  offenses  his  descendants  to  the  seventh 
generation  are  included  in  the  punishment.  The  name  of  the 
king  of  the  country  is  Y-k'i  (or  7tt-k*t)J  The  nobles  of  the 
first  class  are  called  Tui-lu ;  those  of  the  second,  little  Tui-lu  ; 
and  those  of  the  third,  Na-tu-sha.  When  the  king  goes  forth, 
he  is  accompanied  by  drums  and  horns.  He  changes  the  color 
of  his  garments  at  different  epochs.  In  the  years  of  the  cycle 
Ma  and  y  \  they  are  blue  ;  in  the  years  ping  and  ting,  red  ;  in 
the  years  ou  and  ki,  yellow  ;  in  the  years  keng  and  sin,  white  ; 
finally,  in  those  which  have  the  characters  jin  and  kuei,  they 
are  black. 

"  The  cattle  have  long  horns,  upon  which  burdens  are  loaded 
which  weigh  as  much,  sometimes,  as  twenty  ho  (of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  Chinese  pounds).  In  this  country  they  make  use  of 
carts  harnessed  to  cattle,  horses,  and  deer.  They  rear  deer  there 
as  they  raise  cattle  in  China,  and  make  cheese  from  the  milk  of 
the  females.  ||  A  species  of  red  pear  is  found  there,  which  is 
preserved  throughout  the  year.  There  are  also  many  vines.4* 

*  Do  Guignes  translates  the  last  words  by  "  He  is  then  judged." 
f  De  Guignes  has  wrongly  read  "  Y-chi." 

\  The  years  1,  11,  21,  31,  41,  and  51  of  the  cycle  of  sixty  years  bear  the  char 
acter  Ida;  the  years  2,  12,  22,  32,  42,  and  52  have  the  character  y. 

Ping,  3,  13,  23,  33,  43,  and  53;  ting,  4,  14,  24,  34,  44,  and  54. 

Ou,  5,  15,  25,  35,  45,  and  55 ;  Id,  6,  16,  26,  36,  46,  and  56. 

Kmg,  7,  17,  27,  37,  47,  and  57 ;  sin,  8,  18,  28,  38,  48,  and  58. 

Jin,  9,  19,  29,  39,  49,  and  59 ;  kuei,  10,  20,  30,  40,  50,  and  60. 

1  De  Guignes  translates :  "  The  inhabitants  feed  hinds,  as  in  China,  and  from 
them  they  obtain  butter." 

*  In  the  original,  To-p'it-t'ao.     De  Guignes,  having   decomposed    the  wor< 
p'u-t'ao,  translates:   "A  great  number  of   iris-plants    and   peaches    are  found 
there."     Nevertheless,  the  word  p'u  alone  never  means  the  iris  ;  it  is  the  r 

of  rushes  and  other  species  of  marshy  reeds  which  are  used  for  making  ^mats. 
T'ao  is,  in  fact,  the  name  of  the  peach,  but  the  compound  word  p'u-t'ao,  in 
Chinese,  signifies  the  vine.  At  present,  it  is  written  with  other  characters— u  e., 


42  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Iron  is  lacking,  but  copper  is  found.     Gold  and  silver  are  not 
esteemed.     Commerce  is  free,  and  they  do  not  baggie  at  all. 

"  Their  practices  regarding  marriage  are  as  follows  :  He  who 
desires  to  wed  a  girl  establishes  his  cabin  before  her  door  ;  he 
sprinkles  and  sweeps  the  earth  every  morning  and  every  night. 
When  he  has  practiced  this  formality  for  a  year,  if  the  maid 
will  not  give  her  consent,  he  desists  ;  but,  if  she  is  pleased 
with  him,  he  marries  her.  The  ceremonies  of  marriage  are 
nearly  the  same  as  in  China.  At  the  death  of  father  or 
mother  they  fast  seven  days.  At  that  of  a  grandfather  or 
grandmother  they  refrain  from  eating  for  five  days  ;  and  only 
for  three  days  at  the  death  of  brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  aunts, 
and  other  relatives.  The  images  of  spirits  are  placed  upon  a 
species  of  pedestal,  and  prayers  are  addressed  to  them  morning 
and  evening.* 

"  The  king  does  not  occupy  himself  with  the  affairs  of  gov 
ernment  during  the  three  years  which  follow  his  accession  to 
the  throne. 

"  Formerly  the  religion  of  Buddha  did  not  exist  in  this  coun 
try,  but  in  the  fourth  of  the  years  ta-ming,  of  the  reign  of 
Jfiao-iou-tiy  of  the  dynasty  of  Sung  (458  A.  D.),  five  pi-k'ieu, 
or  priests,  of  the  country  of  Ki-pin  (Cophene),  came  to  Fu-sang, 
and  there  spread  abroad  the  law  of  Buddha.  They  carried  with 
them  their  books  and  sacred  images  and  the  ritual,  and  estab 
lished  monastic  customs, f  and  so  changed  the  manners  of  the 
inhabitants." 

^  ^,  but  Iffc  yji  is  the  ancient  orthography  of  the  times  of  Han,  which  pre 
vailed  until  the  tenth  century  of  our  era. 

The  vine  is  not  a  native  of  China,  its  seeds  having  been  imported  by  the  cele 
brated  General  Chang  K'ian,  sent  into  the  western  country  in  the  year  126  B.  c. 
He  traveled  through  the  Afghanistan  of  our  days,  and  the  northwestern  part  of 
India,  and  returned  to  China  after  thirteen  years'  absence.  The  term  p'u-t'ao  is 
not  native  to  China,  any  more  than  the  object  which  it  designates.  It  is  probably 
the  imperfect  transcription  of  the  Greek  ptrpvs.  The  Japanese  pronounce  it 
bou-do.  They  usually  give  to  the  vine  the  name  of  yebi-kadzoura,  composed  of 
yebi,  a  sea  craw-fish,  and  of  kadzoura,  a  general  name  of  climbing  plants  which 
attach  themselves  to  neighbouring  trees. 

*  De  Guignes  translates  :  "  During  their  prayers  they  expose  the  image  of  the  de 
funct  person."  The  text  speaks  of  shin,  or  genii,  and  not  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 

f  In  the  original,  ^  }f{,  ch'K-kia— that  is  to  say,  "to  leave  one's  house  or 
family,"  or  "  to  embrace  a  monastic  life."  DC  Guignes  has  not  translated  this  pass 
age,  with  the  exception  of  the  beginning. 


KLAPROTITS  DISSENT.  43 

The  circumstance  that  vines  and  horses  are  found  in  the 
country  of  Fu-sang  is  sufficient  to  prove  that  it  could  not  be 
any  part  of  America,  these  two  objects  having  been  brought  to 
the  continent  by  the  Spaniards,  after  the  discovery  of  Chris 
topher  Columbus  in  1492.  But  other  reasons,  drawn  from  the 
Chinese  books,  explicitly  oppose  the  supposition  that  Fu-sang 
should  be  identified  with  any  part  of  the  New  World.  We 
have  seen,  from  the  account  of  the  priest  Hoei  Shin,  that  Fa- 
sang  was  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  Ta-han.  De  Guignes 
has  erroneously  taken  this  last  country  for  Kamtchatka.  He 
bases  this  hypothesis  upon  another  passage  of  the  Nan-szu,  in 
which  the  author  says  that,  in  order  to  go  to  Ta-han,  the  traveler 
sets  out  from  the  western  shore  of  Corea,*  coasts  along  this 
peninsula,  and,  after  having  gone  twelve  thousand  li,  arrives 
at  Japan  ;  that  from  there,  after  a  route  of  seven  thousand  li 
toward  the  north,.he  comes  to  the  country  of  Wen-shin,  and  that, 
five  thousand  li  from  the  last,  toward  the  east,  the  country  of 
Ta-han  is  found,  from  which  Fu-sang  is  distant  twenty  thou 
sand  li. 

In  olden  times  the  Chinese  vessels  which  sailed  to  Japan 
crossed  the  Strait  of  Corea,  passed  before  the  isles  of  Tsu-sima 
(in  Chinese,  Tui-ma-tao),  and  landed  in  some  port  of  the  north 
ern  coast  of  the  great  island  of  Niphon.  We  must,  therefore, 
conclude  that  the  distance  mentioned  in  the  route  much  exceeds 
the  reality.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  ancient  Chi 
nese  did  not  have  any  means  of  determining  the  length  of  their 
journeys  at  sea.  Even  if  we  admit  the  maritime  li  of  the  fifth 
century  to  have  measured  four  hundred  to  the  degree,  the  dis 
tance  of  twelve  thousand  li  of  coasting  between  the  mouth  of 
the  Ta-t'ung-Jciang,  in  38°  45'  N.  latitude,  upon  the  western 
coast  of  Corea,  and  the  middle  of  the  coast  of  Niphon,  upon 

*  De  Guignes  translates  the  passage :  "  Sets  out  from  the  shore  of  the  province 
of  Lcao-tong,  situated  to  the  north  of  Pckin."  But,  in  the  first  place,  this  prov 
ince  is  not  to  the  north,  but  to  the  northeast  of  Pekin.  Next,  the  Chinese  text 
says  that  they  set  forth  from  the  district  of  Lo-lang,  which  is  situated  not  in 
Leao-tung,  but  in  Corea,  and  of  which  the  capital  is  the  present  city  of  P'ivg- 
jang  (in  d'Auville's  map,  Ping-yang\  situated  upon  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Ta-t 'wig-Hang,  or  P'ai-shue,  a  river  of  the  province  of  P'ing-ngan,  which,  in 
great  part,  in  the  time  of  the  dynasty  of  Han,  formed  the  district  of  Lo-lang. 
P'ing-yang  was  the  residence  of  K'i-isu,  the  first  Chinese  prince  who  was  estab 
lished  in  Corea,  about  the  year  1122  before  our  era. 


44  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  Japanese  Sea,  is,  nevertheless,  more  than  twice  too  great ; 
the  distance  between  the  two  points,  in  coasting,  is  not  more 
than  fifty-six  hundred  li,  of  four  hundred  to  the  degree.  It, 
therefore,  results  that  the  li  of  the  Chinese  route  measure  about 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  to  the  degree. 

The  same  account  estimates  the  distance  between  the  Ja 
panese  port  and  the  country  of  Wen-shin  as  seven  thousand  li, 
or  a  little  more  than  eight  degrees  of  latitude.  This  distance 
conducts  us,  however,  by  following  the  contour  of  the  coast  of 
the  Japanese  Sea,  exactly  to  the  northern  part  of  Niphon  and  to 
the  southern  point  of  the  island  of  Jesso.  The  country  of  Wen- 
shin,  or  "  Tattooed  People,"  is,  in  fact,  found  there  ;  for  the 
Ainos,  who  then  occupied  both  the  northern  part  of  Japan  and 
the  island  of  Jesso,  have  even  to  this  day  the  custom  of  painting 
the  face  and  the  body  with  different  figures. 

The  distance  from  the  country  of  Wen-shin  to  that  of  Ta-han 
is,  according  to  our  account,  five  thousand  li,  or  about  six  de 
grees  of  latitude.  This  brings  us  exactly  to  the  southern  point 
of  the  island  of  Taraikai,  erroneously  called  Saghalien  upon  our 
maps.  The  identity  of  this  island  with  Ta-han  is  confirmed  by 
another  account,  which  describes  the  route  from  the  northern 
part  of  China  to  the  last-named  country. 

In  the  times  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  the  Chinese  had  estab 
lished  three  fortified  cities  to  the  north  of  the  northernmost 
curve  described  by  the  Hoang-ho,  which  surrounded  upon  three 
sides  the  present  country  of  the  Ordos,  called  for  this  reason 
Ho-t'ao,  or  "  Enveloped  by  the  River."  One  of  these  cities,  sit 
uated  between  the  two  others,  bore  the  name  of  Chung-sheu- 
kiang-ch'ing,  or  "the  Central  City,  which  Protects  the  Sub 
missive  People."  It  does  not  now  exist,  but  its  site,  -which  can 
be  determined  with  precision,  was  in  the  country  now  occupied 
by  the  Mongol  tribe  of  Orat,  upon  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Hoang-ho.  To  go  by  land  to  the  country  of  Ta-han,  the  trav 
eler  set  forth  from  this  city,  and  traversed  the  desert  of  Gobi, 
or  Shamo,  and  arrived  at  the  principal  encampment  of  the  Hoei- 
hh'e,  situated  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  Orkhou,  not  far  from  its 
sources,  and  the  same  place  where  the  Mongolians  afterward 
constructed  their  first  capital,  Caracorum.  From  there  he 
reached  the  country  of  the  Ko-li-han  and  of  the  Tu-p'o,  sit 
uated  to  the  south  of  a  great  lake,  upon  the  ice  of  which  he 


EXAPROTH'S  DISSENT.  45 

must  cross  in  winter.  We  know  from  other  indications  that  the 
lake  is  that  of  Baikal.  To  the  north  of  this  lake,  say  the  Chi 
nese  relations,  high  mountains  are  found,  and  a  country  where, 
says  one,  the  sun  is  not  above  the  horizon  longer  than  during 
the  little  time  that  it  takes  to  cook  a  breast  of  mutton.  The 
Tu-po,  neighbours  of  the  Ko-li-han,  inhabit  the  country  to  the 
south  of  the  lake.  Another  historian  informs  us  what  is  the 
true  abode  of  the  l£b-H-han,  and  we  know  that  this  country  is 
the  same  as  the  ancient  country  of  Kirkis,  or  Kerghiz,  situated 
between  the  0-pu  (the  Obi)  and  the  Ang-Jco-la  (the  Angara). 
Upon  leaving  the  country  of  the  Ko-li-lian,  and  traveling  to  the 
east,  we  enter  into  that  of  the  Shy-wei. 

The  Shy-wei  include  a  great  number  of  tribes  that  do  not 
appear  to  belong  to  the  same  nation,  for  the  Chinese  accounts 
mention  several  who  speak  a  different  language  from  that  which 
the  others  use.  Nevertheless,  the  greater  part  of  the  Shy-wei 
are  of  the  same  origin  as  the  Khi-tan  and  speak  their  idiom, 
which  is  identical  with  that  of  the  Mo-ho  ;  the  latter  are,  to  all 
appearances,  the  Mongols.  The  others  belong  to  the  Tunguse 
race.  The  most  southerly  Shy-wei  live  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
river  Nou,  an  affluent  upon  the  right  of  the  upper  Amoor.  After 
having  left  the  country  of  the  Shy-wei^  who  live  to  the  east  of 
the  Ko-li-han  and  of  Lake  Baikal,  and  marching  for  fifteen  days 
to  the  east,  we  find  the  Shy-wei  called  ;§  JD,  Ju-cfie,  who 
are  probably  the  same  people  that  other  Chinese  authors  call 
jit  id)  Ju-che — that  is  to  say,  the  Djourdje,  ancestors  of  the 
present  Mantchoos.  From  there  we  advance  for  ten  days 
toward  the  north,  and  enter  into  Ta-han,  surrounded  by  the  sea 
upon  three  sides. 

This  country,  called  also  Lieu-kiiei,  therefore  can  not  be 
other  than  the  island  of  Taraikai,  as  we  have  already  ascertained 
by  following  the  route  by  sea  laid  down  by  Li-yan-sheu.  De 
Guignes  has  wished  to  consider  Kamtchatka  as  Ta-han  ;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  reach  Kamtchatka  from  the  eastern  bank  of  Lake 
Baikal  within  thirty  days,  this  time  being  barely  sufficient  to  go 
across  a  country  where  there  are  no  roads,  from  the  eastern  point 
of  Lake  Baikal,  by  way  of  the  country  of  the  Mantchoos  and 
along  the  Amoor,  to  the  great  island  of  Taraikai,  situated  before 
the  mouth  of  that  river. 

The  identity  of  Ta-han  and  the  island  of  Taraikai,  once 


46  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

demonstrated,  prevents  all  further  search  for  the  country  of  Fu- 
sang  in  America.  We  have  seen  that  the  navigators,  who  went 
from  the  eastern  coast  of  Corea  to  Ta-han,  traveled  at  first 
twelve  thousand,  then  seven  thousand,  and  again  five  thousand 
li,  or  in  all  twenty-four  thousand  li  (or,  according  to  our  calcula 
tion,  twenty-nine  and  a  half  degrees  of  latitude),  in  order  to  reach 
that  country.  Fu-sang  was  twenty  thousand  li  (or  twenty-three 
and  a  half  degrees)  to  the  east  of  Ta-han  or  Taraikai,  and  so 
nearer  h'y  four  thousand  li  than  the  latter  country  was  to  the 
eastern  coast  of  Corea.  If  we  adopt  the  letter  of  the  relation, 
and  seek  for  Fu-sang  to  the  east  of  Ta-han,  we  fall  into  the  great 
ocean,  for  the  opposite  coast  of  America  in  the  same  latitude  is 
not  less  than  four  times  as  distant. 

We  must  therefore  reject  the  entire  tale  as  to  Fu-sang  as 
fabulous,  or  else  find  a  means  of  reconciling  it  with  the  truth. 
This  may  be  found  by  supposing  the  indication  of  the  direction 
•as  toward  the  east  to  be  incorrect.  Now,  the  route  by  sea  which 
conducts  us  to  Taraikai  indicates  this  as  being  the  constant  di 
rection  ;  whereas  the  traveler  at  first  goes  to  the  south  to  double 
Corea,  then,  upon  entering  the  Japanese  Sea,  he  directs  his  course 
to  the  northeast,  and  finally  changes  this  course  for  one  more 
northerly,  in  order  to  follow  the  channel  of  Tartary  to  a  point 
south  of  Taraikai.  We  may  therefore  presume  that  one  sets  sail 
from  that  country,  and  that  at  first  one  goes  directly  east,  in  order 
to  pass  the  Strait  of  Perouse,  by  skirting  the  northern  coast  of  Jes- 
so,  but  that,  upon  arriving  at  the  eastern  point  of  this  island,  the 
course  turns  to  the  south  and  leads  us  to  the  southeastern  part 
of  Japan,  which  was  the  country  called  Fa-sang.  In  fact,  one  of 
the  ancient  names  of  this  empire  is  Fu-sang  (Hibiscus  rosa  Chi- 
nensis),  and  the  Japanese  books  say  that  it  was  applied  to  their 
country  because  of  its  beauty. 

If  we  analyze  the  two  syllables  which  compose  the  word  "fu- 
sang,"  we  find  that  the  first,  Jfe/w,  signifies  "to  help,  to  be  use 
ful,"  and  that  the  second,  |j|,  sang,  designates  the  mulberry.  The 
word  therefore  signifies,  the  useful  mulberry.  This  circumstance 
leads  me  to  think  that  there  is  some  mistake  in  the  Chinese  ac 
count  preserved  in  the  JVan-szu,  and  that  it  confounds  the  hibis 
cus,  or  the  "  Rose  of  China,"  with  the  paper-mulberry  (Morus 
papyrifera),  for  the  description  of  the  tree  in  question  applies 
rather  to  this  last  than  to  the  hibiscus  ;  in  fact,  the  bark  of  the 


KLAPROTH'S  DISSENT.  47 

paper-mulberry  furnishes  to  the  Japanese  all  the  productions 
which  the  Chinese  account  attributes  to  the  true  fa-sang.  The 
bark  is  employed  to  make  paper,  stuffs,  clothing,  cordage,  wicks, 
and  several  other  useful  things. 

Among  the  other  productions  of  Fu-sang,  as  we  have  already 
remarked,  the  vine  and  the  horse  did  not  exist  in  America  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Europeans,  but  they  are  found  in  Japan.  The 
copper  of  this  country  is  celebrated  as  an  important  article  of 
export.  Iron  is,  even  now,  rare  in  Japan,  and  consequently  more 
valued  than  copper.  According  to  mythological  traditions,  horses 
and  cattle  were  produced  from  the  eyes  of  the  spirit  Ouke-motsi- 
no-kamiy  and  the  other  domestic  animals  issued  from  his  mouth. 
As  to  the  vine,  it  appears  that  that  is  older  in  Japan  than  in 
China,  where  it  was  not  introduced  until  the  second  century  be 
fore  our  era  ;  for,  according  to  the  Japanese  traditions,  grapes 
were  produced  from  a  tress  of  black  hair  thrown  down  by  Iza- 
naki-no-mikote,  the  last  of  the  seven  celestial  spirits  that  reigned 
in  the  country. 

The  single  difficulty  which  remains  is  that  which  concerns 
the  introduction  of  Buddhism.  According  to  the  Japanese 
annals,  this  religion  was  not  diffused  throughout  the  empire  until 
552,  the  date  that  it  was  carried  from  Fiak-sai,  or  Pe-tsi,  a 
kingdom  situated  in  Corea,  to  the  court  of  the  Dairi.  Never 
theless,  as  this  belief  had  been  introduced  in  372  into  the  king 
dom  QiKao-li,  or  Ko-rai,  and  in  384  into  Fiak-sai,  and  the  Japan 
ese  had  had  intercourse  with  the  two  countries  for  a  long  time, 
it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  Buddhism  had  found  disciples  in 
Japan  before  the  way  into  the  palace  of  the  Dairi  was  opened  to  it. 

Finally,  I  will  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  country  of 
Fu-sang  has  furnished  the  Chinese  poets  with  innumerable  op 
portunities  for  giving  fantastic  descriptions  of  its  marvels.  The 
authors  of  the  Shan  Hai  King  *  and  the  Li-sao,\  as  well  as 
Hwai-nan-tz,  I  Li  T'ai-pi,  \\  and  other  writers  of  the  same  kind, 

*  The  Shan  Hai  King,  the  Chinese  "  Classic  of  Lands  and  Seas,"  is  described 
in  chapter  xxxvi  of  this  work. 

f  The  Li-sao  is  a  celebrated  poem  written  by  Kiu  Yuen  in  the  third  century  u.  c. 

\  Hivai-nan-tz  is  one  of  ten  eminent  writers  of  antiquity,  who  are  associated 
together  under  the  designation -of  the  "  Ten  Philosophers."  He  was  the  grandson 
of  JTau-ti,  of  the  Han  dynasty,  B.  c.  189.  He  wrote  upon  the  origin  of  things. 

1  Li  T'ai-pi  is  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  Chinese  poets.  He  lived  during 
the  reign  of  the  T'ang  dynasty. 


48  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

have  used  them  freely.  According  to  them,  the  sun  rises  in  the 
valley  of  Yang-Jcu,  and  makes  his  toilet  at  Fu-sang,  where  there 
are  mulberries  several  thousand  fathoms  high  ;  the  people  eat  the 
fruit,  which  gives  to  their  bodies  the  colour  of  gold,  and  endows 
them  with  the  power  to  fly  in  the  air.  In  an  equally  fabulous 
notice  of  Fu-sang,  which  dates  from  the  time  of  the  Liang  dy 
nasty,  there  is  a  statement  that  the  silk- worms  of  the  country 
are  six  feet  long  and  seven  inches  in  breadth  ;  they  are  of  the 
colour  of  gold,  and  lay  eggs  of  the  size  of  swallows'  eggs.  I  spare 
the  reader  the  rest  of  these  fables. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DE  PARAYEY'S  SUPPORT. 

America  visited  by  Scandinavians — American  tribes  emigrants  from  Asia An- 

cient  Chinese  maps — Researches  antedating  those  of  Klaproth — Letter  of 
Pere  Gaubil — Ta-han — Lieu-kuei — Identification  of  these  with  Kamtchat- 
ka — Size  of  Fu-sang — Views  of  M.  Dumont  d'Urville— Length  of  the  li — 
America  lies  at  the  distance  and  in  the  direction  indicated — The  Meropide ; 

of  Elien — The  Hyperboreans — The  monuments  of  Guatemala  and  Yucatan 

The  Shan-hai-king — Identification  of  the  fu-sang  tree  with  the  metl  or  ma-, 
guey — The  Japanese  Encyclopaedia  says  Japan  is  not  Fit-sang — The  banana  or 
pisang  tree  may  have  been  the  tree  called  fu-sang — Grapes  in  America — 
Milk  in  America— The  bisons  of  America — Llamas — Horses — Wooden  cabins 
—The  ten-year  cycle— The  titles  of  the  king  and  nobles— The  worship  of 
images — Resemblance  of  pyramids  of  America  to  those  of  the  Buddhists— 
An  image  of  Buddha— The  spread  of  the  Buddhist  religion— History  of  the 
Chichimecas — Resemblance  of  Japanese  to  Mexicans — Analogies  of  Asiatic 
and  American  civilizations  pointed  out  by  Humboldt — Credit  due  de  Guignea 
— Appendix — Ha  Twan-lin's  account — The  pi-sang  said  to  be  the  prickly 
poppy  of  Mexico— Laws  punishing  a  criminal's  family  have  existed  in  China — 
Chinese  cycle  of  sixty  years  existed  in  India— Cattle  harnessed  to  carts — The 
grapes  of  Fu-sang  wild,  not  cultivated — Another  Chinese  custom  in  Fu-sang 
— The  route  to  Ta-han — The  route  to.  Japan  very  indirect — Priests  called 
lamas  both  in  Mexico  and  Tartary. 

America    under    the  Name    of  the  Country  of  Fu-sang— by 
M.  de  Paravey.™* 

THE  scholars  of  Iceland  and  Denmark  have  shown  that  the 
Scandinavians,  long  before  Columbus,  visited  the  northeastern 
portion  of  America,  and  there  found  wild  vines  and  grapes  ; . 
and  that  they  even  penetrated  to  the  south  as  far  as  to  what  is 
now  known  as  Brazil.  Before  these  modern  researches,  the  il 
lustrious  Buffon,  in  his  "  Discours  sur  les  Varietes  de  TEspece 
Humaine,"  took  the  ground,  as  M.  de  Humboldt  has  also  recent 
ly  done,  that  the  tribes  of  Northwestern  America,  and  even  oi 
4 


50  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Mexico,  had  come  from  Tartary  and  Central  Asia  ;  and,  relying 
upon  the  new  discoveries  of  the  Russians,  he  traced  the  route 
followed  by  the  Asiatics,  holding  that  they  reached  the  north 
western  portion  of  California  by  way  of  Kamtchatka  and  the 
chain  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  Upon  his  side,  M.  de  Guignes, 
examining  the  books  of  China,  and  by  them  throwing  a  light 
upon  the  origin  of  all  European  nations,  found  among  them  a 
very  remarkable  memoir  regarding  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  or  the 
country  of  the  Extreme  East.  He  availed  himself  of  the  light 
thrown  by  the  Russians  and  the  latest  geographers  upon  the 
extreme  northeastern  countries  of  Asia,  and,  in  his  scholarly 
work,  he  proved,  as  far  as  it  was  then  possible  to  do  so,  that  the 
country  of  Fu-sang,  known  in  the  year  458  A.  D.,  rich  in  gold, 
silver,  and  copper,  but  destitute  of  iron,  could  be  nothing  else 
than  America. 

All  the  maps,  rough  and  purposely  altered  as  to  the  size  of 
foreign  countries,  that  we  have  been  able  to  find  in  the  books  or 
collections  relating  to  China,  and  anterior  in  date  to  the  exact 
maps  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  which  were  finally  made  by  the 
aid  of  the  corrections  of  the  missionaries  at  Pekin,  show,  in  fact, 
to  the  east  and  northeast  of  China,  beyond  Japan,  marked  under 
one  of  its  names,  Ji  0 ,  pen  ^  ("  Origin  of  the  Sun  "),  a  con 
fused  mass  of  countries,  delineated  as  small  islands,  undoubtedly 
because  they  were  reached  by  sea  ;  and  among  these  countries, 
of  which  the  size  is  purposely  reduced,  is  marked  the  cele 
brated  country  of  Fu-sang,  a  country  of  which  many  fables 
have  been  related  in  China,  but  which,  in  the  account  translated 
by  M.  de  Guignes,  is  presented  in  a  light  so  entirely  natural  that 
it  can  not  be  considered  otherwise  than  as  one  of  the  countries  of 
America,  even  if  it  is  not,  as  we  think  possible,  intended  for  the 
entire  Continent  of  America. 

We  had  not  known  of  the  old  Chinese  maps,  drawn  up  so  as 
to  present  Europe  and  all  of  Asia,  outside  of  China,  as  very  small 
countries,  until  our  visit  to  Oxford  in  1830.  We  then  copied 
them  at  the  Bodleian  Library,  and  our  scholarly  friend,  Sir 
George  Stanton,  afterward  gave  us  one  of  these  imperfect  maps. 

Upon  returning  to  London,  we  there  sought  and  found  the 
Chinese  text  of  the  account  translated  by  M.  de  Guignes  ;  for 
the  works  in  which  it  is  found  are  monopolized  at  Paris  by  cer 
tain  students  of  Chinese.  We  copied  this  text,  and  showed  it  to 


DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT.  51 

Mr.  Huttman,  then  secretary  of  the  English  Asiatic  Society.  He 
recognized  in  it,  as  we  did,  a  description  of  America,  or  of  one 
of  its  parts,  and,  in  the  surprise  which  he  felt,  he  communicated, 
probably,  with  M.  Klaproth  regarding  our  researches,  for  we  were 
at  London  again  when  this  Prussian  scholar  published,  in  the 
"Nouvelles  Annales  des  Voyages,"  in  the  year  1831,  a  pretended 
refutation  of  the  memoir  of  M.  de  Guignes,  a  refutation  which 
he  addressed  to  us,  together  with  a  letter  of  equal  length,  which 
we  may  some  day  publish.  Neither  this  letter  nor  this  printed 
article  changed  our  convictions  as  to  the  justice  of  the  views 
of  the  learned  M.  de  Guignes.  We  declared  them  to  M.  Klap 
roth,  and,  as  he  himself  undoubtedly  felt  the  feebleness  of  the 
arguments  by  which  he  had  endeavoured  to  prove  that  this  ac 
count  of  Fu-sang  should  be  understood  to  refer  to  Japan,  he 
afterward,  on  this  account,  as  we  suppose,  wishing  to  convert 
M.  von  Humboldt  to  his  false  ideas,  caused  the  insertion,  in 
Vol.  X  of  the  "  Nouveau  Journal  Asiatique  de  Paris,"  of  the 
letters  of  the  late  Pere  Gaubil,  in  which  this  learned  mis 
sionary,  without  disputing  this  story,  discusses  the  ideas  of  M. 
de  Guignes,  and,  not  knowing  anything  then  of  the  maps  of 
which  we  have  spoken,  appears  to  be  unwilling  to  admit  that 
America,  under  the  name  of  Fa-sang,  or  under  any  other  name, 
had  been  really  known  to  the  Buddhists  or  shamans  of  High 
Asia  since  the  year  458  A.  D. 

Since  that  time,  however,  we  have  endeavoured  to  prove,  by 
an  exact  calculation  of  the  distance  in  lit  given  in  this  account, 
translated  from  the  Great  Annals  of  China,  regarding  the  country 
of  Fu-sang,  and  by  discussing  the  route  traveled  to  reach  it,  that 
this  country,  even  following  the  views  of  M.  Klaproth  and  of 
Father  Gaubil,  concerning  the  Chinese  names  given  to  the  coun 
try  so  distant  from  Kamtchatka,  could  not  be  found  elsewhere 
than  in  America. 

According  to  the  shaman  or  Buddhist  monk  who  made  Fu- 
sang  known  to  the  Chinese  in  the  year  499  of  our  era,  this  coun 
try  was  at  the  same  time  to  the  east  of  China,  and  equally  to  the 
east  of  a  semi-civilized  land  known  in  the  Chinese  books  by 
the  name  of  the  country  of  Ta  ;fc,  Han  g|,  or  of  the  "  Great 
Hans,"  a  name  applied  first  to  the  Chinese  dynasty  of  the  Hans, 
founded  in  206  B.  c.,  after  that  of  the  Tsin. 

But,  according  to  the  Chinese  accounts  regarding  this  coun- 


52  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

try  of  Ta-han— which  could  be  reached  either  by  sea,  by  setting 
out  from  Japan  and  sailing  to  the  northeast,  or  by  land,  by  set 
ting  forth  from  the  sharp  bend  toward  the  north  which  is  made 
by  the  great  river  Hoang-ho,  into  the  country  of  the  Mongols, 
and  passing  to  the  south  of  Lake  Baikal,  and  then,  going  the 
same  distance  to  the  northeast— this  country,  very  distant  from 
China,  could  not  be  any  other  than  Kamtchatka,  also  called  the 
country  of  Lieu-kuei,  or  "Place  of  Exile"  (lieu,  $£)  "of  the 
Vicious"  (kuei,  &),  in  other  Chinese  geographies. 

Father  Gaubil,  in  these  same  letters,  published  by  M.  Klap- 
roth,  admits  this  to  be  the  country  of  Lieu-kuei,  for  it  is  said 
that  the  fact  that  this  country  is  surrounded  by  the  sea  upon 
three  sides,  as  Kamtchatka  is,  and  the  distance  at  which  it  is 
placed  in  the  geography  of  the  Tang  dynasty,  also  published  by 
this  learned  missionary,  both  agree  in  confining  the  land  of 
Lieu-kuei  to  this  extreme  point  of  northeastern  Asia.  It 
should  also  be  noticed  that  M.  Klaproth  himself,  in  the  memoir 
which  we  refute,  when  discussing  the  position  of  the  country  of 
Ta-han,  declares  that  this  land  has  also  been  called  the  country 
of  Lieu-lcuei ;  and  since,  according  to  Father  Gaubil,  this 
place  is  Kamtchatka,  the  country  of  Ta-han  must  answer  to  the 
southern  portion  of  Kamtchatka,  and  not  to  the  great  island  of 
Saghalien  or  Taraikai,  which  is  found  at  the  east  of  Tartary, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow  River,  the  island  in  which  M. 
Klaproth  attempts  to  place  it  in  his  "  Researches  regarding  Fu- 
sang" 

It  is,  also,  in  Kamtchatka  that  the  celebrated  M.  de  Guignes 
places  the  country  of  Ta-han,  which  the  Chinese  books,  such  as 
the  Pian-y-tien,  the  great  "  Geography  of  Foreign  Nations,"  a 
valuable  work,  of  which  a  copy  is  possessed  by  the  Royal  Li 
brary  at  Paris,  represent  as  inhabited  by  barbarous  men  of  great 
stature,  and  with  hair  very  long  and  in  wild  disorder. 

And  when  the  shaman  Hoei  Shin,  coming  from  the  country 
of  Fii-sang  to  China,  and  landing  at  Klng-cheu,  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Hu-pe,  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  great  river  Kiang, 
said  that  "Fu-sang  is  at  the  same  time  to  the  east  of  China  and 
to  the  east  of  the  country  of  Ta-han"  or  of  Kamtchatka,  it  is  evi 
dent  that  he  indicated  a  very  great  extension  of  this  country  of 
Fu-sang,  from  north  to  south  ;  since  Kamtchatka,  even  in  its 
niost  southerly  part,  is  very  distant  to  the  northeast  from  China, 


DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT.  53 

even  from  its  northern  boundary,  and  still  farther  from  the  river 
Kiang;  he  speaks,  therefore,  not  of  an  island;  not  even  of  one 
as  large  as  Japan;  but  of  a  continent  of  great  extent,  such  as 
North  America. 

So,  when  we  had  communicated  the  memoir  of  M.  de  Guignes, 
and  its  pretended  refutation  by  M.  Klaproth,  to  the  celebrated 
navigator  M.  Dumont  d'Urville,  whose  unfortunate  loss  science 
still  deplores,  this  scholar,  who,  before  his  last  voyage,  had,  in 
accordance  with  our  advice,  commenced  the  study  of  the  geo 
graphical  books  preserved  in  China,  could  not  restrain  a  smile  of 
pity  upon  seeing  that  M.  Klaproth  had,  by  main  strength,  at 
tempted  to  change  this  vast  continent  into  a  simple  province  of 
Japan,  a  country  which  he  himself  points  out  under  its  true 
name,  in  another  passage  of  the  Great  Annals  cited  by  M.  de 
Guignes,  and  where  the  route  is  described  leading  by  sea  from 
Corea  to  the  country  of  Ta-han.  In  order  to  reach  that  region, 
the  route  touches  the  country  of  TFb,  or  of  Japan,  which  was 
already  well  known  to  the  Chinese  in  all  its  parts.  The  route, 
continuing  toward  the  north,  touches  at  the  country  of  Wen-shin 
(the  island  of  Saghalien)  ;  then  turning  to  the  east,  Ta-han  or 
Kamtchatka  is  reached,  otherwise  called  Lieu-kuei.  It  is  evi 
dent  that  no  other  land  than  North  America,  east  of  Asia,  is  suf 
ficiently  large  to  be  at  the  same  time  to  the  east  of  Central  China 
and  of  Kamtchatka  :  this  was  not  plainly  said  by  M.  de  Guignes, 
but  he  evidently  perceived  it,  and  the  distance  also  at  which 
Fu-sang  is  placed  from  the  country  of  Ta-han  or  Kamtchatka, 
in  the  account  of  the  shaman,  completes  the  demonstration. 

In  fact,  he  stated  this  distance  of  Fu-sang  easterly  from  Ta- 
han  at  twenty  thousand  U,  and,  as  the  length  of  the  li  has  fre 
quently  been  changed  in  China,  M.  Klaproth  tries,  by  supposing 
the  length  to  be  very  small,  to  make  this  distance  reach  only  as 
far  as  Japan  !  But,  as  the  direction  toward  the  east  still  incom 
modes  him  and  causes  him  to  fall  into  the  ocean,  because  of  the 
admission  which  he  makes  that  Ta-han  must  be  the  island  of 
Saghalien,  he  without  further  ceremony  changes  this  direction 
and  turns  it  around  toward  the  south  ;  and  in  this  way,  by  add 
ing  one  false  supposition  to  another,  he  arrives  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  southeastern  part  of  Japan  is  this  country  of  Fu-sang; 
again  assuming  that  this  country  had  been  but  recently  discov 
ered  by  the  Chinese. 


54.  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

But  Father  Gaubil,  upon  whom  he  otherwise  relies,  could  un 
deceive  him  and  set  him  right  as  to  the  real  length  of  the  li.  In 
his  "Histoire  de  la  Dynastie  des  Tang,"  a  dynasty  that  reigned 
shortly  after  the  epoch  when  the  accounts  of  Ta-han  and  of  Fu- 
sang  were  inserted  in  the  Great  Annals,  he  said  that  "fifteen 
thousand  li  are  reckoned  as  the  distance  between  Persia  and  the 
city  of  Sy-ngan-fu,"  then  the  capital  of  China  (see  "Memoires 
concernant  les  Chinois,"  Vol.  XV,  p.  450).  Persia  is  designated 
in  these  books  as  the  kingdom  of  Po-sse,  and  its  capital  was 
formerly  near  Passa-garde  and  Shiraz  or  Persepolis. 

Now,  toward  the  northeast,  the  geographies  of  the  Tang  dy 
nasty  reckon  fifteen  thousand  li  also  as  the  distance  from  Sy- 
ngan-fu  to  the  country  of  Lieu-kuei  (ib.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  453) — 
which,  according  to  M.  Klaproth,  is  the  same  as  the  country  of 
Ta-han— &  country  surrounded  by  the  sea  upon  three  sides,  and 
which  Father  Gaubil  asserts,  as  we  have  said,  to  be  Kamtchatka. 
If,  therefore,  we  set  a  pair  of  compasses  upon  a  terrestrial 
globe,  placing  the  points  upon  Sy-ngan-fu,  then  the  capital  of 
China,  and  Shiraz  or  Persepolis,  the  capital  of  Po-sse  (or  Persia), 
and  then,  keeping  one  point  upon  the  first-named  city,  swing  the 
other  around  to  the  northeast,  it  will  be  found  to  reach  to  the 
southern  part  of  the  land  of  Kamtchatka,  thus  proving  the  accu 
racy  of  the  stated  distances. 

The  length  of  the  li  during  this  epoch  is  therefore  fixed  ; 
hence,  one  third  of  the  above-named  distance  represents  five 
thousand  li,  and,  adding  this  to  the  length  of  the  fifteen  thousand 
li  above  described,  the  distance  of  twenty  thousand  li,  which  the 
account  of  the  shaman  affirms  as  extending  toward  the  east  from 
the  country  of  Ta-han  to  that  of  Fu-sang,  from  which  he  had 
come,  can  be  reckoned  with  great  accuracy. 

If,  then,  with  the  compasses  we  lay  out  upon  the  globe  this 
distance  of  twenty  thousand  li,  setting  one  point  upon  the  south 
ern  end  of  Kamtchatka  (which  answers  to  the  country  of  Lieu- 
Jtuei  or  of  Ta-han),  and  swinging  the  other  point  toward  the 
east,  we  should,  if  Fu-sang  is  America,  reach  at  least  the  western 
coast  of  this  new  continent,  a  coast  which,  although  long  known 
to  the  Asiatics,  has,  by  a  sort  of  fatality,  been  the  last  to  be  ex 
plored  by  Europeans.  Now,  in  fact,  this  is  just  where  the  point 
of  the  compasses  will  reach,  and  this  confirms  both  the  conject 
ures  of  Buffon  and  the  assertions  made  by  M.  de  Guignes,  based 


DE  PAPvAVEY'S  SUPPORT.  55 

upon  the  very  incorrect  maps  which  were  all  that  could  then  be 
obtained  ;  for  the  arm  of  the  compasses  thus  reaches  to  a  point 
north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  not  far  from  Califor 
nia.* 

This  scholar  could  not  then  arrive  at  the  same  precision  that 
is  possible  for  us,  since,  we  repeat,  the  exact  outlines  of  the 
northwest  coast  of  America  near  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  even 
those  of  the  country  of  Kamtchatka,  had  not,  in  his  days,  been 
fully  established ;  but  his  merit  was  on  that  account  even  the 
greater,  in  being  the  first  to  recognize  the  true  value  of  the  li  at 
that  epoch,  and  to  find,  in  the  geographies  of  China,  which  had 
been  so  rarely  consulted  by  European  scholars,  countries  so  un 
known  to  us  as  Kamtchatka,  and  the  vast  American  Continent; 
known  from  ancient  times  by  the  wandering  tribes  of  Central 
Asia,  but  which  have  only  recently  been  made  known  to  us,  by 
the  admirable  and  persevering  efforts  of  an  illustrious  genius. 

By  the  aid  of  the  same  books  preserved  in  China,  and  which, 
unfortunately  for  Europeans,  have  not  been  translated,  although 
we  have  possessed  them  for  more  than  a  century,  we  can  show 
that  the  Meroplde  of  Ellen  is  North  America  ;  for  the  invasion 
of  the  country  of  the  Hyperboreans,  of  which  this  author  speaks, 
can  not  have  taken  place  elsewhere  than  from  North  America 
into  Kamtchatka,  and  extending  as  far  as  to  the  banks  of  the 
great  Amoor  River,  a  region  in  which,  according  to  the  old 
Chinese  books,  there  lived  a  multitude  of  tribes  of  which  the 
names  are  scarcely  known  in  Europe  to  this  day,  although  very 
curious  and  all  significant. 

From  the  most  ancient  times,  having  undoubtedly  received 
colonies  from  Greece  and  Syria,  these  happy  Hyperboreans  sent 
to  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delos  sheaves  of  the  grain  which 
they  harvested. 

Herodotus  and  Pausanias  name  to  us  the  nations  which  passed 
these  offerings  from  hand  to  hand  to  Greece,  and  when  to  what 
we  have  said  are  added  the  accounts  of  the  same  nations  which 
are  given  in  the  Chinese  books,  we  can  not  avoid  the  conviction 
that  the  true  land  of  the  Hyperboreans — that  is  to  say,  of  the 
tribes  of  the  northeast — can  not  be  situated  elsewhere  than 
upon  the  Amoor  River,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Corea, 

*  In  his  later  essay  M.  de  Paravey  corrects  this  statement,  and  names  San 
Francisco  as  the  point  that  is  reached.— E.  P.  V. 


56  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

countries  having  an  alphabet,  and  very  anciently  civilized  or 
colonized. 

Through  the  Hyperboreans,  in  connection  with  the  ferocious 
tribes  of  North  America,  tribes  which  Elien  described  under  the 
name  of  Ud%ipog,  or  "  Warriors,"  the  Greeks  of  ancient  times, 
who  had  carried  the  culture  of  the  cereals  to  the  banks  of  the 
Amoor,  therefore  obtained  some  knowledge  concerning  Fa-sang, 
or  the  Eastern  World,  that  vast  continent  which,  explored  from 
the  western  side  by  the  Phoenicians  of  Egypt,  and  afterward  by 
the  Carthagenians,  received  the  name  of  Atlantis. 

The  flowery  imagination  of  the  Asiatics  embroidered  with 
fables  these  accounts  of  a  world  so  distant,  and  which  could  only 
be  reached  by  incurring  very  great  dangers  ;  but  the  curious 
monuments  of  Palenque  in  Guatemala,  and  those  not  less  impor 
tant  which  M.  de  Waldeck  sketched  in  Yucatan,  demonstrate 
positively  the  ancient  relations  between  Central  Asia,  India,  and 
Europe,  and  America,  or  Meropide,  the  true  land  of  Fu-sang. 

The  Shan-hai-Jcing,  an  old  mythological  geography  of  Chi 
na,  the  Li-sao,  and  other  Chinese  books,  relate  fables  also  regard 
ing  the  valley  of  Tang-Jcu,  or  of  the  Hot  Springs,  from  which 
the  sun  appears  to  issue  ;  it  rises  then  in  the  country  of  Fa-sang, 
where  the  mulberries  grow  to  a  prodigious  height.  It  is  said 
that  the  people  of  Fu-sang  eat  the  fruit  of  these  mulberries  in 
order  to  become  immortal,  that  they  can  fly  in  the  air,  and  that 
the  silk-worms  of  these  trees,  enormous  also,  inclose  themselves 
in  cocoons  of  monstrous  size. 

All  these  fables  are  founded  upon  the  name  sang,  |p:,  of  the 
mulberry,  which  enters  into  "  Fu,-sang"  the  Chinese  name  of 
America  ;  and  this  can  be  explained  from  an  examination  of  the 
Mythriac  monuments,  sculptures  of  Eastern  Asia,  in  which  there 
may  always  be  observed  upon  the  right  the  sun  rising  behind  a 
tree  such  as  the  mulberry.  This  is  nothing  else,  in  fact,  than  the 
representation  of  the  hieroglyphic  character  preserved  in  China 
to  express  the  East,  a  character  which  is  pronounced  tong,  jf[, 
and  which  is  formed  by  drawing  the  symbol  of  the  sun,  Q  ji,  be 
hind  that  of  a  tree,  fa  mo  ;  the  sun  in  rising  showing  its  disk,  in 
fact,  behind  the  trees. 

Tacitus,  in  his  "  Germanicus,"  relates  fables,  also,  in  regard  to 
the  country  where  the  sun  sets,  in  explaining  the  sparkling 
when  its  fires  penetrate  the  ocean  ;  but  his  admirable  work  has 


DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT.  57 

been  none  the  less  constantly  read  and  consulted  since  his  time, 
and  these  marvelous  tales  have  not  caused  the  denial  of  the 
existence  of  the  region  of  which  he  speaks. 

But  the  account  of  the  shaman  Hoei  Skin  regarding  Fu-sang 
offers  none  of  these  fables  ;  and,  if  it  places  a  tree  of  this  name 
in  America,  it  describes  it  as  a  plant  having  red  fruit  in  the 
form  of  a  pear,  a  shrub,  of  which  the  young  shoots  are  eaten  ; 
and  of  which  the  bark  is  prepared  like  that  of  hemp,  of  which 
cloth,  clothing,  and  even  paper  are  made  :  for  the  inhabitants 
of  this  country  had  a  method  of  writing,  says  this  account,  and, 
in  fact,  books  and  a  species  of  writing  are  found  in  America,  in 
Mexico,  and  elsewhere. 

In  the  Chinese  botanical  books  the  name  of  fu-sang,  which 
may  be  translated  as  "the  serviceable,  useful  mulberry"  (these 
adjectives  conveying  the  meaning  of  "fu"),  is  given  now  to  the 
Jcetime,  or  hibiscus  rosa  sinensis,  a  plant  brought  from  Persia  to 
China,  as  we  learn  from  Father  Cabot,  and  which  has  been 
grafted  upon  the  mulberry. 

But  M.  Klaproth,  by  some  mistake,  has  been  led  to  see  in 
this  plant  the  paper-mulberry,  of  which,  in  fact,  cloth  and  cloth 
ing  are  also  made  ;  while  others  find  in  it  the  metl  or  maguey  of 
Mexico,  but  badly  described  ;  for  this  plant  also  gives  cloth  and 
paper,  it  furnishes  a  sort  of  wine  and  food,  and  is  pre-eminently 
useful. 

In  truth,  this  name  Fu-8ang  expresses  only  the  name  of  the 
Extreme  East,  for  in  the  ancient  hieroglyphic  geography  the  Cen 
tral  Kingdom  is  called,  as  it  now  is  in  China,  Chong-hoa,  or 
"the  Central  Flower,"  and  the  four  cardinal  countries  have  the 
name  of  the  Sse-fu,  or  "  the  Four  Auxiliary  Countries,"  composed 
of  the  four  principal  petals  of  the  nelumbo,  the  mystic  flower, 
the  flower  of  the  middle,  the  sacred  lotus,  type  of  ancient  Egypt 
and  of  the  earth,  par  excellence. 

India  offers  this  geographical  symbol  to  us  again,  and  the 
ancient  Chinese  maps  call  the  countries  of  the  north,  Fu-yu ; 
those  of  the  south,  Fti-nan  /  those  of  the  west,  Fu-lin  (that  is  to 
say,  the  Ta-tsin,  the  Roman  Empire)  ;  and,  finally,  those  of  the 
east,  Fu-sang.  Now,  to  the  east  of  China  there  is  no  other  ex 
tensive  land  than  America  ;  and,  if  Jeipan  lias  ever  been  also 
given  this  name  of  Fu-sang,  it  is  because  it  is  to  the  east  of 
China  ;  but  the  Japanese  Encyclopaedia,  which  should  have  been 


58  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

consulted  by  M.  Klaproth,  who  attempted  to  support  his  opinion 
by  this  name  erroneously  applied  to  this  country,  says  that  it  is 
not  the  true  country  of  Fu-sang. 

The  banana,  the  pi-sang  tree  of  the  Malays,  may  also  be 
one  of  the  trees  called  fu-sang,  for  these  trees,  as  well  as  the 
flowers  of  the  nelumbo,  or  rose-lotus  of  Egypt,  where  the  young 
Horus  is  seen  to  spring— that  is  to  say,  where  the  sun  is  born, 
are  types  of  the  East,  All  this,  we  repeat,  is  merely  a  natural 
series  of  symbols  employed  in  the  ancient  and  hieroglyphic 
geography,  which  is  too  little  studied. 

The  account  translated  by  M.  de  Guignes  also  places  many 
pu-tao,  or  grapes,  in  the  country  of  Fu-sang.  M.  de  Guignes 
translated  the  two  characters  separately,  understanding  pu  to 
mean  the  iris,  and  tao  the  peach.  M.  Klaproth  has  properly 
rectified  this,  but  with  singular  thoughtlessness  he  forgets  that 
the  forests  of  North  America  abound  in  several  species  of 
wild  vines,  and  that  the  Scandinavians  placed  the  country  of 
Vin-land  (the  Land  of  Vines)  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
continent.  He  therefore  denies  the  existence  of  the  vine  in 
America,  and,  relying  especially  upon  this  passage,  he  concludes 
that  Fu-sang  must  be  Japan,  where  the  vine,  as  he  says,  had 
existed  for  a  long  time,  although  in  China  it  had  not  been  intro 
duced  from  Western  Asia  until  the  year  126  before  our  era.  It 
can  therefore  be  seen  how  feeble  his  attempted  refutation  of  M. 
de  Guignes  is,  even  when  the  last  is  mistaken  ;  and  his  memoir, 
as  a  whole,  offers  no  more  forcible  arguments. 

When  the  shaman  said  that  iron  was  lacking  in  Fu-sang,  but 
that  copper  was  found,  and  that  gold  and  silver  were  not  valued 
(because  of  their  abundance,  no  doubt),  he  repeats  what  Plato 
said  of  Atlantis,  and  what  has  been  reiterated  in  all  accounts 
regarding  America  ;  a  celebrated  river  of  the  northern  part  of 
this  continent  bears  the  name  of  the  Coppermine  River,  and 
copper  is  also  very  abundant  in  Peru. 

It  is  also  stated  that  the  inhabitants  of  Fu-sang  raised  herds  of 
deer  and  made  cheese  from  the  milk  of  the  hinds;  and  in  the  Chi 
nese  and  Japanese  Encyclopaedias,  as  also  in  the  Pian-y-tien, 
when  the  figure  of  an  inhabitant  of  Fu-sang  is  given,  he  is  drawn, 
in  fact,  as  engaged  in  milking  a  hind  having  small  round  spots, 
and  in  the  two  Encyclopaedias  this  is  given  as  forming  the  char 
acteristic  peculiarity  of  this  country  of  Fu-sang.  Philostratus,  in 


DE  PAKAVEY'S  SUPPORT. 


59 


his  "  Life  of  Apollonius,"  mentioned  tribes  in  India  who  raised 
hinds  for  their  milk,  and  the  thing  is  not  so  common  as  to  fail 
to  be  remarked,  but  herds  of  hinds  have  also  been  found  in 
America  in  our  days  ;  for  Valmont  de  Bomare,  in  the  article 
entitled  "  Deer,"  says  :  "  The  Americans  have  herds  of  deer 
and  of  hinds  running  in  the  woods  throughout  the  day  and  at 
night  re-entering  their  stables.  Several  tribes  of  America  have 
no  other  milk,"  he  adds,  "  than  that  obtained  from  their  hinds, 
and  of  which  they  also  make  cheese." 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  he  translates  by  these  words  what 
JEToei  Shin  said  in  499  A.  D.  concerning  the  nations  of  Fa-sang  • 
and  in  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  usage  formerly  ex 
isted  in  India,  it  was  not  without  design,  for  the  same  shaman 
affirms  that  the  religion  of  Buddha  (an  Indian  religion)  had  been 
carried  to  the  country  of  Fin-sang,  in  the  year  458  of  our  era,  by 
five  monks  of  Ky-pin>  or  of  Cophene,  an  Indian  country.  He 
says  that  the  tribes,  from  that  time  converted  by  them,  had  nei 
ther  military  weapons  nor  troops,  and,  like  the  Argippeans  (of 
whom  Herodotus  speaks),  that  they  did  not  make  war  ;  he  adds, 
finally,  that  they  had  a  species  of  writing  and  worshiped  images 
— that  is  to  say,  that  they  were  true  Buddhists. 

That  which  is  said  regarding  the  cattle  with  long  horns  that 
carried  heavy  burdens  upon  their  heads,  and  of  carts  to  which 
horses,  cattle,  and  deer  were  harnessed,  offers,  as  it  appears,  the 
only  difficulty ;  but  the  bisons  with  manes  and  with  enormous 
heads,  found  in  North  America,  may  have  been  the  cause  of  this 
eiToneous  statement,  and,  but  for  the  evasion  of  the  description, 
the  Chinese  name  Ma,  which  is  applied  to  horses,  asses,  and 
camels,  and  which  forms  the  radical  of  useful  animals  of  this 
nature,  might  be  given,  even  although  it  were  wrongfully,  to 
the  llamas  and  alpacas  already  domesticated  perhaps  in  South 
America,  which  also  was  included  in  Fa-sang. 

It  may  be  possible,  moreover,  that  horses  had  been  introduced 
before  this  epoch  into  Northwestern  America,  which  is  hardly 
known  even  in  our  days,  and  where  tribes  are  mentioned  which 
use  them  ;  and  where  teams  of  reindeers,  like  those  of  Kam- 
tchatka,  may  also  be  seen.  It  is  true  that  it  has  been  supposed 
that  these  horses  are  descended  from  those  brought  to  Mexico 
by  the  Spaniards  ;  but  this  has  not  been  proved  :  and  even  if  we 
suppose  them  to  be  of  European  origin,  an  epidemic  or  a  de- 


GO  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

str active  war  may,  since  the  fifth  century,  have  destroyed  the 
domesticated  horses  brought  to  Fu-sang  by  the  Tartars  and  the 
Buddhists  of  Asia. 

The  people  of  Fa-sang  had  no  other  habitations  than  villages 
of  wooden  cabins,  such  as  have  been  found  near  the  Columbia 
River,  to  the  northwest  of  California ;  and,  to  obtain  a  wife, 
the  young  men  of  the  country  were  obliged  to  serve  their  be 
trothed  for  an  entire  year.  Now  (in  the  "Collection  of  The- 
venot"),  this  is  precisely  what  Palafox  says  of  the  American 
Indians,  whose  manners  he  describes ;  and  this  custom  also  ex 
ists  in  the  extreme  northeastern  countries  of  Asia,  countries 
from  which  America  may  be  reached,  as  we  have  said. 

Other  details  of  their  customs  seem  to  be  borrowed  from  the 
Chinese  civilization,  especially  the  cycle  of  ten  years,  or  perhaps 
even  of  sixty  years — as  M.  de  Humboldt  has  in  fact  described 
among  the  Muyscas  of  the  plateau  of  Bogota,  in  South  America, 
the  usage  of  the  cycle  of  sixty  years  and  of  institutions  analogous 
to  those  of  the  Buddhism  of  Japan.  The  cycle  of  Fa-sang ',  bear 
ing  the  names  of  the  ten  Chinese  Kans,  served  to  mark  the  suc 
cessive  colours  of  the  king's  garments,  colours  which  were  changed 
every  two  years,  just  as  is  prescribed  for  the  Emperor  of  China 
by  the  chapter  yue-ling  of  the  Lil-ki,  or  "Sacred  Book  of  Rites." 

But  the  so-called  Chinese  cycles,  which  gave  their  alphabets 
to  the  most  ancient  nations  of  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  India,  as  well 
as  to  those  of  Greece,  as  we  have  elsewhere  shown  (see  our  "  Es 
say  upon  the  Common  and  Hieroglyphic  Origin  of  the  Figures 
and  of  the  Letters,"  Paris,  1826;  and  the  article,  entitled  "  Japan 
ese  Origin  of  the  Muyscas,"  in  the  "  Annales  de  Philosophie 
Chretienne,"  Vol.  X,  page  8,  where  the  figures  of  the  cycles  may 
be  found),  may  have  been  carried  to  Fu-sang  quite  as  well  from 
Central  Asia,  or  from  India,  as  from  China,  as  they  were  never 
unknown  to  the  Buddhists  or  shamans. 

We  might  also  discuss  the  sound  of  the  titles  given  to  the 
king  and  nobility  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang  /  but  these  discus 
sions  would  carry  us  too  far,  and  we  will  merely  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  title  of  the  king  was  I-ky,  a  sound  which 
seems  connected  with  the  name  of  the  Jfic-sos,  the  pastoral 
kings  of  Egypt  who  came  from  Asia,  and  the  last  syllable  with 
Ric,  the  name  of  the  Gothic  kings,  who  also  came  from  the 
north  of  Asia  ;  and  possibly  also  with  that  of  Cacique*  the  title 


DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT.  Cl 

of  the  chiefs  of  the  islands  of  America,  and  with  that  of  the 
Arikis,  or  kings  of  the  islands  of  Oceanica. 

We  will  therefore  confine  ourselves  to  discussing  the  conclu 
sion  of  this  account  of  Fit-sang. 

"  Formerly,"  says  Hoei  Shin,  "  the  religion  of  Buddha  did 
not  exist  in  this  country  ;  but  in  the  Song  dynasty  (in  458  A.  D. 
— a  precise  date  here),  five  Pi-kieu,  or  priests  of  the  country 
of  Ky-pin  (a  country  in  which  Father  Gaubil  sees  Samarcand, 
and  M.  de  Remusat  sees  the  ancient  Cophene,  near  India),  came 
to  Fu-sang,  carrying  with  them  their  books  and  sacred  images, 
and  their  ritual,  and  established  monastic  customs,  and  so 
changed  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants." 

Accordingly,  Hoei  Shin,  a  shaman  himself,  who  came  to 
China  in  499,  forty-eight  years  after  this  conversion  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Fu-sang,  declared  that  then  the  people  of  that  country 
worshiped  the  images  of  spirits  at  morning  and  night  and  did 
not  wage  war. 

It  is  said  that  proselytism  is  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Bud 
dhist  priests  and  monks.  It  is  therefore  not  surprising  to  see 
them  set  forth  from  Central  Asia,  and  cross  the  seas  and  the 
most  dangerous  countries,  in  order  to  convert  the  savage  tribes 
of  America,  a  country  already  well  known  to  them  and  to  the 
Arabs  and  Persians  of  Samarcand. 

This  can  no  longer  be  considered  doubtful,  since  M.  de  Wai- 
deck  has  sketched  an  old  temple  or  monastery  of  Yucatan,  a 
large  square  inclosure  accompanied  by  pyramids  analogous  to 
those  of  the  Buddhists  of  Pegu,  Ava,  Siam,  and  the  Indian  Ar 
chipelago,  and  which  can  be  studied  in  all  their  details. 

A  multitude  of  niches,  in  which  the  figure  of  the  celebrated 
god  Buddha  sits  with  crossed-legs,  exist  in  Java,  all  around  the 
ancient  temple  of  Boru  Buddha  ;  and  upon  examination  of  the 
temple  of  Yucatan,  of  which  M.  de  Waldeck  has  published 
beautiful  drawings,  we  find  there  the  same  niches  in  which  sits 
the  same  god  Buddha,  and  also  find  other  figures  of  East  Indian 
origin,  such  as  the  frightful  head  of  Siva,  a  flattened  and  de 
formed  head  which  surmounts  each  of  these  niches. 

We  can  not  affirm,  however,  that  these  temples  of  Yucatan 
were  as  old  as  the  account  of  Fa-sang,  as  we  have  no  description 
of  other  buildings  in  this  country  than  wooden  cabins  ;  but,  per 
secuted  by  the  Brahmans  of  India,  the  Buddhists  may  have  been 


02  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

compelled,  at  several  different  times,  to  seek  an  asylum  in  Fa- 
sang,  or  America,  and  possibly  even  went  to  Bogota  and  as  far 
as  to  Peru,  where  the  manners  of  the  people  have  been  found  to 
be  so  gentle  and  so  analogous  to  those  of  the  Buddhists. 

In  the  same  manner  they  civilized  the  wild  tribes  of  the  In 
dian  Archipelago,  and  of  the  countries  between  India  and  China, 
and  built  temples  and  pyramids  such  as  those  of  which  we  find 
the  remains,  as  in  Java,  or  those  which  are  still  standing  and 
venerated,  as  in  Pegu  and  Siam. 

China  received  the  Buddhist  religion  soon  after  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Christian  era,  under  Ming-ti,  of  the  Han  dy 
nasty  ;  Corea  in  the  year  372  A.  D.  ;  Fa-sang -,  as  we  have  said, 
in  the  year  458  ;  and  Japan,  finally,  not  until  552,  when  the  Japa 
nese  received  it  from  Corea  and  from  the  kingdom  of  JPe-tsi,  a 
land  situated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Amoor  River  and  of 
Corea,  and  an  ancient  center  of  civilization. 

It  is  from  Corea,  say  the  Chinese  books,  that  the  country  of 
Ta-lian  can  be  reached,  from  which,  sailing  to  the  east,  one  ar 
rives  at  America — that  is  to  say,  at  Fa-sang.  On  the  voyage  one 
touches  at  Japan,  and,  without  doubt,  sails  along  its  shores  in 
order  to  reach  the  island  of  Saghalien  upon  the  north,  from 
which  the  route  turns  to  the  east  toward  Kamtchatka  or 
Ta-han. 

But  in  the  curious  "  History  of  the  Chichimecas,"  published 
in  the  collection  of  M.  Ternaux,  Ixtlilxochitl,  the  author,  a  na 
tive  American,  says  that  the  Toltecs  came  by  sea  from  Japan 
to  America,  landing  upon  the  northwest  coast,  and  in  a  country 
having  a  red  soil,  such  as  that  near  the  Gila  River,  where  also 
an  ancient  monument  is  mentioned,  called  the  House  of  Motecu- 
zuma. 

He  had  seen  in  Mexico  the  Japanese  sent  to  Rome  by  the 
missionaries  ;  and  in  these  modern  Japanese  he  recognized  the 
features  and  the  costume  of  the  Toltecs  of  whom  he  spoke  ; 
now  he  fixed  their  migration  in  the  fifth  century  of  our  era. 
He  is  therefore  found  to  be  in  perfect  accord  with  the  Chinese 
accounts,  concerning  the  different  voyages  to  America  ;  for  Ja 
pan,  as  we  have  already  said,  is  situated  upon  the  route  by  sea 
from  Corea  to  the  country  of  Ta-han,  the  southern  part  of 
Kamtchatka,  situated  in  a  high  latitude,  and  where,  as  it  is  said, 
the  prevailing  winds  are  from  the  west  and  the  northwest,  so 


DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT. 


63 


that  they  would  naturally  carry  a  vessel  toward  Fu-sang,  or 
North  America,  a  country  situated  to  the  east. 

The  Buddhistic  monuments  of  Yucatan  ;  the  history  that 
has  been  preserved  of  the  migration  of  the  Toltecs  from  Japan 
to  America  ;  the  Chinese  accounts  of  the  country  of  Ta-han, 
and  of  the  vast  country  of  Fu-sang,  which  were  given  by  the 
Buddhists  who  left  this  country  of  America,  and  arrived  at 
China  by  way  of  Japan :  all  are  therefore  in  perfect  accord. 
This  passage,  ly  way  of  Japan,  explains,  moreover,  how,  as 
we  showed  in  1835,  in  an  article  entitled  "  Dissertation  sur  les 
Muyscas,"  inserted  in  the  "  Annales  de  Philosophic  Chretienne," 
cited  above,  and  also  published  separately,  at  Paris,  under  the 
title  "  Memoire  sur  1'Origine  Japanoise  des  Peuples  du  Plateau 
de  Bogota,"  the  numerals  and  many  words  of  the  language  of 
the  Muyscas,  a  tribe  living  upon  the  plains  of  Bogota,  are  found 
also  in  the  present  language  of  the  Japanese. 

Just  as  the  Scandinavians,  at  a  much  later  date,  descended 
from  the  northeastern  coast  of  the  New  World,  and  from  Vinland, 
where  they  established  a  settlement,  as  far  as  to  Brazil  in  South 
America,  where  their  monuments  have  been  found,  so,  a  thousand 
years  before  the  Spaniards,  but  landing  upon  the  northwestern 
coast,  the  Buddhists  of  India  (then  persecuted  by  the  Brahmans), 
the  colonies  of  Japan  and  of  the  nations  living  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Amoor  (the  ancient  country  of  the  Hyperboreans),  may  have 
penetrated  to  Mexico,  to  Yucatan,  to  the  country  of  Guatemala 
and  to  Palenque,  to  the  kingdom  of  Cundinamarca,  and  finally 
to  the  rich  and  civilized  kingdom  of  Peru.  The  celebrated  M. 
von  Humboldt  has  very  well  shown  the  connection  of  race,  of 
civilization,  and  of  cycles,  manners  and  usages,  which  unites  the 
tribes  of  these  last  countries  to  those  of  Tartary  and  of  Asia  ; 
but,  by  following  Father  Gaubil  (to  whom  America  was  but  little 
known)  and  M.  Klaproth,  in  denying  the  identity  of  America 
with  Fu-sang,  he  deprived  himself  of  the  most  powerful  argu 
ments  in  support  of  his  views,  and  could  not  fix  any  precise  date 
for  these  migrations. 

We  hope  that,  if  he  reads  this  short  memoir,  he  will  render 
more  justice  to  the  truth  of  the  discoveries  of  the  celebrated  M. 
de  Guignes,  the  profound  sinologue  from  whose  works  M.  Klap 
roth  drew  a  great  part  of  his  learning,  and  which,  upon  that  ac 
count,  the  latter  should  not  so  greatly  traduce. 


64.  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

We  have  wished,  in  this  brief  extract  from  our  researches 
regarding  America,  to  render  justice  to  this  learned  and  mod 
est  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Huns."  As  he  was,  so  are 
we,  oppressed  by  contemptible  coteries  ;  but  we  hope  that  some 
day  more  justice  may  be  shown  to  the  researches  which  have  oc 
cupied  our  best  years. 

CHEVALIER  DE  PARAVEY. 
August,  1843. 


APPENDIX 

Gives  M.  Klaprottis  article  as  far  as  the  end  of  the  translation  of  the 
Chinese  account  of  Fu-sang  ;  and  M.  de  Paravey  adds  the  following 
additional  notes : 

1.  The  celebrated  Ma  Twan-lin,  so  esteemed  by  M.  Remusat,  has  also 
given  this  account  (of  Fu-sang}  in  his    Wen-hien-tong-lcao,  with  some 
variations  in  the  readings ;  and  it  is  this  which  has  been  translated  by  M. 
de  Guignes.    It  is  also  repeated  in  the  celebrated  Chinese  Encyclopaedia, 
entitled  Yuen-lden-tui-han,  in  which  we  found  it  in  London  in  1830, 
and  in  the  Pian-y-tien,  or  "  Geography  of  Foreign  Nations  " ;  and  copies 
of  all  these  highly  esteemed  works  exist  in  Paris. 

2.  M.  de  Paravey,  in  regard  to  the  characters  Jfc  |jj|  (Fu-sang),  has 
observed  that  Father  Goncalves,  in  his  highly  esteemed  Portuguese- 
Chinese  Dictionary,  translated  the  name  Fu-sang  by  Papula  cornuda,  the 
argemone,  or  prickly-poppy  of  Mexico.     This  learned  missionary,  there 
fore,  considered  it  a  plant  or  shrub  of  America ;  and  this  single  definition 
may  be  considered  as  proving  that  the  country  of  Fu-sang  corresponds  to 
some  part  of  Mexico. 

3.  The  laws  of  Fu-sang,  which  punish  the  children  and  descendants 
of  a  great  criminal,  have  existed  in  China  from  time  immemorial,  and  also 
in  the  countries  of  Asia  which  are  tributary  to  China. 

4.  M.  Klaproth  recognizes  the  existence  in  Fu-sang  of  the  Chinese 
cycle  of  sixty  years ;  but  the  researches  of  Father  Souciet  show  that  it 
existed  also  in  India,  and,  in  the  "Journal  Asiatique,"  of  Paris,  M.  de 
Paravey  has  shown  that  it  commenced  in  India  and  in  China  in  precisely 
the  same  year.     The  Buddhists  of  India,  or  of  the  northern  part  of  Cen 
tral  Asia,  may  therefore  have  carried  it  to  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  in 
America,  and  to  Mexico. 

5.  In  India,  it  is  said,  there  are  cattle  which  are  harnessed  to  carts ;  and 
in  Kamtchatka  there  are  reindeer,  a  species  of  stag,  which  draw  sledges. 

6.  In  the  text,  M.  Klaproth,  in  spite  of  all  that  he  says  in  his  foot- 


DE  PARAVEY'S  SUPPORT.  65 

note,  should,  as  we  have  stated  in  oar  memoir,  translate  the  words  »M. 
tao  (which  he  writes  phou-thao)  by  "grapes,"  and  not  by  the  word 
"  vines,"  which,  among  us,  conveys  the  idea  of  culture.  The  woods  of 
North  America,  in  its  northern  and  northwestern  parts,  abound  in  wild 
grapes,  as  the  shaman  says ;  but  cultivated  vines  were  not  found  in  Amer 
ica,  and  the  text,  in  fact,  does  not  say  that  they  were. 

7.  The  custom  which  required  the  king  not  to  occupy  himself  with 
state  affairs  during  the  first  three  years  of  his  reign  was  also  an  ancient 
custom  in  China  and  in  Indo-China. 

8.  In  support  of  his  ideas,  M.  de  Guignes  has  translated  another  pass 
age  of  the  Nan-szu,  which  gives  the  route  by  sea  from  Corea  to  the 
country  of  Ta-Tian.    M.  Klaproth  also  translates  this  passage,  which  gives 
the  distance  from  Ping-yang,  the  ancient  capital  of  Corea,  to  Japan  as 
12,000  li;  from  that  country  to  the  land  of  the  Wen-shin  as  7,000  li; 
and  from  the  last-named  region  to  the  country  of  Ta-han,  5,000  li. 

In  applying  to  this  route  by  sea  the  same  scale  (as  to  the  length  of 
the  li)  which  is  found  from  the  stated  distance  between  Persepolis  and 
Sy-ngan-fu,  M.  de  Paravey  found  in  fact  that  the  distance  between  the 
mouths  of  the  Amoor  River,  or  the  end  of  the  island  of  Saghalien  (which 
was  the  country  of  Wen-shin),  and  the  southern  part  of  Kamtchatka,  or 
the  land  of  Ta-Jian,  is  by  this  route  5,000  li;  and  he  also  found  7,000  li 
to  be  the  distance  between  Yedo,  the  capital  of  Japan,  and  the  mouths  of 
the  Amoor  River. 

The  description  of  the  route  is  therefore  exact  in  these  two  parts ;  and 
if  it  first  states  12,000  li  as  the  distance  by  sea  between  Japan  and  the 
capital  of  Corea,  situated  upon  its  west  coast  (which  is  evidently  too 
great  a  distance),  it  is  because  the  route  to  Japan  first  led  to  the  Lieu- 
Ueu  Islands,  which  are  in  fact  situated  5,000  li  from  Japan  and  7,000 
from  Corea :  either  this  detour  must  be  allowed,  or  else  the  length  of  the 
li  must  be  regarded  as  very  small;  but  Ta-han  is  none  the  less  in  Kam 
tchatka.  And  in  all  the  hypotheses  it  is  impossible  that  Japan,  here  de 
scribed  by  its  own  name,  and  a  country  perfectly  well  known,  could  have 
contained  Fu-sang,  as  M.  Klaproth  wishes  to  prove. 

9.  A  single  word,  when  it  is  well  chosen,  amounts  sometimes  to  a 
demonstration.    In  the  Dictionary  of  the  Language  of  Mexico,  by  the  Pere 
Molina,  a  dictionary  of  which  a  copy  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum 
at  London,  we  have  found  that  the  word  lama,  or  tlama,  expresses  the 
title  of  the  "  medicine-men  "  among  the  Mexicans ;  and  no  one  is  ignorant 
that  in  Thibet  and  Tartary  the  lamas,  or  Buddhist  priests,  are  at  the 
same  time  the  physicians  of  these  countries  (so  little  known)  through 
which  lay  the  route  from  India  to  Fu-sang. 

CHEVALIER  DE  PAEAVEY. 
March  7,  1844. 
5 


CHAPTER  V. 
DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS. 

De  Paravey's  researches  preceded  those  of  Neumann  and  d'Eichthal— Connection 
between  the  Malay  and  American  languages— Fu-sang  located  near  San  Fran 
cisco Chinese  picture  of  a  native  of  Fu-sang — Spotted  deer — Cattle-horns  in 

Mexico— Horses — Nations  of  Northern  Asia — Appendix  A — Buddhist  monu 
ments  in  America— A  figure  of  Buddha  in  Yucatan— The  worship  of  Siva— 
The  explorations  of  Dupaix— Foot-print  in  the  rocks— The  cause  of  eclipses 
— Pyramids — Appendix  B — A  Buddhist  sanctuary  near  the  Colorado  River — 
The  name  Quatu-zaca — The  Mexicans  emigrants  from  the  north — Appendix 
C— An  engraving  of  a  native  of  Fu-sang— The  natives  of  Oregon— The  deer 
of  America — Connection  of  American  and  Asiatic  tribes — Pearl-fishing — The 
cochineal  insect  and  the  nopal— The  people  of  Cophene— American  place- 
names  which  appear  to  contain  the  name  Sakya. 

New  Proofs  that  the  Country  of  Fu-sang  mentioned  in  the  Chi 
nese  Books  is  America. 

To  the  Proprietor  of  the  "Annales  de  Philosophie  Chretienne  " : 
SIR  :  Until  we  have  in  France  a  minister  who  realizes  the 
great  importance  of  Persia,  India,  and  China,  and  who  will 
properly  organize  that  Asiatic  Society  of  which  I,  with  Messrs, 
de  Sacy  and  de  Chezy,  was  among  the  founders  ;  until  sufficient 
funds  are  given  to  the  society  to  secure  for  it  a  building  of  its  own 
and  a  librarian  ;  and  until  it  is  given  as  its  president  a  man  who, 
like  Lord  Aukland,  Director  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  London, 
is  able  by  his  wealth  and  influence  to  unite  and  utilize  all  the 
educated  Orientalists  who  now,  divided  among  themselves,  exist 
in  Paris  and  in  France — I  shall  take  pleasure  in  contributing  to 
your  journal,  because  it  is  not  submissive  to  any  commission 
or  any  coterie,  as  has  been  well  shown  during  the  seventeen 
years  of  its  existence,  and  as  is  shown,  again,  by  its  publication 
of  my  various  essays,  very  imperfect,  as  I  well  know,  but  which, 
.as  a  whole,  will  some  day  form  a  mass  of  facts  as  novel  as  posi- 


DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS.          57 

tive.  With  your  sound  judgment  you  have  appreciated  the 
force  of  my  "  Description  of  the  Origin  of  the  Letters,"  of  which 
the  "  Journal  Asiatique,"  of  Paris,  has  never  had  a  single  word 
to  say,  but  which  the  celebrated  Dr.  Young  approved  and  upon 
which  M.  Princeps  is  engaged. 

In  1844  you  published  my  "  Dissertation  upon  American 
Fu-sang."  You  have  also  carefully  criticised  the  articles  re 
garding  the  East  which  M.  Mohl  has  been  giving  for  some 
years  past  in  the  "Journal  Asiatique,"  and  I  thank  you  for 
having  called  attention,  in  a  note  to  the  article  of  1845,  to 
the  fact  that  I  had  also  discussed  the  delicate  and  important 
question  regarding  the  location  of  the  celebrated  country  of 
Fu-sang.  M.  Walcknaer  has  told  me  that  M.  Remusat  trans 
lated  the  Chinese  texts  regarding  Fu-sang  for  him.  I  do  not 
know  whether  or  not  M.  Walcknaer,  that  erudite  geographer, 
has  expressed  any  opinion  upon  the  subject ;  neither  do  I  know 
what  the  learned  Viscount  of  Santarem  thinks  about  it :  but  that 
which  I  do  know,  and  which  I  ask  you  to  publish,  is  that  M. 
Neumann,  quoted  by  M.  Mohl,  did  not  publish  his  dissertation 
at  Munich  in  1845  until  after  having  seen  me  at  London  in 
1830-'31,  upon  his  return  from  China,  and  after  having  learned 
from  Mr.  Huttman,  then  Secretary  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Lon 
don,  that  I  was  engaged  upon  an  extensive  work  upon  this 
account  of  Fu-sang,  of  which  I  had  found  the  Chinese  text  in 
England,  the  copy  at  Paris  being  taken  by  M.  Klaproth. 

It  is  the  same  regarding  M.  d'Eichthal,  quoted  by  M.  Mohl. 
At  the  Asiatic  Society  (September,  1840)  and  at  the  Geographi 
cal  Society  also,  in  the  same  year,  M.  d'Eichthal  heard  a  note 
which  I  read  regarding  this  country,  and  saw  the  transcript 
which  I  presented  of  the  figures  of  Buddha  and  of  Siva,  first 
recognized  by  me  in  the  beautiful  work  of  M.  de  Waldeck  upon 
the  ruins  of  Uxmal  in  Yucatan.  You  yourself  then  saw  the  dif 
ferent  drawings  and  designs,  and  M.  Burnouf,  Jr.,  recognized, 
like  me  and  after  me,  the  figures  of  Buddha  and  of  Siva. 

How  could  M.  Mohl  have  been  ignorant  of  these  facts,  so  well 
known  at  that  time  ?  How  could  he  have  given  M.  d'Eichthal 
the  credit  without  mentioning  me  ?  I  do  not  know.  Neither 
could  I  have  known  of  the  memoir  of  M.  d'Eichthal  or  the  dis 
sertation  of  M.  Neumann,  which  date  only  from  1845,  while  my 
articles  were  published  in  your  journal  in  1843  and  1844,  and  I 


68  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

am  the  first  to  pray  you,  sir,  to  translate  or  criticise  their  argu 
ments  ;  for  the  subject  is,  as  I  repeat,  very  important. 

Bernardin  de  Saint  Pierre,  in  his  "  Harmonies  de  la  Nature," 
had  already  indicated  the  migrations  toward  the  east  of  the 
nations  of  India  and  of  Oceanica,  arriving  thus  at  America  to 
the  north  of  Peru  ;  and  M.  the  Admiral  de  Rossel,  the  celebrated 
navigator  and  courteous  and  loyal  scholar,  has  mentioned  the 
Sandwich  Islands  as  the  ancient  half-way  port  between  India, 
China,  and  America,  a  theory  which  is  renewed  in  this  day. 

M.  de  Saint  Pierre,  in  his  "  £tudes  de  la  Nature  "  (Eleventh 
Study,  and  Note  49,  edition  of  1836,  first  volume),  has  spoken  also 
of  numerous  points  of  connection  found  by  a  very  old  author 
between  the  Malays  and  the  Peruvians  ;  and  my  numerous  ex 
tracts  from  the  "  Dictionary  of  the  Quichua  Language  of  Peru," 
a  dictionary  of  which  a  copy  is  preserved  in  the  Royal  Library 
at  Paris,  have  confirmed  these  points  of  connection  with  the  Ma 
lay  spoken  at  Java.  M.  d'Eichthal  has  therefore  entered  upon  a 
good  road ;  but  I  have  the  priority,  and  M.  de  Avezac,  to  whom 
I  have  often  spoken  of  these  matters,  may  have  conversed  with 
him  also  and  described  to  him  my  studies. 

You  speak  here  of  my  "  Dissertation  upon  Fu-sang,"  which, 
before  it  was  printed,  was  the  inciting  cause  of  M.  Klaproth's 
article  in  1831,  as  I  have  shown  in  my  memoir.  Permit  me,  sir, 
to  correct  that  dissertation  by  some  new  and  very  important 
notes.  I  said  that  the  ships  of  Kamtchatka,  constructed  in  that 
place  by  the  Buddhists,  who  came  there  from  Cabul,  carried 
them  to  America  near  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  ;  but  I  wrote 
then  far  from  my  books  and  without  a  terrestrial  globe,  and  I 
therefore  examined  the  matter  again  in  1844,  and  found  that  I 
had  placed  the  point  of  their  arrival  a  little  too  far  north. 

The  beautiful  work  of  M.  Duflot  de  Mofras  upon  Oregon 
(Paris,  1844),  a  work  which  I  have  read  and  analyzed,  conducts 
me  to  the  excellent  port  of  San  Francisco,  to  the  south  of  the 
Columbia  River,  as  the  point  of  arrival  of  the  Indian  Buddhists 
of  Cabul. 

According  to  the  scale  of  15,000  li,  reckoned  by  the  Chinese 
between  Persia  and  the  city  of  Sy-ngan-fu,  and  also  reckoned 
between  this  city  and  the  southern  point  of  Kamtchatka  or  of 
Ta-han,  the  distance  of  20,000  li  between  Kamtchatka  and  Fu- 
sang,  measured  upon  a  terrestrial  globe,  reaches  precisely  to  this 


DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS.  (59 

point ;  and  M.  de  Mofras  says  that  the  northwestern  winds  which 
prevail  at  San  Francisco  during  a  great  part  of  the  year  would 
bring  one  there  easily  from  the  northeastern  coast  of  Asia. 

There,  ships  enter  without  difficulty,  while  the  bar  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  is  very  difficult  to  cross,  at  least  for 
large  vessels.  Still,  this  natural  entrance  to  the  beautiful  coun 
try  of  Oregon  may  also  have  been  known  of  old. 

In  the  figure  of  the  half  -  clothed,  half -civilized  American 
of  Fu-sang,  which  is  given  in  the  " Pian-y-tien"  and  also  in 
the  Chinese  Encyclopaedia,  this  native  is  seen  milking  a  young 
hind  with  white  spots,  and  her  fawn  is  equally  spotted.  I 
sought  in  vain  for  any  account  of  this  kind  of  spotted  deer  in 
America,  until,  upon  re-reading  M.  von  Humboldt's  works,  I 
noticed  that  the  Cervus  Mexicanus  of  Linnaeus  is  spotted  like 
our  European  roe-deer,  and  that  the  spots  are  particularly  notice 
able  while  the  animal  is  young.  This  species  of  deer  is  found  in 
America,  and  in  Mexico  in  particular,  in  immense  numbers,  says 
M.  von  Humboldt,  as  well  as  a  large  deer  similar  to  ours,  and 
often  entirely  white  ;  a  deer  which  is  found  in  the  Andes,  where 
it  also  runs  in  herds.  These  last,  therefore,  recall  the  white  and 
tame  hinds  which  are  milked  by  the  Indians  of  the  Himalaya, 
as  we  are  told  by  Philostratus  in  his  "Life  of  Apollonius  of 
Tyane,"  for  these  people,  being  Buddhists,  deprive  themselves  of 
meat,  and  live  upon  fruits  and  dishes  made  from  milk. 

The  account  of  Fu-sang  speaks  also  of  cattle  with  very  long 
horns,  that  are  domesticated  by  the  natives  of  that  country. 
Now,  M.  von  Humboldt  says  that  the  bisons  of  Canada  are 
often  broken  to  the  yoke  and  that  they  breed  with  our  Euro 
pean  cattle. 

These  bisons  weigh  as  much  as  two  thousand  pounds  or 
more,  but  their  horns  are  small ;  whereas  he  says  that  cattle- 
horns  of  a  monstrous  size  have  been  found  in  ruined  monuments 
near  Cuernavaca,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Mexico.  He  refers 
these  horns  to  the  musk-ox  of  the  extreme  north  of  America  ; 
but  M.  de  Castelnau,  in  his  courageous  exploration  near  the 
Amazon  and  in  Paraguay,  found  cattle  with  very  long  horns, 
besides  another  species  with  small  horns,  which  ran  with  them 
in  the  same  plains. 

The  account  of  Fii-sang  is  therefore  confirmed  upon  this  point ; 
but  there  is  certainly  some  error  in  the  text  when  it  is  said  that 


70  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

upon  these  long  horns  the  cattle  carried  a  weight  of  twenty  ho 
(the  Chinese  "  ho  "  being  a  weight  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds) — that  is  to  say,  a  total  weight  of  twenty-four  hundred 
pounds  !  It  should  be  said  that  they  weighed,  per  head,  at  least 
twenty-four  hundred  pounds,  and  not  that  this  enormous  burden 
was  placed  upon  their  horns  ;  that  would  be  impossible. 

The  horses  mentioned  in  this  account  seem  alone  to  have 
been  lacking  in  America  ;  but  the  Patagonians,  true  Tartars,  are 
always  on  horseback,  and  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  they  had 
not  preserved  among  them  some  descendants  of  the  horses  which 
the  bonzes  of  India  brought  to  Mt-sang,  and  which  the  boats  of 
Kamtchatka  had  perhaps  taken  from  Tartary. 

I  will  give  you  some  day  an  article  about  the  tribes  of  the 
extreme  north  of  Asia,  having  large  boats  and  very  short  nights 
during  summer. 

A  hundred  times  wiser  than  M.  Klaproth,  M.  de  Guignes,  Sr., 
in  his  memoir  regarding  Fu-sang,  by  a  few  words  referred  to 
this  nation  with  large  boats,  and  of  whom  the  name  Ku-tu-moei 
— that  is  to  say,  "  Having  the  Nights  very  short  in  Summer  " — 
indicates  the  position  to  be  near  the  Arctic  circle. 

There  is  an  account  of  this  nation  in  the  work  of  Ma  Twan- 
lin,  entitled  "  Wen-hien-tong-kao"  and  I  have  extracted  what 
he  says  upon  the  subject. 

I  have  shown  elsewhere  that  the  passage  from  Europe  to 
America  by  the  way  of  Northern  Siberia  must  then  have  been 
practicable,  this  sea  being  gradually  filled  up  with  the  detritus 
of  great  rivers  which  fall  into  it,  and  in  this  way  it  freezes  more 
and  more  each  year,  for  it  is  known  that  deep  seas  do  not  freeze. 
All  these  facts  open  new  and  important  questions,  and  your  use 
ful  and  weighty  journal  may  well  treat  them. 

Accept,  etc.,        CHEVALIER  DE  PARA  VET. 

SAINT  GERMAIN,  April  24,  1847. 


DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS.  fj 

APPENDIX  A. 

IN   EEGAED   TO   THE   MEMOIR    OF    M.  D'EICHTHAL   MENTIONED   BY   M.  MOHL. 

Proof  given  in  1840  of  the  Introduction  of  the  Worship  of  Buddha  into 
America  ly  Means  of  the  East  Indians  of  Cabul. 

To  the  President  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences : 

DID  certain  bonzes  of  India,  setting  forth  from  Central  Asia,  in  the 
year  458  of  oar  era,  go  to  America  by  the  way  of  Kamtchatka  and  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  New  World,  in  order  to  convert  the  nations  that 
lived  there,  and  of  which  the  existence  has  been  known  ever  since? 

This  is  what  is  affirmed  by  the  learned  M.  de  Guignes,  Sr.,  in  the 
"Memoires  de  F  Academic  des  Inscriptions,"  where  he  has  given  a  trans 
lation  of  the  account  of  the  voyage  of  these  East  Indian  bonzes,  taken 
from  the  Great  Annals  of  China. 

This  has  been  since  denied  by  M.  Klaproth  and  M.  von  Humboldt,  who 
base  their  opinion  upon  some  doubts  expressed  by  the  scholarly  Father 
Gaubil,  who  had  not  sufficiently  studied  the  question.  I  desire  to  state 
my  reasons  for  answering  this  question  in  the  affirmative.  I  have  no 
doubt  upon  the  subject,  since  discussing  it  with  the  learned  Admiral  M. 
de  Rossel,  and  exhaustively  studying  the  memoir  of  M.  de  Guignes  con 
cerning  the  navigations  of  the  Chinese  to  the  celebrated  eastern  land 
which  they  called  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  and  which  they  placed  some 
two  thousand  leagues  to  the  east  of  the  shores  of  their  empire  and  of 
Tartary.  But  as  neither  my  mere  assertions  nor  those  of  others  should 
receive  any  more  favourable  consideration  than  has  been  given  to  the  ex 
cellent  work  of  M.  de  Guignes,  Sr.,  and  as  the  Academy  of  Sciences  wishes 
facts  rather  than  words,  I  will  call  attention  to  the  monuments  of  a  portion 
of  Central  America,  hitherto  almost  unknown,  at  least  in  regard  to  its  an 
tiquities  ;  monuments  to  which  I  have  already  called  the  attention  of  the 
Asiatic  Society  of  Paris,  of  M.  Burnouf,  Jr.,  and  of  M.  the  Chevalier  Jaubert, 
and  which  they  have  agreed  with  me  in  recognizing  as  purely  Buddhistic. 

M.  the  Baron  van  der  Cappelen,  living  near  Utrecht,  Holland,  has 
shown  me  large  drawings  of  the  temple  of  Boro-Boudor  in  Java,  brought 
from  India  by  him.  This  ancient  temple  is  circular,  and  is  ornamented 
with  thousands  of  small,  beautiful  niches,  in  which  the  figure  of  the  cele 
brated  Indian  god  Buddha  sits  cross-legged,  each  niche  being  surmounted 
by  the  monstrous  and  deformed  head  of  Siva. 

I  could  show  the  same  idols  in  ancient  Egypt,  and  at  Axum,  in  Abys 
sinia  ;  but,  in  looking  over  the  beautiful  work  of  M.  Waldeck,  the  skillful 
artist  and  distinguished  disciple  of  David,  who  was  sent  to  Yucatan  by  the 
generous  and  unfortunate  Lord  Kingsborough,  I  was  surprised  to  see  upon 
the  sketch  of  the  southern  facade  of  the  vast  square  palace  of  the  ruins  of 
Uxmal,  near  Merida,  eight  niches  of  the  Indian  Buddha,  figured  seated 


as  n 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Java,  in  the  East  Indies,  and  with  the  face  decorated  with  coarse  rays 
surrounding  it,  and  to  see  in  addition  a  monstrous  and  flattened  human 
head  surmounting  the  square  niche  and  the  cabin  or  house  in  which  this 
Indian  Buddha  is  seated. 

The  resemblance  of  this  Buddha  of  Yucatan  with  the  figure  of  the 
Buddha  of  Java,  published  in  "Crawfurd's  Indian  Archipelago"  (vol.  ii, 
p.  206),  is  such  that  M.  Burnouf  at  first  believed  my  sketches  of  the 
ancient  palace  of  Uxmal  in  Yucatan,  sketches  copied  from  Plate  xvii  of 
M.  Waldeck's,  to  be  of  purely  East  Indian  and  Siamese  origin,  and  not 
American. 

M.  Burnouf  knew  that  the  worship  of  the  monstrous  Siva  accompanied, 
even  in  Siam  and  Nepal,  the  gentler  worship  of  Buddha,  and  that  their 
images  are  often  coupled,  as  in  the  temple  of  Boro-Boudor,  in  ancient 
Java,  in  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  as  in  particular  Typhon  and  the 
young  Horus  were  coupled  in  ancient  Egypt. 

We  find  again,  in  the  center  of  America,  the  same  two  figures,  also 
coupled,  exactly  copied,  and,  to  the  number  of  eight,  ornamenting  the 
southern  facade  of  an  Oriental  temple  ;  thus,  as  it  seems  to  me,  clearly 
demonstrating  the  truth  of  the  account  of  the  voyage  to  Fu-sang,  in 
the  year  458  A.  D.,  translated  from  the  Chinese  by  M.  de  Guignes,  and 
attributed  to  five  Buddhists  who  set  forth  from  Ky-pin  or  Cophene  —  that 
is  to  say,  from  the  country  of  Cabul  in  India. 

In  the  "Annales  de  Philosophie  Chretienne,"  vol.  xii,  p.  441,  where  an 
analysis  is  given  of  the  "Antiquites  du  Mexique,"  by  Dupaix,  the  ex 
plorations  are  mentioned  which  he  made  at  Zachilla,  the  capital  of  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  the  Zapotecs,  where  he  found  upon  a  rock  the  imprint 
of  a  gigantic  foot,  an  imprint  in  which  M.  de  Paravey  sees  an  imitation 
of  that  which  is  worshiped  upon  Adam's  Peak  in  Ceylon,  and  of  which 
the  nations  of  Ava  and  Pe"gu,  of  the  Buddhist  religion,  have  also  similar 
imitations;  in  addition,  Colonel  Dupaix  also  found  in  this  place  an  idol, 
seated,  the  hands  crossed  upon  the  breast,  and  which  can  be  nothing  else 
than  one  of  the  figures  of  Sakya,  or  Buddha. 

There,  according  to  the  "  Journey  of  the  Shamans,"  since  translated  by 
M.  Re"musat,  was  the  country  of  Buddhism,  and  of  the  monstrous  idola 
tries  of  India  ;  deplorable  alterations  from  the  pure  worship  founded  in 
Indo-Persia  by  Shem,  in  whom  we  see  the  celebrated  ffeu-tsi  of  the  Chi 
nese. 

There  we  hear  of  the  two  imaginary  planets  Ragu  and  Cet  u,  the  head 
and  tail  of  the  dragon,  the  nodes  of  the  moon,  the  cause  of  eclipses, 
and  the  place  of  the  conjunctions  ;  and  these  planets  are  drawn  at  full 
length  upon  the  western  facade  of  the  palace  of  Uxmal  in  Yucatan,  being 
interlaced  so  as  to  form  knots  or  nodes,  and  having  feathers  instead  of 
scales,  thus  showing  that  they  are  intended  for  aerial  beings.  All  this 
points  to  an  ancient  hieroglyphic  astronomy,  in  which  the  spirals  of  the 


DE  PARA  VET'S  NEW  PROOFS.  73 

sun,  in  its  apparent  course  from  one  tropic  to  the  other,  are  symbolized 
by  a  dragon  or  a  vast  boa-constrictor,  a  thing  quite  natural  as  an  image. 

So,  in  Chinese,  or  ancient  Babylonian,  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  is  written 
by  a  picture  of  the  sun  eaten  by  a  dragon,  or  serpent,  and  an  eclipse 
of  the  moon  by  the  figure  of  the  moon  eaten  by  a  dragon.  In  Chinese 
ji  0,  chi  fji,  is  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  and  yue  ^,  chi  f£,  an  eclipse  of 
the  moon  ;  these  phrases  being  used  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  heavenly 
bodies  are  swallowed  little  by  little— Chi,  ^  ("Diet.  Chin.,"  No.  9505), 
the  phonetic,  means  "to  eat,"  and  when  this  is  united  with  the  radi 
cal  chong,  &,  that  of  the  serpent,  the  two  together  signify  "  to  eat  little 
by  little  as  the  boas  swallow  their  food."  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  art  of  calculating  eclipses  is  known  in  China,  the  common  people 
believe  only  in  making  a  noise  to  frighten  this  imaginary  dragon,  this 
feathered  or  aerial  boa. 

To  find  the  picture  at  full  length  of  these  Chinese  and  East  Indian 
superstitions,  at  Uxmal  in  Yucatan,  and  to  see  every  evidence  of  a  dupli 
cation  in  America  of  the  Buddha  of  Java — an  island  which  also  contains 
at  Suku  a  tcocalli,  or  ancient  pyramidal  temple,  similar  to  that  of  Uxmal 
in  America,  drawn  by  M.  Waldeck  (see  his  "  Voyage  au  Yucatan  ") — have 
appeared  to  me  to  be  important  and  decisive  facts.  I  hope  that  they,  when 
brought  to  general  notice  by  publication  in  the  Society's  Transactions,  will 
attract  the  attention  of  educated  Americans,  and  show  them  that  their 
country  and  its  ruins  are  worthy  of  more  careful  study  than  they  have  as 
yet  received,  and  that  they  will  lead  to  other  explorations  than  those  hith 
erto  made,  which  have  been  but  little  better  than  nothing. 

To  defend  the  learned  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Huns,"  relying 
here  upon  the  wise  geographer  Buache,  against  the  ill-founded  objections 
of  M.  Klaproth,  has  also  appeared  to  me  to  be  very  important,  and  I  do 
not  believe  that  any  one  can  now  deny  the  voyages  of  the  Indo-Tartars 
to  America,  and  that  nearly  one  thousand  years  before  Columbus. 

I  could  give  further  proofs  of  the  connection  of  Uxmal,  Palenque,  and 
Tulha  with  India,  but  fear  to  trespass  too  greatly  upon  your  space. 

CHEVALIEB  DE  PARAVE?. 

PARIS,  July  SO,  1840.  

APPENDIX  B 

TO    OUR   LETTER   TO   THE   ACADEMY. 

New  Proofs  of  the  Introduction  of  the  Worship  of  Buddha  into  America,  or 
into  the  Country  of  Fa-sang.  Which  was  the  First  Country  converted 
to  this  Religion  in  the  New  World? 

ONE  of  the  countries  of  America  which  was  first  converted  by  the 
shamans  of  Cabul,  arriving  from  the  southern  point  of  Karatchatka  at 


74:  AN   INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  excellent  port  of  San  Francisco,  in  California,  to  the  north  of  Monte 
rey,  must  evidently  have  been  the  country  upon  the  banks  of  the  Colorado 
River,  a  large  river  which  flows  through  these  same  regions  from  the 
north  to  the  south  and  falls  into  the  northern  end  of  the  Gulf  of  California. 
Now,  in  the  useful  translations  of  the  Spanish  authors  made  by  M.  Ter- 
naux-Compans,  we  find  that  Castatteda  placed  near  the  Colorado  River,  in 
a  small  island,  a  sanctuary  of  Lamaisra,  or  of  Buddhism.  He  mentions  a 
divine  personage  living  in  a  small  house  near  a  lake  upon  this  island,  and 
called,  as  he  says,  "  Quatu-zaca,"  who  was  reputed  never  to  eat. 

Maize,  deer-skin  mantles,  and  cloth  made  of  feathers  were  offered  to 
him  in  great  quantities;  and  in  the  same  place  (which  proves  a  coloniza 
tion)  they  also  made  many  little  bells  of  copper. 

Even  the  name  of  this  deified  lama,  or  of  this  idol  Quatu-zaca,  contains 
the  Tartar  and  East  Indian  name  u  Xaca,"  written  SM-Tcia  in  Chinese,  and 
"  Sakya  "  in  Sanscrit,  the  name  of  the  celebrated  god  Buddha ;  a  remark 
which  we  are  the  first  to  make,  and  "  Quatu  "  may  indicate  his  origin  as 
of  "  Cathay."  * 

Castaiieda  adds  that  the  nations  of  these  countries  were  very  peace 
able  and  gentle,  never  waged  war,  and  (abstaining  from  flesh)  lived  solely 
upon  three  or  four  kinds  of  very  good  fruits. 

It  is  therefore  impossible  to  fail  to  see  here  an  ancient  colony  of  Bud 
dhists,  or  of  lamas,  a  colony  which  in  turn  pushed  its  branches  into  Mex 
ico,  Yucatan,  Bogota,  and  even  to  Peru,  a  country  of  very  civilized  customs. 

The  Mexicans,  frightfully  cruel  in  their  recent  idolatries,  are,  as  is 
known,  emigrants  from  the  northeast  of  Asia  and  from  the  northwestern 
part  of  America,  but  much  more  recent;  and  before  their  arrival  in 
these  beautiful  countries  it  is  to  be  believed,  as  is  stated  in  the  account 
of  Fu-sang,  that  the  gentle  and  fraternal  religion  of  the  Buddhists,  the 
remnants  of  the  race  of  Shem,  reigned  there  exclusively. 

Even  the  title  of  the  shamans,  who  came  there  in  458,  is  derived  from 
the  Sanscrit  "sramawa,"  which  signifies  "peaceful,"  M.  Pauthier  tells  us; 
and  this  name  is  afterward  found  again  in  Mexico,  where  M.  Ternaux- 
Compans  (Mexican  Vocabulary,  in  his  translation  of  the  old  Spanish  authors) 
gives  Amanam  as  the  name  of  the  priests  and  the  diviners,  a  word  which 
evidently  may  at  first  have  been  pronounced  Chamanani,  Samanani, 
Shamaneans.  CHEVALIER  DE  PAEAVET. 

SAINT  GERMAIN,  April  26,  1847. 

*The  name  "Cathay"  was,  however,  used  AS  a  name  of  the  Kingdom  of 
China,1790  or  of  its  northern  portion,  and  not  of  In  ,ia.1801 E.  P.  V. 


DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS.  75 


APPENDIX  C. 

IN    EEGAED   TO    THE    FIGURE    OF   A    NATIVE   OF   FU-SANG   FOUND   IX   CHINESE 
BOOKS,    AND   NOW    PUBLISHED   FOR   THE   FIRST   TIME. 

To  what  Country  of  America  can  the  almost  Nude  Man,  which  the  Chi 
nese  Books  picture  as  an  Inhabitant  of  Fu-sang,  have  belonged? 

As  may  be  seen  by  the  engraving,*  the  Chinese  supposed  that  the  men 
who  inhabited  the  country  of  Fu-sang  were  almost  naked.  Now,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  inhabitants  of  North  America  are  fully  clothed.  This  is 
true  of  the  greater  part  of  the  country ;  but  in  the  "  Voyage  to  tbe  Mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River  "  of  Lewis  &  Clark  (page  302,  and  also  page  507), 
at  latitude  46°  18'  north,  these  explorers  found  the  Chinook  Indians,  and 
in  a  village  upon  the  Island  of  Deer,  they  found  women  who,  instead  of 
short  petticoats,  had  a  simple  truss  about  the  loins,  or  a  narrow  skin  cov 
ering  this  part  of  their  bodies. 

They  say  (page  286)  that  the  Indians  living  near  the  Columbia  River, 
owing  to  the  mildness  of  the  climate,  always  have  the  legs  and  feet  bare, 
even  in  winter;  and  never  wear  more  than  small  robes,  even  in  cold 
weather ;  or  skin  aprons  and  a  kind  of  cloak  upon  the  shoulders  (page 
310).  The  moccasins  for  the  feet  and  legs  are  not  used,  except  in  Canada 
and  near  Hudson's  Bay,  where  the  climate  is  much  colder. 

So  the  man  of  Fu-sang,  shown  as  almost  nude  in  the  old  drawing  from 
the  Pian-y-tien  and  the  Chinese  Cyclopaedia,  must  have  lived  near  the 
Columbia  River  in  the  neighbourhood  of  California,  a  rich  and  beautiful 
country  of  a  very  mild  and  temperate  climate,  the  country  of  Oregon, 
regarding  which,  Spain,  England,  and  the  United  States  are  now  dis 
puting. 

In  addition,  if  we  open  the  "  Exploration  de  TOregon  et  de  la  Cali 
fornia,"  published  in  1844  by  M.  Duflot  de  Mofras  (vol.  ii,  page  250),  we 
see,  in  fact,  that  these  Indians  therein  described  have  only  the  loins  or  the 
middle  of  the  body  covered ;  and  this  exactly  as  in  the  plate  of  the  na 
tive  of  Fu-sang,  a  plate  reproduced  since  the  year  499  of  our  era  in  all  the 
foreign  geographies  published  in  China  and  Japan. 

Everything,  therefore,  justifies  my  conjectures.  As  to  the  spotted  hind 
and  its  fawn,  we  have  cited  M.  von  Humboldt  in  regard  to  the  Cervus  Mex- 
icanus  of  Linnseus.  And  we  point  out,  in  this  connection  also,  in  order  to 
show  that  the  natives  know  how  to  keep  them  in  herds  and  tame  them, 
the  "  Voyage  en  Amerique  "  by  M.  de  Chateaubriand  (in  8vo,  vol.  i,  page 

*  It  has  not  been  thought  advisable  to  give  a  copy  of  the  engraving,  to  which 
reference  is  made,  as  there  is  no  reason  for  believing  it  to  be  anything  more  than 
a  sketch  made  from  the  fancy  of  the  Chinese  artist. — E.  P.  V. 


76  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

130),  where  he  speaks  of  the  hinds  of  Canada,  a  charming  sort  of  hornless 
reindeer,  which  they  tamed  there,  he  tells  us. 

CHEVALIEE  DE  PAEAVEY. 

(Extract  from  No.  90  (June,  1847)  of  the  "  Annales  de  Philosophic 
Chretienne.") 

EEFCTATION  OF  THE    OPINION   EXPEESSED  BY  M.  JOMAED  THAT   THE   NATIONS 
OF   AMEEICA   NEVEE   HAD   ANY    CONNECTION   WITH   THOSE    OF   ASIA. 

(Extract  from  the  number  of  May,  1849,  of  the  "Annales  de  Philosophic 

Chretienne.r) 

THE  essay  opens  with  a  statement  of  the  importance  of  geographical 
study,  in  assisting  to  open  up  commerce  with  foreign  nations ;  disputes 
the  unchristian  idea  that  the  people  of  America  can  have  been  Autoch 
thones;  gives  a  resume  of  former  arguments  regarding  Fu-sang ;  and  adds 
the  following  new  matter : 

In  addition  to  the  Phoenician  and  East  Indian  art  of  dyeing  purple  with 
the  murex,  and  the  art  of  fishing  for  pearls,  which  is  found  near  Panama, 
in  the  countries  of  Guaxaca  and  of  Chacahua  in  America,  there  also  exists 
another  art,  purely  East  Indian,  which  of  itself  demonstrates  the  arrival 
of  the  Buddhists  of  Cabul  in  America,  named  by  them  the  country  of  the 
Extreme  East— that  is  to  say  in  Chinese,  the  country  of  Fu-sang.  This  art 
is  that  of  using  the  cochineal  insect  of  the  nopal  plant,  an  art  equally  found 
at  Guaxaca,  and  which  produces  the  wealth  of  this  central  country  of 
America. 

In  1795,  at  Madras  in  India,  Major  Anderson  showed,  in  a  special  essay, 
that  the  cochineal  insect  and  the  nopal  plant  upon  which  it  lives  are  found 
in  India  and  toward  the  countries  of  Lahore  and  Cabul ;  and  he  thought 
that  from  these  they  must  have  been  imported  into  America,  into  the 
country  of  Honduras  near  Mexico  ;  but  he  does  not  show  how.* 

*  The  substance  of  the  article  that  is  referred  to  103  is,  that  cochineal  insects 
were  brought  from  Rio  Janeiro  to  Calcutta,  and  that,  when  they  reached  the  latter 
place,  the  nopal  plants  upon  which  they  lived  were  so  nearly  dead  that  none  of 
them  could  be  revived.  The  insects  were  therefore  tried  upon  all  the  varieties  of 
nopal  that  could  be  obtained,  including  a  variety  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  one 
from  Mauritius,  and  a  number  of  others,  but  could  not  live  upon  any  of  them,  with 
the  exception  of  a  variety  found  growing  in  Bengal,  which  had  a  flower  exactly 
similar  to  that  of  the  nopal  upon  which  the  insects  grew  in  America,  and  which 
seemed  to  be  the  same  plant.  Upon  this  the  insects  thrived. 

W.  Roxburgh  says  this  variety  "  seems  to  be  a  native  of  Bengal ;  at  least  it  has 
been  long  known." 

James  Anderson  says  "  it  is  common  over  all  the  Carnatic " ;  and  he  again 
speaks  of  it  as  "  common  and  indigenous,"  and  also  says  "  it  is  common  as  far 


DE  PARAVEY'S  NEW  PROOFS.          77 

Now,  the  account  of  Fu-sang  attributes  precisely  to  these  East  Indians 
of  Ky-pin,  or  of  Cabulistan,  the  civilization  of  America,  which  must  hare 
preceded  the  ferocious  and  sanguinary  religion  of  the  Tartars  of  Mexico. 

These  peaceful  and  Buddhistic  Indians  occupied  themselves  with  com 
merce  and  useful  arts.  Having  known  in  their  own  country  how  to 
utilize  the  precious  lac  insect  as  well  as  that  of  the  nopal,  and  finding  the 
nopal  in  Mexico,  they  must  have  also  carried  there  the  insect  which  lives 
upon  it,  or,  if  it  existed  there,  they  made  use  of  it  as  a  means  of  preparing 
cochineal,  an  art  that  is  purely  East  Indian  and  Asiatic. 

Merely  the  names  of  Guaxaca,  Chacahua,  Zachita,  and  Zacapa,  found 
in  Honduras  and  Guatemala,  demonstrate  the  presence  of  these  Buddhists 
in  these  countries,  since  "  Xaca "  and  "  Sakya,"  or  "  Shi-Tcia,"  are  the 
well-known  Asiatic  names  of  the  celebrated  divinity  Fo,  or  the  Indian 
Buddha,  a  god.  represented  as  seated  with  crossed  legs,  the  figure  of  which, 
drawn  at  Uxmal  in  Yucatan  without  recognition,  by  M.  de  "Waldeck,  the 
artist  sent  by  the  late  Lord  Kingsborough,  has  been  first  brought  into 
notice  by  us. 

The  character  shi,  lp£,  of  the  name  "  Shi-lsia,"  or  "  Sakya,"  signifies 
"to  release,  to  dismiss,  to  pardon";  and  the  character  Icia,  SJ|J,  "to  sit 
with  the  legs  crossed,"  exactly  as  the  figure  found  at  Uxmal  by  M.  "Wai- 
deck  is  seated.  CHEVALIER  DE  PAEAVEY. 

north  as  Nepal,  where  they  say  an  insect  lives  on  it  with  which  they  dye  red." 
There  is  no  proof,  however,  that  this  was  the  cochineal  insect. 

At  this  time  different  varieties  of  the  cactus  had  been  introduced  from 
America  into  almost  all  parts  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  and  had  long  been  com 
mon  in  many  districts.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  the  nopal,  then  found  in 
Bengal,  had  not  been  introduced  from  America  some  time  during  the  three  centuries 
elapsing  between  the  discovery  of  America  and  the  date  referred  to  in  the  article. 
And  there  is  one  fact,  which  seems  to  render  it  almost  certain  that  the  plant  had 
been  introduced  from  Mexico,  and  at  a  comparatively  recent  date,  as  it  is  stated 
that  "  the  Bengalese  call  their  cactus  *  neeg-penny,'  or  '  nag-penny.' "  It  is  evident 
that  this  is  a  corruption  of  the  Mexican  term  "nopalli,"  or  "nochpalli";  and  if  the 
plant  had  been  introduced  in  Hwui  SMrfs  time,  thirteen  centuries  before,  the  name 
would  probably  have  changed  more  than  this  during  that  length  of  time.  There 
is  really  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  plant  had  been  introduced  into  India  before 
the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus.  By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
prickly  pear,  or  Indian  fig,  had  become  wild  in  India,  just  as  it  had  in  many  other 
countries  where  it  is  known  that  it  was  carried  early  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
It  seems  to  have  been  widely  distributed,  not  only  for  its  fruit,  but  as  a  curiosity, 
and  as  it  throve  well  in  nearly  all  tropical  lands,  it  soon  grew  wild  and  spread  it- 
self  over  the  country. — E.  P.  V. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


The  knowledge  of  foreign  nations  possessed  by  the  Chinese—  Their  precepts  —  The 
journey  of  Lao-tse  —  Embassies  and  spies  —  Knowledge  derived  from  foreign 
visitors  —  Its  preservation  in  Chinese  records  —  The  introduction  of  Buddhism 
—  Its  command  to  extend  its  doctrines  to  all  nations  —  Chinese  system  of  ge 
ography  and  ethnology  —  The  unity  of  the  Tartars  and  Red-skins  —  American 
languages  —  The  Tunguses,  or  Eastern  Barbarians  —  The  Pe-ti,  or  Northern  Bar 
barians  —  The  Ainos,  or  Jebis,  and  the  Negritos  —  The  Wen-shin,  or  Pictured- 
people  —  Embassies  between  China  and  Japan  —  The  Country  of  Dwarfs  —  The 
Chinese  "  Book  of  Mountains  and  Seas  "  —  Information  given  by  a  Japanese 
embassador  —  Kamtchatka,  the  Tchuktchi,  and  the  Aleuts  —  Lieu-kuei  —  The 
length  of  the  li  —  Lieu-kuei,  a  peninsula  —  The  land  of  the  Je-tshay  —  The  na 
tives  of  Kamtchatka—  Their  dwellings—  Their  clothing—  The  climate—  The 
animals  of  the  country  —  The  customs  of  the  people  —  The  country  of  the  Wen- 
shin  identified  with  the  Aleutian  Islands  —  Ta-han,  or  Alaska  —  The  kingdom 
of  Fu-sang  and  its  inhabitants  —  The  Amazons  —  Fu-sang  identified  with  the 
western  portion  of  America  called  Mexico  —  The  fu-sang  tree  —  Only  one  voy 
age  made  —  Chinese  accounts  of  Fu-sang  —  The  distance  from  Ta-han,  or  Alas 
ka,  indicates  that  Fu-sang  is  Mexico  —  The  oldest  history  of  America  —  Suc 
cessive  tribes  —  The  ruins  of  Mitla  and  Palenque  —  Something  of  earlier  races 
to  be  learned  from  the  condition  of  the  Aztecs  —  Pyramidical  monuments  —  If 
Buddhism  existed  in  America,  it  was  an  impure  form  —  The  myth  of  Huitzilo- 
pochtli  —  The/w-saw#,the  maguey,  or  Agave  Americana  —  Connection  between 
the  flora  of  America  and  that  of  Asia  —  Metals  and  money  —  Laws  and  customs 
of  the  Aztecs  —  Domestic  animals  —  Horses  —  Oxen  —  Stag-horns  —  Chinese  and 
Japanese  in  the  Hawaiian  group  and  in  Northwestern  America  —  Shipwrecks 
upon  the  American  coast  —  The  voyages  of  the  Japanese. 

Eastern  Asia  and  Western  America,  according  to  Chinese  Au 
thorities  of  the  Fifth,  Sixth,  and  Seventh  Centuries  —  by  Karl 
Friedrich 


1.  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  FOREIGN  NATIONS  POSSESSED  BY 
THE  CHINESE.—  As,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese,  the  "  Middle 
Kingdom  "  was  the  most  cultured  upon  earth,  its  precepts  re- 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  79 

quired  that  it  should  not  only  preserve  its  customs  and  laws  as 
handed  down  from  former  generations,  but  that  it  should  extend 
these  customs  and  laws  abroad  beyond  the  limits  of  the  country. 
It  was  added  that  this  extension  of  knowledge  should  not  be 
brought  about  by  the  art  of  persuasion  of  any  missionaries,  or  by 
the  compulsive  force  of  armed  troops.  A  true  renovation  could 
only  take  place,  as  in  the  case  of  every  other  healthy  organic 
growth,  when  the  pressure  was  from  within  outward  ;  when  the 
surrounding  barbarians,  irresistibly  attracted  by  the  virtue  and 
majesty  of  the  Sons  of  Heaven,  and  ashamed  of  their  barbarism, 
should  voluntarily  obey  the  image  of  the  Heavenly  Father  and 
become  men. 

A  people  actuated  by  such  a  spirit  would  undertake  no  voy 
ages  of  discovery,  and  would  carry  on  no  wars  of  conquest ;  and 
during  the  history  of  this  Oriental  land,  covering  a  period  of  four 
thousand  years,  no  single  prominent  man  is  named  who  journeyed 
into  foreign  lands  in  order  to  improve  himself  or  others.  The 
journey  of  Lao-tse  to  the  West,  from  which  he  neither  returned 
nor  wished  to  return,  appears  to  have  been  a  myth,  designed  to 
connect  his  teaching  regarding  the  "  Primitive  and  Infinite  Wis 
dom  "  with  the  western  "  Mountain  of  the  Gods  "  or  with  Bud 
dhism.  The  campaigns  which  were  undertaken  beyond  the 
limits  which  nature  has  set  to  the  Chinese  empire  were  merely 
the  result  of  efforts  at  self-preservation.  In  Central  as  in  East 
ern  Asia,  in  Thibet  as  on  the  Irawaddy,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
precautions  against  dangers  and  disasters  which  might  ultimately 
threaten  the  liberty  of  the  nation.  As  is  not  infrequently  the  case, 
in  Europe  as  well  as  in  Asia,  it  becomes  necessary  to  send  embas 
sies  and  spies  into  surrounding  regions  in  order  to  obtain  infor 
mation  as  to  their  situation  and  condition,  as  well  as  to  the  cir 
cumstances  and  intentions  of  the  inhabitants,  of  a  nature  which 
might  prove  of  service  in  military  expeditions  and  negotiations 
with  the  enemies  of  the  empire.  Moreover,  the  glorious  and  for 
tunate  "  Middle  Kingdom  "  allured  not  only  barbarians  eager  for 
spoils,  but  also  merchants  eager  for  gain,  since  several  articles, 
such  as  silk,  tea,  and  genuine  rhubarb,  were  found  only  here. 
The  Chinese  government,  like  its  people,  has  been  controlled  by 
the  precepts  of  its  sages,  and  has  at  all  times  received  strangers 
humanely  and  courteously,  as  long  at  least  as  they  yielded  un 
conditional  obedience,  or  otherwise  showed  submission  and  fear  ; 


80  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and,  according  to  Oriental  custom,  their  gifts  were  repaid  by 
others  more  valuable.  All  these  discoveries,  and  all  the  informa 
tion  obtained  in  their  different  peaceable  or  warlike  methods, 
whether  relating  to  the  neigbouring  nations  or  to  those  dwelling 
in  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  earth,  were  noted  in  the  last  divis 
ion  of  the  Annual  Registers  of  Chinese  history,  of  which,  from 
our  point  of  view,  they  constitute  the  most  valuable  portion. 

The  arrogance  and  vanity  of  the  Chinese  people  were  part 
ly  eradicated,  however,  by  means  of  the  introduction  of  Bud 
dhism,  and  its  gradual  conquest  of  the  countries  of  Eastern  Asia. 
He  Who  believed  in  the  divine  mission  of  the  Son  of  the  King  of 
Kapilapura  must  recognize  every  human  being  as  his  equal  and 
brother ;  yes,  must  strive — for  the  ancient  religion  of  Buddha, 
as  in  the  case  of  many  others  of  its  dogmas  and  customs,  agreed 
with  the  more  youthful  religion  of  Christianity  in  this  point  also 
— to  extend  the  gospel  of  redemption  to  all  nations  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth  ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  following  the  example  of  the 
divine-man,  must  be  ready  to  take  upon  himself  all  conceivable 
sufferings  and  labours.  We  therefore  find  a  number  of  Bud 
dhist  monks  and  priests  going  forth  from  Central  Asia  and 
China,  from  Japan  and  Corea,  to  known  and  unknown  regions, 
either  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  information  as  to  their  dis 
tant  brothers  in  the  faith  or  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  to  unbelievers.  The  accounts  of  these  missionaries' 
travels,  of  which  we  possess  several,  viewed  from  a  geographical 
and  ethnological  standpoint,  are  among  the  most  important  and 
instructive  works  of  the  entire  body  of  Chinese  literature.  From 
them  is  derived  the  greatest  part  of  the  information  which  we 
shall  give  regarding  Northeastern  Asia  and  the  countries  of  the 
western  coast  of  America;  information  which  has  descended  from 
centuries  that  until  now  have  been  concealed  from  view  by  dark 
est  night. 

2.  THEIR  SYSTEM  OF  GEOGRAPHY  AND  ETHNOLOGY. — Arro 
gance  and  vanity  are  the  basis  whereupon  the  Chinese  built 
most  of  their  peculiar  system  of  geography  and  ethnology. 
Around  the  "  Central  Flower,"  so  they  were  taught  by  their 
sages,  dwelt  rude,  uncouth  nations,  which  in  reality  were  but 
animals,  although  they  had  the  form  and  figure  of  the  human 
race.  Because  of  this  assumed  animal  nature,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  "  Central  Flower  "  gave  them  nicknames  of  all  kinds  : 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  81 

dogs,  swine,  demons,  and  barbarians,  were  the  distinguishing 
names  which  they  gave  to  foreigners  dwelling  in  the  four  cardi 
nal  directions  ;  to  the  east,  west,  north,  and  south.  The  few 
western  investigators  and  historians,  who  have  thought  it  worth 
the  trouble  to  devote  their  attention  to  the  fallow  field  of  the 
history  of  Eastern  and  Central  Asia,  have  unquestionably  fol 
lowed  the  ethnographical  system  resting  upon  these  limited  geo 
graphical  elements.  It  therefore  sometimes  happens  that  races 
are  represented  as  belonging  to  the  same  family,  which  in  fact 
have  no  connection,  and  sometimes  one  and  the  same  nation  is 
divided  up  among  different  families  ;  this  occurring  especially 
among  the  numerous  and  widely  extended  family  of  the  Tartars. 
3.  THE  UNITY  OF  THE  TARTARS  AND  RED-SKINS. — The  Tun- 
guses  and  Mongolians  and  a  great  portion  of  the  Turks  origi 
nally  formed  (according  to  the  important  indications  of  their 
bodily  figure,  as  well  as  the  elements  of  their  languages)  a  single 
family  of  nations,  really  connected  with  the  Esquimaux  (the 
Skraelings  or  dwarfs  of  the  Norsemen)  as  well  as  with  the  races 
and  tribes  of  the  New  World.  This  is  the  solid,  irrefutable  re 
sult  of  the  latest  researches  in  the  fields  of  comparative  anatomy 
and  physiology,  as  well  as  in  those  of  comparative  philology  and 
history.  All  researches  point  in  the  end  to  their  unity.  The  Red 
skins  have  all  the  different  peculiarities  which  can  remind  us  of 
their  neighbours  on  the  other  side  of  Behring's  Strait.  They  have 
a  four-cornered  or  round  head,  high  cheek-bones,  heavy  jaws, 
large  four-cornered  eye-sockets,  and  a  low,  retreating  forehead. 
The  skulls  of  the  oldest  Peruvian  graves  show  the  same  pecul 
iarities  as  the  heads  of  the  nomadic  Indians  of  Oregon  and 
California  ;  and  Gallatin,  in  his  researches  in  the  field  in  which 
he  stands  alone,  has  shown  *  that  the  American  languages  as  a 
whole  have  such  a  similarity  that,  however  different  their  vo 
cabularies  may  be,  they  all  point  back  to  a  common  origin.  All 
researches  regarding  the  manner  in  which  America  was  peopled 
lead  to  the  same  final  conclusion.  Since  the  earth  has  been  in 
habited,  these  natives  have  dwelt  in  the  neighbouring  regions  of 
Asia  and  America.  The  rude  masses  have  in  the  course  of  cen 
turies,  by  means  of  different  processes  of  civilization,  been  sepa 
rated  into  different  races  and  nations,  each  of  a  peculiar  physi 
cal  type — a  consequence  of  the  higher  mental  tendencies — and 
*  Baer,  in  the  "  Beitrage  zur  Kentnisa  des  Russischen  Reiches,"  vol.  i,  p.  279. 


82  Atf  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

numerous  languages  have  grown  up;  yet  they  still  bear  sufficient 
tokens  of  their  original  unity,  in  their  physical  peculiarities,  as 
well  as  in  their  languages,  their  customs,  and  their  habits.  This 
unity  is  shown  by  their  genealogy  (the  oldest  historical  system 
of  all  nations  which  know  only  a  single  original  ancestor),  which 
leads  the  Turks,  Mongols,  and  Tunguses  back  to  the  same  ori 
gin.*  Among  the  Tartarian  hordes  we  find  a  relationship  simi 
lar  to  that  which  existed  between  the  different  German  races. 
The  Ostrogoths  and  Visigoths,  the  Ostphalians  and  Westpha- 
lians,  the  men  of  the  north  and  men  of  the  south,  belonged  in 
their  essential  nature  to  one  and  the  same  Teutonic  family,  not 
withstanding  the  differences  in  their  culture  and  their  destiny. 

4.  THE  TUNGUSES,  THE  EASTERN  BARBARIANS. — All  the  nu 
merous  Tartaric  tribes  which  wandered  about,  or  dwelt  north 
easterly  from  the  Middle  Kingdom,  were  called  by  the  civilized 
southern  people  Tong-hu,  "Eastern  Red-men,  or  Barbarians," 
from  which  term  our  word  "  Tunguse  "  has  sprung,  which  has 
since  been  applied  to  the  people  of  a  much  smaller  section  of 
country.  Among  the  Tong-hu  the  Mongolians  were  prominent, 
many  centuries  before  Chinggis  Chakan,  distinguished  by  the 
slightly  different  names  of  Wog  or  Mog,  and  divided  into  seven 
tribes,  whose  abodes  stretched  from  the  Corean  Peninsula  high 
up  into  the  North,  across  the  Amoor  River,  and  to  the  Eastern 
Ocean — that  is  to  say,  to  the  Gulf  of  Anadir,  or  to  Behring's 
Strait.  The  nomadic  races,  called  Pe-ti,  or  "  Northern  Barbari 
ans,"  dwelt  more  directly  north  ;  and  many  tribes  were  sometimes 
described  as  belonging  to  the  Tunguses,  and  sometimes  to  the 
Pe-ti.  In  one  way  and  another  the  Chinese  obtained  an  aston 
ishingly  accurate  knowledge  of  the  northeastern  coast  of  the 
Asiatic  Continent,  which,  as  is  shown  by  their  observations  in 
astronomy  and  natural  history,  extended  to  the  sixty-fifth  degree 
of  latitude,  and  even  to  the  Arctic  Ocean. f  Among  other  ac 
counts,  they  tell  of  a  country,  inhabited  by  a  small  tribe,  called 
Kolihan,  or  Chorhan,  which  during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh 
century  sent  several  embassies  to  the  court  at  Singan.  This 
country  lay  on  the  North  Sea,  far  from  the  "  Middle  Kingdom," 

*  The  "  Shajrat  ul  Atrak,"  or  Genealogical  Tree  of  the  Turks  and  Tartars, 
translated  by  Colonel  Miles,  London,  1838.  Tung,  or  Tungus,  is  here  (p.  25)  rep 
resented  as  a  son  of  Turk. 

f  Gaubil,  "Observations  Mathematiques,"  Paris,  1732,  vol.  ii,  p.  110. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  83 

and  beyond,  still  farther  north,  and  on  the  other  side  of  this  sea, 
the  days  were  sometimes  so  long  and  the  nights  so  short  that 
the  sun  sank  and  rose  again  before  a  breast  of  mutton  could  be 
roasted.*  The  Chinese  were  well  acquainted  with  the  customs 
of  these  hordes,  which  completely  resembled  those  of  the  present 
Tchuktchi,  the  Koljushes,  f  and  other  families  of  Northeast 
ern  Asia  and  Northwestern  America.  "These  barbarians,"  they 
say,  "  have  neither  oxen,  sheep,  nor  other  domestic  animals  ;  but, 
as  some  compensation  for  the  lack  of  these  animals,  they  make  use 
of  deer,  which  are  very  numerous."  The  deer  spoken  of  are  un 
doubtedly  reindeer,  which  have  also  been  described  by  European 
voyagers  as  resembling  the  common  deer.J  "  Of  agriculture  these 
petty  tribes  know  nothing.  They  support  themselves  by  hunt 
ing  and  fishing,  and  upon  the  root  of  a  plant  that  is  found  there 
in  great  abundance.  Their  dwellings  are  built  of  brush-wood 
and  pieces  of  larger  wood,  and  their  clothing  is  made  of  birds'- 
feathers  and  the  skins  of  wild  animals.  Their  dead  are  laid  in 
coffins,  which  are  hung  on  trees  growing  in  the  mountain  ranges. 
They  know  nothing  of  any  division  of  the  year  into  different 
seasons."  * 

The  Chinese  were  also  as  well  acquainted  with  the  tribes 
which  dwelt  directly  east  as  with  these  northern  nations. 

5.  THE  Amos,  OR  JEBIS,  AND  THE  NEGRITOS. — Even  as  early 
as  the  reign  of  the  Cheu  dynasty,  in  the  times  of  David  and 
Solomon,  the  limits  of  Chinese  civilization  reached  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  numerous  neighbouring  groups  of  islands  were  known 
in  the  kingdom  and  visited  for  the  purpose  of  trading.  Their 
inhabitants  sent  embassies  to  the  court,  which  offered  all  kinds 
of  presents,  that  are  described  in  full  in  the  Shu-king,  or  Chinese 
Book  of  Annals.  Moreover,  it  often  happened,  and  still  happens, 
that  China  sent  forth  a  part  of  its  overflowing  or  discontented 
population  to  those  islands  which  were  either  sparsely  settled, 

*  "  Ma  Twan-lin?  Book  348,  p.  6. 

f  "  Koljushi,"  or  "  Koljuki,"  is  the  name  of  the  pegs  which  these  barbarians 
wear  in  their  under  lip,  and  from  these  they  originally  derived  their  name.  The 
Russians  who  govern  this  land  afterward  called  them  "  Galoches  "  (from  that 
word  of  the  French  language),  the  name  being  at  first  applied  only  in  jest.  In 
the  course  of  time,  however,  this  word  superseded  the  earlier  name  "  Koljukes," 
so  that  they  are  now  universally  called  "  Kaloshes." 

t  Forster,  "  Schifffahrten  im  Norden,"  Frankfort,  1784,  p.  338. 

*  "Jfa  Twan-lin,"  Book  344,  p.  18. 


84  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

or,  in  some  cases,  entirely  uninhabited,  colonies  having  thus  been 
sent  to  Japan,  to  Lieu-Tcuei,  and  to  Tai-wan  or  Formosa,  of  which 
fact  we  possess  explicit  historical  testimony.  The  family  of  the 
Ainos,  or  Jebis,  stretching  from  Japan  to  Kamtchatka,  over  the 
Kurile  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  far  away  into  the  North, 
where  it  meets  the  allied  family  of  the  Esquimaux,  must  have 
appeared  especially  remarkable  to  these  Chinese-Mongolian  colo 
nists  and  traders  (who  themselves  possessed  but  scanty  beards) 
on  account  of  the  strong  growth  of  hair  with  which  the  bodies 
of  these  Ainos  were  covered.  On  this  account  they  were  called 
Mao-jin  (or,  according  to  the  Japanese  pronunciation  of  the 
Chinese  characters,  Mo-sin),  meaning  "  Hairy-people  "  ;  or,  from 
the  numerous  sea-crabs  which  the  ocean  in  these  regions  throws 
up  upon  the  beach,*  Hia-i  (or,  according  to  the  Japanese  pro 
nunciation,  Jesso)— that  is  to  say, "  Crab-barbarians."  Moreover, 
because  the  Ainos,  like  the  inhabitants  of  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
and  other  barbarians,  have  the  custom  of  tattooing  themselves 
with  all  kinds  of  figures,  they  were  also  called  Wen-shin,  or 
"  Pictured-people."  In  the  course  of  time  still  other  names  were 
applied  to  them  ;  but  he  who  is  governed  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  these  regions  and  their  inhabitants,  immediately  recog 
nizes  that  the  different  descriptions  and  accounts  all  relate  to  the 
same  family  of  the  Ainos.  We  are  indebted  to  the  repeated  em 
bassies,  which  in  earlier  times  went  back  and  forth  between  China 
and  Japan,  for  a  great  part  of  the  information  contained  in  the 
Annual  Registers  of  the  "  Middle  Kingdom  "  regarding  the  north 
easterly  and  southeasterly  islands  and  tribes,  and,  although  much 
that  is  fabulous  is  undoubtedly  contained  in  their  accounts,  still 
even  their  most  incredible  tales  may  contain  some  element  of 
truth.  So  in  the  Chu-shu,  or  "Dwarfs,"  dwelling  far  distant 
from  Japan  in  a  southerly  direction,  having  black  bodies,  naked 
and  ugly,  who  murder  and  eat  strangers,  we  immediately  recog 
nize  the  inhabitants  of  New  Guinea  or  Papua.f  The  Ainos  are 
first  mentioned  by  the  name  of  "  the  Hairy-people,"  in  the  Chi 
nese  "  Book  of  Mountains  and  Seas,"  a  work  dating  from  the 
third  or  second  century  before  our  era,  and  richly  adorned  with 
wonderful  tales.  It  says  that  they  live  in  the  Eastern  Sea,  and 

*  "  Beschreibung  der  Kurilischen  und  Aleutischen  laseln,"  translated  from  the 
Russian  into  German,  Ulm,  1792,  p.  16. 
f  "  MaTwan-lin,"  Book  327,  p.  37. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  35 

have  hair  growing  over  their  entire  body.  *  Several  of  these 
people  accompanied  a  Japanese  embassy  to  the  "  Middle  King 
dom  "  in  the  year  659  A.  D.  In  the  Annual  Register  of  the  Tang 
dynasty  they  are  called  "  Crab-barbarians,"  and  the  following 
observation  is  added  :  "  They  had  long  beards  and  lived  north 
easterly  from  Japan "  ;  they  presented  arrows,  bows,  and  deer 
skins,  as  the  chronicle  states,  as  offerings  to  the  throne.f 

These  were  inhabitants  of  Jesso,  which  island  had  shortly  be 
fore  (in  658  A.  D.)  been  conquered  by  the  Japanese  and  made 
tributary  to  them.  The  questions  of  the  "  Son  of  Heaven "  of 
the  Tang  dynasty  and  the  answers  of  the  Japanese  embassador 
are  given  as  follows  : 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty.— Does  the  celestial  auto 
crat  enjoy  continual  peace  ? 

The  Ambassador. — Heaven  and  earth  unite  their  gifts,  and 
constant  peace  results. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty. — Are  the  officers  of  the 
kingdom  well  selected  ? 

The  Embassador. — The  grace  of  the  Heavenly  Ruler  is  be 
stowed  upon  them  and  they  remain  well. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty. — Does  internal  peace  pre 
vail  ? 

The  Embassador. — The  government  stands  in  accord  with 
heaven  and  earth — the  people  have  no  cause  for  complaint. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty. — Where  does  this  land  of 
Jesso  lie  ? 

The  Embassador. — To  the  northeast. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty. — How  many  kinds  of  "  Crab- 
barbarians  "  are  there  ? 

The  Embassador. — Three  :  the  most  distant  we  call  Tsugaru 
(after  which  the  Strait  of  Sangar,  between  Japan  and  Jesso,  is 
named)  ;  the  nearest  Ara,  and  the  next  Niki.  The  men  here 

*  The  Shan-hai-kiny,  quoted  in  the  "  Histoire  des  Trois  Royaumes,"  translated 
by  Titsingh,  Paris,  1832,  p.  213.  Klaproth  has,  in  accordance  with  his  well-known 
deceptive  manner,  attempted  to  pass  off  this  translation  as  his  own. 

\  Tang-shu,  or  "  Annual  Register  of  the  Tang  Dynasty,"  Book  220,  p.  98. 
"  Ma  Twan-lin,"  Book  326,  p.  23,  where  the  account,  as  usual,  is  mutilated.  Ti 
tsingh,  "  Annales  des  Empereurs  du  Japan,"  Paris,  1834,  p.  52.  There  is  an  agree- 
ment  between  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  Annual  Registers  upon  this  subject,  that 
is  worthy  of  notice. 


86  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

with  us  belong  to  these  last.     They  come  annually  with  their 
tribute  to  the  court  of  our  kingdom. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty.— Does  this  land  produce 
grain  ? 

The  Embassador. — No  ;  the  inhabitants  live  upon  flesh. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Tang  Dynasty. — Have  they  houses  ? 

The  Embassador. — No  ;  they  dwell  in  the  mountain  ranges 
among  the  trunks  of  trees.* 

Since  this  time  in  the  seventh  century,  several  military  expe 
ditions  have  been  undertaken  against  these  neighbouring  "  North 
ern  Barbarians,"  by  the  adjoining  civilized  kingdom,  which  have 
generally  resulted  successfully.  The  inhabitants  of  Jesso,  how 
ever,  usually  rose  again  after  a  short  time,  drove  the  Japanese 
garrison  out  of  the  land,  and  surrendered  themselves  anew  to 
the  wild  freedom  that  was  enjoyed  by  other  members  of  the 
same  family  upon  the  neighbouring  islands.  Even  now,  as  we 
learn  from  different  sources,  the  Japanese  rule  over  only  a  small 
part  of  this  island  so  rich  in  gold  mines. 

Jesso  easily  leads  to  an  acquaintance  with  Kamtchatka,  which 
happened  to  be  also  fully  described  for  us  at  the  same  time,  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  account : 

6.  KAMTCHATKA,  THE  TCHUKTCHI,  AND  THE  ALEUTS.  — 
Lieu-kuei,  or  Ling-goei,  as  the  Kamtchatdales  of  the  present 
day  still  call  their  fellow-countrymen  on  the  Penshinish  Bay,f 
is  described  in  the  Annual  Registers  of  the  "Middle  King 
dom  "  as  fifteen  thousand  Chinese  miles  distant  from  the  capital  ; 
this  standard  of  distance  (the  H9  or  Chinese  mile),  according  to 
the  renowned  astronomer  T-han,  was,  in  the  time  of  the  Tang 
*  Nippon-ki — that  is  to  say,  "  The  Annual  Registers  of  Japan,"  from  661  B.  c. 
to  696  A.  D.,  which  were  completed  in  the  year  720.  They  embrace  thirty  volumes 
in  8vo.  The  portion  translated  by  Hoffman  is  found  in  the  26th  vol.,  p.  9,  or 
vol.  viii,  p.  130,  of  Siebold's  "Japanese  Archives." 

f  Steller,  "  Beschreibung  von  dem  Lande  Kamtschatka,"  Leipzig,  1734,  p.  3. 
The  words  between  quotation-marks  are  translated  literally  from  the  Annual 
Registers  of  the  Tang  dynasty  (Tang-shu,  Book  220,  p.  19).  The  remainder 
is  explanatory,  and  is  mostly  added  from  Steller.  The  Annual  Registers  of  the 
Tang  dynasty  have  also  been  compared  with  the  article  of  Ma  Twan-lin  (Book  347, 
p.  6),  which  indeed  seems  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  Tang-shu,  but  it 
is  arranged  in  better  order,  and  also  contains  much  original  matter,  on  which 
account  I  have  used  it  as  the  basis  of  my  work.  The  compiler  of  the  Encyclopae 
dia  of  Kang-hi  ( Yuen-kien-lui-han)  contented  himself  (Book  241,  p.  19),  as  in 
many  other  places,  with  transcribing  from  Ma  Twan-lin. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  37 

dynasty,  contained  about  338  times  in  one  of  our  geographical 
degrees. 

Now,  Si-ngan,  the  Chinese  capital  during  the  reign  of  the 
Tang  dynasty,  is  in  the  district  of  Shan-si,  34°  15'  34'  north 
latitude  and  106°  34'  0*  east  longitude  from  Paris. 

Peter  and  Paul's  Haven  in  Kamtchatka  is  situated  in  53°  0' 
59"  north  latitude  and  153°  19'  56"  east  longitude  from  Paris. 

The  distance  between  these  two  points  wonderfully  confirms 
the  accounts  of  the  Chinese  Annual  Registers,  and  leaves  no 
room  for  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  Kamtchatka  with  Lieu- 
kuei,  for  we  may  well  be  satisfied  when  such  rough  estimates, 
which  may  have  been  made  by  semi-barbarous  sailors  or  by  the 
barbarous  inhabitants,  come,  in  so  great  a  distance,  within  two 
or  three  degrees  of  astronomical  results. 

"  This  land  lies  in  a  northeasterly  direction  from  the  *  Black 
River,'  or  the  '  Black-dragon  River '  (the  Amoor)  and  the  coun 
try  of  the  Mo-ko,  from  which  it  is  reached  by  a  sailing-voyage  of 
fifteen  days'  duration,  which  is  the  time  usually  occupied  by  the 
Mo-ko  upon  the  voyage."  As  has  already  been  indicated,  these 
Mo-ko  are  the  Mongolians,  who  in  former  centuries,  and  even  up 
to  the  times  of  the  Tang  dynasty,  extended  from  Corea,  on 
the  south,  to  the  farther  side  of  the  Amoor  River,  on  the 
north  ;  the  western  boundary  of  the  country  which  they  inhab 
ited  being  unknown.  In  the  east,  as  is  expressly  declared  in  our 
authorities,  they  roamed  as  far  as  to  the  ocean — i.  e.,  to  the  Paci 
fic  Ocean — from  the  coast  of  which  they  could  easily  cross  to  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  and  to  the  continent  of  America.  That 
this  really  happened,  is  indicated  by  the  physical  resemblance 
between  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  countries  and  the  relation 
ship  between  the  Mongolian  languages  and  the  idioms  of  several 
tribes  of  American  Indians.  The  distance  from  Ochotsk  to  the 
peninsula  lying  opposite  is  only  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
German  miles,  and  the  natives  of  this  region  are  in  fact  accus 
tomed  to  making  this  journey  by  water  in  from  ten  to  fourteen 
days. 

"  Lieu-kuei  lies  northerly  from  the  Northern  Sea,  by  which 
it  is  surrounded  upon  three  sides.  On  the  north  the  peninsula  is 
bounded  by  the  land  of  the  Je-tshay,  or  Tchuktchi,*  of  which 

*  In  the  "  Tang-shu  "  there  is  a  typographical  error.     Instead  of  Pe-hai,  "  the 
North  Sea,"  the  name  is  given  as  Shao-hai,  "  the  Little  Sea."    The  proper  read- 


83  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  limits  are  not  clearly  defined.  From  Kamtchatka  to  Je- 
tshay  is  a  month's  journey,  and  beyond  it  is  an  unknown  land, 
from  which  no  embassy  ever  came  to  the  *  Middle  Kingdom.' 
Neither  fortified  places  nor  walled  cities  are  found  in  this  land  ; 
the  people  live  scattered  about  upon  the  islands  of  the  sea,  and 
upon  the  banks  along  the  rivers  and  the  sea,  of  which  they  salt 
and  preserve  the  fish." 

Steller  also  assures  us  that  the  dwellings  of  the  Italmen — 
i.  e.,  the  natives  of  Kamtchatka — are  found  along  the  rivers,  on 
the  inner  sea,  and  at  the  mouths  of  small  rivers,  especially  in 
such  of  these  places  as  are  provided  with  trees  and  bushes.  Fish 
are  found  in  incredible  numbers,  and  salmon  are  especially  numer 
ous  ;  they  are  prepared  in  many  ways,  but  chiefly  by  salting,*  so 
as  to  serve  for  food  both  for  man  and  beast  throughout  the  long 
winters.  The  races  living  still  farther  north  live  also,  almost 
exclusively,  upon  fish,  from  which  fact  they  have  received  the 
name  " Eskimantik,"  or  "Eskimo,"  that  is  to  say,  "Raw-fish 
eaters  ."f 

"  Their  dwellings  consist  of  pits,  which  they  dig  quite  deep 
in  the  earth,  and  then  wall  up  with  thick,  unhewn  wooden 
planks."  These  serve  only  as  their  winter  residences,  their  sum 
mer  residences  being  set  upon  posts,  like  our  pigeon-houses. 
The  Italmen  dig  the  earth  out  from  three  to  five  feet  deep, 
making  an  excavation  in  the  shape  of  a  long  rectangular  paral 
lelogram,  and  as  large  as  may  be  required  to  accommodate  their 
families.  They  throw  the  excavated  earth  all  around  the  bor 
ders  of  the  pit  in  a  pile  two  feet  broad.  Then  they  prepare 
willow  stakes  five  or  six  feet  long,  and  drive  them  into  the 
ground  close  together  along  the  wall  of  the  pit,  so  that  they 
reach  to  the  same  height  as  the  earthen  wall.  Between  these 
stakes  and  the  earth  they  place  dry  straw,  so  that  the  earth  may 
not  fall  through  and  by  immediate  contact  with  the  articles  con 
tained  in  the  dwelling  cause  them  to  become  mouldy  or  rusty, 
ing  is  found  in  the  two  Encyclopaedias  already  named.  Je-tshay-kuo,  which  here 
means  "  the  Land  of  the  Je-tshay,"  is  also  named  only  in  the  two  Encyclopaedias. 
The  arrogant  Chinese  love  to  write  the  names  of  foreign  nations  with  characters 
which  are  insulting  and  abusive  in  their  meanings.  The  name  Lieu-kud  is  there 
fore  written  with  characters  meaning  "  the  Dysenteric  Devils,"  and  Jc-tshay  with 
characters  meaning  "  the  Devil's  Attendants." 

*  Steller,  pp.  169,  210,  211. 

f  Mithridates,  iii,  3-425. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  39 

In  the  middle  of  the  pit  they  make  the  fire-place,  between 
four  slender  piles,  which  are  fastened  above  at  one  side  of  the 
entrance,  which  is  near  the  fire-place,  and  serves  also  as  a  chim 
ney  through  which  the  smoke  escapes.  Opposite  the  fire-place 
they  make  a  channel  in  the  ground  from  eight  feet  to  two  fath 
oms  long  (the  size  and  length  being  dependent  upon  the  size  of 
the  dwelling),  which  extends  outside  of  the  house,  which  is 
opened  when  a  fire  is  kindled  and  closed  when  the  fire  is  allowed 
to  go  out.  This  air-opening  is  made  in  any  side  of  the  dwelling 
without  regard  to  the  cardinal  points,  care  being  only  taken  that 
it  should  always  open  toward  the  river  near  which  the  house  is 
placed.  The  wind  can  usually  find  free  entrance,  but,  when 
it  comes  in  too  strongly,  they  place  a  cover  over  the  air- opening 
as  a  protection  against  it.  When  it  is  desired  to  enter  the  dwell 
ing,  it  is  necessary  to  go  in  through  the  opening  in  the  roof, 
which  serves  as  a  chimney,  and  descend  a  ladder  or  a  tree-trunk, 
in  which  notches  in  which  to  place  the  feet  have  been  hewed. 
Diificult  as  this  is  to. a  European,  especially  when  a  fire  is  burn 
ing  and  there  seems  danger  of  stifling  from  the  smoke,  it  seems 
a  very  easy  matter  to  the  Italmen.  The  little  children  usually 
creep  through  the  air-channel,  which  also  serves  as  a  cupboard 
in  which  the  cooking  and  table  utensils  are  stored.  Internally, 
the  dwelling  is  divided  into  squares  by  wooden  beams,  so  that 
each  of  the  inhabitants  has  his  own  particular  sleeping-place 
and  private  room. 

"  On  account  of  the  frequent  fogs  and  heavy  snows,  the  cli 
mate  is  very  raw  and  cold.  The  people  are  all  clothed  in  the 
hides  of  the  animals  which  they  kill  by  hunting  ;  but  they  also 
prepare  a  species  of  cloth,  from  dogs'  hair  and  various  kinds  of 
grasses,  which  is  also  used  for  clothing.  In  the  winter  the  skins 
of  swine  and  reindeer  are  used  as  clothing,  and  in  the  summer 
the  skins  of  fishes.  They  have  great  numbers  of  dogs." 

We  now  know  that  a  remarkable  difference  is  found  in  the 
climate  of  different  portions  of  Kamtchatka.  Districts  that  lie 
only  a  short  distance  from  each  other  have  very  different  weather 
at  the  same  season  of  the  year.  The  southern  portion  of  the 
peninsula  is,  in  general,  on  account  of  the  proximity  of  the  sea, 
very  cloudy  and  damp,  and  is,  for  a  great  portion  of  the  time, 
subject  to  fearfully  tempestuous  winds.  The  farther  we  ascend 
to  the  north,  toward  the  Penshinish  Bay,  the  gentler  are  the 


90  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

winds  in  winter,  and  the  smaller  is  the  amount  of  rain  that  falls 
during  the  summer.  There  is  no  part  of  the  world,  however, 
in  which  rains  are  heavier  or  more  frequent  than  in  Kamtchatka, 
and  deeper  snow  is  nowhere  found  than  occurs  upon  this  penin 
sula  between  the  51st  and  54th  degrees  of  north  latitude.  On 
this  account  the  inhabitants  need  their  warm  clothing  of  seal 
skins  and  reindeer  hides.  The  skins  of  dogs,  marmots,  and 
sables  are  also  prepared  for  this  use.  The  women  split  dry  net 
tle-stalks  and  other  grasses,  and  labouriously  spin  a  yarn  from 
them,  which  is  made  up  into  a  species  of  linen  cloth,  and  like 
wise  serves  as  the  material  for  different  articles  of  clothing. 
Reindeer,  black  bear,  wolves,  foxes,  and  other  wild  quadrupeds 
are  found  in  great  numbers,  and  are  caught  in  many  ways,  some 
of  them  extremely  ingenious,  of  which  the  Chinese  have  also 
heard.  Dogs  are  the  only  domestic  animals,  and  these  are  upon 
many  accounts  almost  indispensable  to  the  people  of  Kamtchat 
ka  ;  they  are  harnessed  to  sledges,  and  so  serve  as  substitutes 
for  our  horses  and  asses  :  and  the  dogs  of  this  land  are  so  strong 
that  they  endure  more  than  our  beasts  of  burden.  Their  skins 
and  hair  are  made  up  into  clothing,  so  that  they  also  supply  the 
place  of  sheep  (of  which  none  are  found  in  this  country),  and  of 
their  wool.  The  statement,  that  swine  are  found  in  Kamtchatka, 
is  an  error  of  the  Chinese  writer  ;  *  they  would,  indeed,  prosper 
here,  but  in  Steller's  time  none  had  been  introduced  into  the 
country.  Up  to  the  present  day  several  of  the  Mantchoo  tribes, 
living  farthest  to  the  northeast,  clothe  themselves  in  fish-skins, 
on  which  account  the  Chinese  call  them  "  Ju-pi "  (Fish-skins). 
They,  like  the  Chedshen,  belong  to  the  Aleutian  family. 

"  The  people  have  no  regulations  or  laws,  and  know  nothing 
of  officers  or  of  superiors  in  rank.  If  there  is  a  robber  in  the 
land,  the  people  are  all  called  together  in  order  to  judge  him. 
Nothing  is  known  of  the  division  and  the  succession  of  the  four 
seasons  of  the  year.  Their  bows  are  about  four  feet  long,  and 
their  arrows  like  those  of  the  *  Middle  Kingdom.'  From  bones 
and  stones  they  make  a  species  of  musical  instrument.  They 
love  to  sing  and  dance.  They  lay  their  dead  in  large  tree- 
trunks,  and  mourn  for  them  for  three  years,  but  without  wear 
ing  any  particular  kind  of  mourning-garment.  In  the  year  640, 

*  It  is  possible  that  this  term  is  applied  to  some  species  of  marine  animal  re 
sembling  the  seal.— E.  P.  V. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  91 

during  the  time  of  the  reign  of  the  Second  Son  of  Heaven  of  the 
Tang  dynasty,  the  first  and  last  tribute-bringing  embassy  came 
from  the  land  of  Lieu-kuei  to  the  *  Middle  Kingdom.' " 

Before  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  the  Russians,  the  Kam- 
tchatdales  lived  in  a  kind  of  community,  as  is  the  case  among 
all  wild  tribes,  as,  for  instance,  among  the  early  German  tribes. 
Each  revenged  for  himself  the  injuries  that  were  done  to  him, 
and  availed  himself  for  this  purpose  of  his  weapons,  which  con 
sisted  of  bows,  arrows,  and  bone  spears.  In  time  of  war  they 
chose  a  leader,  whose  authority  ceased  with  the  war.  If  any 
thing  was  stolen  and  the  thief  was  not  discovered,  the  elders 
called  the  people  together  and  then  exhorted  each  one  of  them 
to  give  up  the  criminal.  If  he  was  not  detected  in  this  way,  then 
the  magic  arts  of  their  shamans,  or  priests,  were  brought  into 
requisition  to  conjure  death  and  ruin  down  upon  the  head  of  the 
villain.  The  Italmen  divided  the  solar  year  into  two  parts,  call 
ing  one  "  summer  "  and  the  other  "  winter."  The  division  into 
days  and  weeks  is  quite  unknown  to  the  Kamtchatdales,  and 
most  of  them  can  not  count  beyond  forty.  They  waste  the 
greater  part  of  their  time  with  music  and  dancing,  and  in  tell 
ing  merry  stories.  Their  songs  and  melodies,  of  which  Steller 
gives  us  several,  seem  charming  and  agreeable. 

If,  says  this  distinguished  man  (sacrificed  in  Russia),  whom  I 
usually  follow  in  the  account  of  the  customs  and  usages  of  the 
Kamtchatdales,  we  compare  the  cantatos  of  the  great  Orlando 
di  Lasso,  with  which  he  charmed  the  King  of  France  after  the 
Parisian's  Carnival  of  Blood,  with  those  of  the  Italmen,  the  lat 
ter  seem  much  the  more  agreeable  of  the  two,  many  of  these 
arias  being  not  merely  one-part  melodies,  but  being  sung  with  an 
alto  also. 

The  Chinese  account  of  the  disposition  of  the  corpses  of  the 
dead,  and  of  the  three-years'  mourning,  is  not  well  founded.  At 
least,  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  country  by  the  Rus 
sians,  nothing  similar  was  found  to  exist.  The  sick,  when  they 
seemed  past  recovery,  were  cast  to  the  dogs  while  still  living, 
and  any  lamentation  over  the  death  of  parents  or  other  rela 
tions  very  seldom  occurred.  It  is  possible,  however,  even  if  im 
probable,  that  since  the  seventh  century  many  a  change  and  error 
has  been  made  in  the  Chinese  records  regarding  this  country. 

The  habitation  of  the  Wen-shin,  or  "  Pictured-people,"  must 


92  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

be  looked  for  to  the  east  of  Kamtchatka,  and  therefore  in  the 
Aleutian  Islands,  if  we  accept  the  estimate  in  regard  to  their  dis 
tance  from  Japan. 

"  The  land  of  the  Wen-shin,"  it  is  said  in  the  Annual  Regis 
ters  of  the  Southern  Dynasties,*  "is  distant  from  Japan  in  a 
northeasterly  direction  about  seven  thousand  Chinese  miles,"  or 
some  twenty  of  our  geographical  degrees,  a  direction  and  dis 
tance  placing  us  in  the  midst  of  the  group  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  how  de  Guignes  can  have 
sought  for  these  "  Pictured-people  "  in  Jesso,  and  imagined  that 
he  found  them  there. 

"  The  bodies  of  these  people  exhibit  all  kinds  of  figures,  such 
as  those  of  animals  and  the  like.  They  have  three  lines  upon 
the  forehead ;  the  large  and  straight  indicate  the  nobles,  the 
small  and  crooked  the  common  people,  of  the  nation." 

It  is  well  known  that  before  their  conversion  to  Christianity 
the  Aleuts  not  only  tattooed  different  figures  upon  their  bodies, 
but  they  also  bored  through  the  cartilage  of  the  nose  and  wore 
a  peg  or  pin  stuck  transversely  through  the  opening,  and  upon 
holidays  hung  glass  beads  upon  this  pin.  The  women  in  the 
same  way  bored  through  the  ear,  all  about  the  margin,  and  also 
made  incisions  in  the  lower  lip,  in  which  they  wore  bone  or  stone 
needles  some  two  inches  long. 

7.  TA-HAN",  ALASKA. — In  the  times  of  the  Liang  dynasty,  in 
the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century  of  our  era,  the  Chinese  heard  of 
a  land  which  lay  five  thousand  of  their  miles  easterly  from  the 
country  of  the  "  Pictured-people  "  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and 
named  it  "  Ta-han,"  or  "Great  China."  The  direction  and  the 
distance  lead  us  to  the  great  Peninsula  of  Alaska.  The  country 
was  apparently  named  "  Great  China  "  because  some  account  of 
the  great  continent  which  stretched  out  beyond  the  peninsula 
had  reached  the  "Middle  Kingdom."  So,  for  the  same.reasons, 
according  to  the  Sagas,  the  Irish  who,  in  earlier  centuries,  dis 
covered  America  long  before  the  days  of  Columbus,  named  the 
newly-discovered  regions  "  Great  Ireland."  \ 

*  Nan-sse — i.  e.,  "  History  of  the  Southern  Dynasties,"  Book  79,  p.  5.  The 
same  article  is  also  found  in  the  Liang-shu,  or  "  The  Annual  Registers  of  the 
Liang  Dynasty,"  Book  64,  p.  19,  and  in  Ma  Tivan-lMs  work,  Book  327,  p.  2. 

f  The  Munich  "  Gel.  Anzeiger,"  vol.  viii,  p.  636.  This  must  have  been  the 
country  stretching  from  the  two  Carolinas  to  the  southern  point  of  Florida. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  93 

We  are  informed  that  the  people  of  Ta-han  upon  the  whole 
resembled  the  "  Pictured-people  "  in  their  customs  and  usages. 
"The  two  nations,  however,  spoke  quite  different  languages. 
The  people  of  Ta-han  carried  no  weapons  and  knew  nothing  of 
war  and  strife." 

Beyond  Ta-han,  the  Chinese  learned,  at  the  close  of  the  fifth 
century  of  our  era,  of  the  existence  of  a  land  which  the  elder 
de  Guignes  has  already  located  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
American  Continent.  The  conjecture  of  this  sagacious  and  schol 
arly  man  is  in  its  main  points  well  founded,  but  we  are  now  in 
a  position  to  clearly  determine  the  particular  country  of  America 
to  which  the  Chinese  account  referred.  The  zealous  investiga 
tions  concerning  the  perished  civilization  of  the  New  World,  and 
the  traces  of  it  which  still  exist,  have  led  to  results  of  which  the 
investigators  of  the  eighteenth  century  could  have  had  no  knowl 
edge.  We  will  now  give,  first,  a  complete  and  literal  transla 
tion  of  the  Chinese  account  regarding  the  distant  eastern  land, 
and  follow  it  with  an  explanation,  as  far  as  practicable,  of  its 
various  statements. 

8-11. — THE  KINGDOM  OF  FU-SANG  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS. — 
[Here  follows  a  translation  of  the  Chinese  account,  which  is 
given  in  full  elsewhere,  and  which  it  therefore  will  not  be  neces 
sary  to  quote  here.] 

12.  THE  AMAZONS. — The  same  Buddhist  priest  to  whom  we 
owe  the  account  of  the  land  of  Fu-sang  tells  also  of  a  Kingdom 
of  Women.  It  lay  about  a  thousand  Chinese  miles  easterly  from 
Fu-sang,  and  was  inhabited  by  white  people  with  very  hairy 
bodies.*  The  whole  account,  however,  contains  so  much  that  is 
fabulous  that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  give  it.  It  is  none  the 
less  remarkable,  however,  that,  from  the  most  ancient  times,  all 
great  civilized  nations  which  have  had  written  accounts  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  speak  of  a  kingdom  of  women  which,  the 
farther  that  the  northeastern  portions  of  Asia  became  known 
without  finding  any  such  kingdom,  was  always  pushed  back  to  a 
greater  distance,  until  finally  these  governing  women  were  trans 
planted  into  America.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  such  a 
kingdom  of  women  never  existed.  It  is  quite  possible  that  here 

*  The  account  is  found  in  the  Nan-*se,  Book  79,  p.  6 ;  IAang-»riu,  Book  54, 
p.  49,  and  copied  from  these,  but  with  many  corrections,  in  the  Encyclopaedia  of 
Ma  Twan-lin,  Book  327,  et  seq. 


94:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  there  the  women  of  many  different  races  had  separate  dwell 
ing-places,  or  perhaps  lived  apart  upon  an  island,  where  they  from 
time  to  time  received  visits  from  the  men.  The  Arabs  likewise 
tell  of  such  an  arrangement ;  *  but  they  placed  their  country  of 
women  in  quite  another  part  of  the  world.  The  knowledge  of 
the  Arabians  and  Persians  of  the  northern  and  northeastern  re 
gions  of  the  earth  extended  only  as  far  as  Japan.  East  of  Japan, 
Abulfeda  expressly  declares,  the  earth  was  believed  to  be  unin 
habited. 

13.    Fu-SANG,  THE  WESTERN   PORTION    OF    AMERICA,  CALLED 

MEXICO. — What  all  these  distant  lands  were  called  by  their  na 
tive  inhabitants  we  do  not  know,  and,  in  fact,  it  is  rarely  that 
the  native  names  of  foreign  countries  are  known,  even  of  those 
which  have  been  recently  discovered.  We  only  know  that  the 
Chinese  Buddhist  missionaries  gave  to  the  country  the  name  of 
a  tree  which  grew  in  great  numbers  both  there  and  in  Eastern 
Asia,f  or  rather,  perhaps,  as  seems  probable,  the  new  land  was 
covered  with  a  plant  similar  to  the  Asiatic  fu-sang,  and  to  this 
new  plant  the  old  name  fu-sang  was  given,  and  this  designation 
was  then  applied  to  the  country  also,  for  it  is  one  of  the  in 
born  dispositions  of  human  nature  to  name  a  country  after  its 
prominent  productions  which  are  rare  elsewhere.  So  the  Nor 
mans,  who  discovered  the  northern  coast  of  America,  about  five 
hundred  years  after  the  era  of  these  Buddhist  priests,  named 
the  country  "Yinland,"  because  of  the  great  abundance  of 
wild  grape-vines  growing  there.  On  account  of  the  great  dis 
tance  of  Fu-sang,  no  more  missionaries  ever  reached  the  country, 
yet  the  Buddhists  and  the  Chinese  investigators  interested  in 
antiquarian  researches  never  allowed  this  land,  which  had  been 
once  described  with  so  many  details,  to  be  forgotten.  Chinese 
scholars  have  mentioned  it  frequently  in  their  works,  and  have 
even  given  it  a  place  in  their  maps,J  while  the  Buddhists,  in 
their  uncritical,  meditative  way,  never  became  weary  of  repeat 
ing  the  old  tales.  The  myth-loving  geographers  and  poets  also 
availed  themselves  of  this  knowledge  at  a  later  period,  and  spun 
the  tale  out  in  many  fanciful  ways,  as  was  done  by  those  of  the 
West  in  regard  to  Prester  John.  These  strange  and  charming 

*  Edrisi,  ii,  p.  433,  ed.  Jaubert. 

f  Loureiro,  "Flora  Cochin-Chinensis,"  Berolini,  1793,  ii,  510. 

$  Fa-kiai-ngan-li-tu,  \.  e.,  "  Sure  Tables  of  Religion,"  i,  22. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  95 

pictures  of  the  imagination,  regarding  the  tree  and  the  land  of 
Fit-sang,  will,  in  the  eyes  of  the  earnest  investigator,  cause  no 
more  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  historical  portion  of  the  accounts, 
than  the  rich  collections  of  popular  stories  regarding  Alexander 
the  Great  and  Charlemagne  cause  regarding  the  historical  works 
of  Arrian  and  Eginhard. 

The  distance  of  the  land  from  Ta-han,  or  Alaska,  which,  ac 
cording  to  the  estimate  already  given,  amounts  to  fifty-seven  or 
fifty-eight  degrees,  brings  us  to  the  northwestern  coast  of  Mex 
ico,  or  New  Spain,  in  the  region  of  San  Bias  or  the  neighbouring 
'districts.  The  other  details  of  the  Buddhist-Chinese  account 
also  point  to  this  region  no  less  plainly,  but  before  entering 
upon  an  examination  of  the  history  of  the  Aztecs,  it  seems  neces 
sary  to  explain  a  difliculty  which  might  otherwise  destroy  this 
whole  attempt  to  furnish  proof  as  to  the  true  situation  of  the 
country. 

14.  THE   OLDEST   HISTORY   OP  AMERICA. — The  account  of 
this  Buddhist,  goes  back  to  times  far  antedating  all  the  tra 
ditions  and  historical  records  of  the  Aztecs,  dubious  as  these 
are,  from  the  fact  that  they  rest  only  upon  the  uncertain  inter 
pretation  of  their  hieroglyphic  records.     One  fact,  however,  is 
certain  amidst  these  otherwise  uncertain  tales  as  to  the  early  his 
tory  of  America.     The  barbarian  races  of  conquerors  that  fol 
lowed  one  another  in  this  region,  always  journeying  from  the 
north  to  the  south,  murdered,  drove  away,  and  enslaved  the  ear 
lier  inhabitants,  and,  in  the  course  of  time,  formed  new  civil 
and  political  institutions,  modified  by  their  own  peculiarities, 
but  modeled  upon  those  of  the  destroyed  kingdom,  and  these,  in 
turn,  were  in  the  course  of  a  few  centuries  again  shattered  by 
other  barbarians.     These  later  bands  of  conquerors  can  no  more 
be  considered  as  the  first  colonists  in  the  New  World  than  the 
first  colonists  of  Europe  can  be  thought  to  be  the  tribes  which 
conquered  the  German  and  other  races  in  the  Old  World. 

15.  THE  RUINS  OP  MITLA  AND  PALENQUE.— The  nameless 
ruins  which  are  designated  by  the  names  of  the  neighbouring 
cities  of  Mitla  and  Palenque  (the  last-named  city  being  situated 
in  the  province  of  Tzendale,  near  the  boundary-line  between  the 
city  of  Ciudad  Real  and  Yucatan)  have  been  considered  by  en 
thusiastic  investigators  to  date  back  to  a  period  several  thousand 
years  before  the  Christian  era.    Enthusiasts  have  found  here  not 


96  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

only  the  home  of  the  most  intellectual  civilization  of  the  New 
World,  but  also  the  home  of  Buddhism.*  The  Toltecs — a  name 
that  means  "Architects" — appeared  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventh  century.  One  of  their  literary  productions,  "  The  Divine 
Book,"  had,  according  to  an  unconfirmed  tradition,  been  pre 
served  up  to  the  times  of  the  Spaniards.f  The  Aztecs,  on  the 
contrary,  first  came  to  Anahuac,  or  "  the  Land  near  the  Water," 
during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II. J  The  savage 
conquerors,  as  was  the  case  with  all  races  at  the  time  of  the  great 
migrations  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  were  at  first  hostile  to  both 
the  existing  religion  and  the  native  civilization.  In  the  end, 
however,  when  the  necessity  of  having  the  state  properly  con 
trolled  was  forced  upon  them,  they  could  erect  the  new  structure 
only  upon  the  existing  ruins.  This  is  as  true  in  a  figurative  as 
in  a  literal  sense,  and  we  can  learn  much  of  the  condition  of  the 
earlier  races  in  this  land  by  a  consideration  of  the  regulations, 
customs,  and  usages  of  the  Aztecs.  The  most  learned  historian 
of  New  Spain,  in  harmony  with  the  results  of  the  most  recent 
researches,  long  ago  recognized  the  original  connection  of  the 
numerous  languages  of  Mexico,  notwithstanding  all  their  differ 
ences  in  single  points.* 

The  pyramidical,  symbolical  form  of  the  wonderful  monu 
ments  of  ancient  Mexico  appears  in  truth  to  have  some  external 
points  of  resemblance  with  the  religious  structures  erected  by 
the  Buddhists,  and  the  pyramids  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  this 
land  served,  like  those  of  the  Egyptians  and  Buddhists,  as  places 
of  interment ;  but  neither  their  architecture  nor  their  ornamenta 
tion,  if  we  are  to  decide  from  the  drawings  of  Mexican  antiqui 
ties,  exhibit  any  East  Indian  symbol,  unless  their  eight  rings  or 
stories  are  considered  as  such.  It  is  stated  in  a  Buddhist  legend 
that  the  remains  of  Sakya,  after  his  cremation,  were  collected  in 
eight  metallic  vessels  and  as  many  sacred  buildings  were  erected 
over  these.  ||  But  if  Buddhism  ever  reigned  over  Central  Ameri- 

"  Antiquites  Mexicaines,"  ii,  p.  73 ;  "  Transactions  of  the  American  Anti 
quarian  Society,"  ii;  Prescott,  "History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  Paris,  1844, 
"i,  P-  253-  f  Prescott,  i,  67. 

\  The  chronological  estimates  of  the  different  historians  do  not  agree  with 
one  another.  Those  of  the  learned  Clavigero  appear  to  be  always  the  most  reliable, 
however.  Prescott,  i,  11. 

*  Clavigero,  "Storia  Antica  del  Messico,"  i,  153. 

i  "Asiatic  Researches,"  xvi,  316. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  97 

ca,  it  surely  can  not  have  been  the  pure  religion  of  Sakya,  as  it 
is  found  to-day  in  Nepal,  Thibet,  and  other  countries  of' Asia, 
but  only  a  form  of  a  religious  belief  founded  upon  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  this  doctrine,  and  changed  to  adapt  it  to 
the  earlier  belief  of  the  people  of  the  New  World  ;  for  the  mis 
sionaries  of  Sakya  might  be  called  Jesuits,  from  the  fact  that 
they,  in  order  to  obtain  an  easier  entrance  for  their  religion  and 
its  dogmas,  either  built  them  up  upon  the  previous  customs  and 
usages  of  the  country  or  cunningly  mixed  the  two  together. 
The  myth  of  the  birth  of  the  terrible  Aztec  god  of  war  is  per 
haps  a  faded  remnant  of  the  East  Indian  religion  which  may 
once  have  bloomed  here.  Huitzilopochtli,  like  Sakya,  was  begot 
ten  in  a  wonderful  way  :  his  mother  saw  a  ball  of  glittering 
feathers  floating  in  the  air,  placed  it  in  her  bosom,  became  preg 
nant,  and  bore  her  terrible  son,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  had 
a  spear  in  his  right  hand,  a  shield  in  his  left,  and  a  waving  tuft 
of  green  feathers  upon  his  head.*  Juan  de  Grijalva,  the  nephew 
of  Valasquez,  was  so  astonished  at  the  superior  civilization  of 
the  main  continent  as  compared  with  the  islands,  and  particu 
larly  at  the  regularity  of  the  buildings,  that  he,  upon  this 
account,  in  1518,  gave  to  the  Peninsula  of  Yucatan  the  name 
of  "New  Spain,"  a  name  which  soon  obtained  a  much  wider 
extension.f 

16.  FU-SANG,  MAGUEY,  AGAVE  AMERICANA. — It  is  known  that 
the  flora  of  the  northwestern  regions  of  America  is  intimately 
connected  with  that  of  China,  Japan,  and  other  lands  in  the  east 
ernmost  region  of  the  Orient.  On  this  account  it  may  be  believed 
that  ihefu-sang  tree  was  also  found  in  America  in  earlier  times, 
and  that  from  bad  management  it  has  since  become  extinct.  The 
tobacco-plant  and  Indian  corn  are  in  a  similar  way  native  both 
to  China  and  to  the  New  World.  J  It  appears  much  more  prob 
able,  however,  that  the  traveler,  as  has  not  unfrequently  occurred 
in  other  similar  cases,  when  he  saw  in  Mexico  a  new  plant  for 
merly  unknown  to  him,  which  was  used  there  for  many  purposes 
in  a  similar  way  to  the  uses  made  of  t\iQfu-scung  tree  in  Eastern 
Asia,  gave  to  it  the  name  of  the  well-known  Asiatic  tree  which 
he  thought  to  resemble  it.  The  plant  that  I  mean  is  the  great 

*  Clavigero,  ii,  19.  f  Prescott,  i,  143. 

\  Professor  Neumann  seems  to  have  made  this  statement  on  insufficient  au 
thority.— E.  P.  V. 
7 


98  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Mexican  Aloe,  the  Agave  Americana,  called  "  Maguey  "  by  the 
natives,  which,  throwing  up  its  pyramidical  tuft  of  flowers 
above  the  dark  circle  of  its  leaves,  is  found  in  such  great  abun 
dance  upon  the  plains  of  New  Spain.  From  its  crushed  leaves 
a  firm  paper  is  prepared,  even  up  to  the  present  time,  as  at  the 
time  when  the  Aztec  kingdom  flourished,  and  the  few  hiero 
glyphic  manuscripts  that  have  escaped  the  barbarity  and  fa 
naticism  of  the  Spaniards  consist  of  this  paper ;  and  of  such 
manuscripts  the  Buddhist  missionary  speaks.  The  flowing  sap 
is  brewed  into  an  intoxicating  drink,  which  is  still  liked  by  the 
people  of  the  country.  Its  large,  stiff  leaves  serve  as  firm  roofs 
for  their  low  huts,  and  from  the  fibers  are  made  all  kinds  of 
thread,  cordage,  and  rough  cloth.  When  cooked,  the  roots  form 
a  savoury  species  of  food  ;  and  the  thorns  are  used  as  needles  and 
pins.  This  wonderful  plant,  therefore,  offers  not  only  food  and 
drink,  but  clothing  and  writing-materials,  and,  in  fact,  so  satis 
fies,  to  a  certain  degree,  every  want  of  the  Mexicans,  that  many 
who  are  acquainted  with  the  land  and  its  inhabitants  are  con 
vinced  that  the  maguey  must  be  rooted  out  before  the  sloth  and 
indolence  of  the  people — evils  which  prevent  them  from  reach 
ing  a  higher  culture  and  civilization — can  be  checked.* 

17.  METALS  AND  MONEY. — The  use  of  iron,  although  it  is 
found  so  abundantly  in  New  Spain,  was,  as  our  traveler  has 
justly  observed,  not  known.  Copper  and  bronze  were  then  used 
instead  in  this  country,  as  they  were  formerly  used  in  other 
regions  of  the  earth.  According  to  the  account  of  Antonio  de 
Herrera,  two  varieties  of  copper  were  prepared,  one  hard  and 
the  other  soft — of  which  the  first  was  used  for  hatchets,  cutting- 
instruments,  and  agricultural  implements,  and  the  other  for 
kettles  and  all  kinds  of  household  utensils.  The  inhabitants 
also  understood  how  to  work  silver,  tin,  and  lead  mines  ;  but 
neither  the  silver  nor  the  gold,  which  was  found  upon  the  sur 
face  of  the  earth  or  in  the  channels  of  the  rivers,  served  as  the 
usual  medium  of  exchange,  and  these  metals  were  not  especially 
valued  in  the  land.  Pieces  of  tin,  in  the  form  of  a  hammer,  and 
packages  of  cacao  containing  a  certain  number  of  kernels,  were 
generally  used  as  money.  "  Admirable  money,"  exclaims  Peter 
Martyr,  "  which  checks  avarice  ;  since  it  can  neither  be  long 
kept  nor  safely  buried."  f 

*  Prescott,  i,  63,  87.  f  Prescott,  i,  92. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  99 

18.  LAWS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  AZTECS.— The  laws  of  the 
Aztecs  were  very  strict ;  but  in  the  few  fragments  of  them  which 
are  contained  in  the  hieroglyphic  pictures   that   we  have,   we 
find  no   trace  of  the  regulations  described  as  existing  in  the 
land  of  Fu-sang.     An  hereditary  nobility  stood,  however,  at  the 
side  of   Montezuma,  divided  into  several   different  ranks,  con 
cerning  which  the  historians  give  contradictory  accounts.     Zu- 
rita  speaks  of  four  ranks  of  chiefs,  who  paid  no  tribute  and  who 
enjoyed  other  privileges.  *  .  The  customs  of  courtship  and  mar 
riage  resembled  those  which  exist  to-day  in  Kamtchatka.     We 
have  no  knowledge  of  the  mourning  ceremonies  of  the  Aztecs, 
except  that  their  kings  had  particular  palaces  in  which  they 
passed  the  time  of  mourning  for  their  nearest  relatives,  f   At  the 
festivities    in  honour  of  the  gods,  drums  and  trumpets  were 
sounded  ;  and  this  may  also  have  been  done  by  the  attendants 
of  the  king  as  to  the  representative  of  the  divinity. J 

The  Aztecs  reckoned  time  by  a  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  and, 
as  is  well  known,  knew  very  accurately  the  time  of  the  revolu 
tion  of  the  earth  about  the  sun.  The  ten-year  cycle  mentioned 
in  the  Chinese  account  may  have  been  a  subdivision  of  that  of 
fifty-two  years,  or  else  may  have  been  used  as  an  independent 
method  of  reckoning  time,  as  is  the  case  with  the  ten-year  cycle 
of  the  Chinese,  who  call  the  signs  of  the  different  years  "  stems." 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  Mongolians  and  Mantchoos  designate 
these  "  stems  "  by  words  indicating  different  colours,  which  fact 
may  possibly  have  some  connection  with  the  change  of  colour  in 
the  garments  of  the  prince  of  Fii-sang  in  the  different  years  of 
the  cycle.  *  Among  the  Tartarian  tribes  the  first  two  years  of 
the  ten  are  called  green  and  greenish,  the  next  two  red  and 
reddish,  the  two  following  yellow  and  yellowish,  the  next  two 
white  and  whitish,  and,  finally,  the  last  two  black  and  blackish. 
It  appears  impossible,  however,  to  bring  this  cycle  of  the  Aztecs 
into  any  connection  with  those  of  the  Asiatic  tribes,  who  usually 
reckon  time  by  periods  of  sixty  years. 

19.  DOMESTIC  ANIMALS.— The  Aztecs  have  no  draught  ani 
mals  or  beasts  of  burden,  and  it  is  well  known  that  horses  were 
not  found  in  any  part  of  the  New  World,  and  the  account  of 

*  Prescott,  i,  18.  t  Mithridates,  iii,  3-33. 

J  Bernal  Diaz,  "  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,"  pp.  152,  153 ;  Prescott,  iii,  87,  97. 
*  Gaubil,  "  Observations  Mathematiques,"  Paris,  1732,  ii,  135. 


100  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  Chinese  traveler  certainly  is  not  applicable  to  the  later 
Mexican  monarchies.  Two  species  of  oxen  with  large  horns 
ranged  in  herds  in  the  plains  of  the  Rio  del  Norte  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Spaniards.*  These  may  have  been  tamed  by  the 
earlier  inhabitants  and  used  as  domestic  animals.  Stags'  horns 
have  also  been  found  in  the  ruins  of  Mexican  buildings,  and 
Montezuma  showed  the  Spaniards  enormous  horns  as  curiosities.f 
It  is  possible  that  in  earlier  times  stags  ranged  farther  south  than 
at  present  and  that  their  range  extended  from  Upper  California 
and  other  regions  of  North  America,  in  which  they  are  still 
found  in  large  herds,  as  far  as  to  the  regions  of  Central  America. 
An  inhabitant  of  China  would  naturally  think  it  very  strange 
to  see  butter  made  from  the  milk  of  the  hinds,  as  milk  is 
rarely  used  in  China  even  up  to  the  present  day.  When  the 
inhabitants  of  Chu-san  saw  that  the  English  sailors  milked 
goats,  even  grave,  elderly  men  could  not  restrain  their  laughter 
at  the  sight.  Moreover,  the  Chinese  traveler  may  have  used  the 
character  "  ma  "  (or  "  horse  ")  to  designate  some  animal  resem 
bling  a  horse  ;  for  changes  of  this  kind  frequently  occur  in  simi 
lar  accounts.  In  the  same  way  the  names  of  many  animals  of 
the  Old  World  have  been  applied  to  similar  animals  in  the  New 
World  which  belong  to  quite  different  species.  The  eastern 
limits  of  the  Asiatic  Continent  are  also  the  limits  of  the  native 
country  of  the  horse  ;  and  it  furthermore  appears  that  this  ani 
mal  was  first  introduced  into  Japan  from  Corea  in  the  third  cen 
tury  of  our  era.J  But  no  matter  from  what  source  the  error  in 
regard  to  American  horses  may  have  come,  the  unprejudiced 
and  circumspect  inquirer  will  not  be  induced  merely  upon  this 
account  to  declare  the  whole  story  regarding  Fusang-Mexico  to 
be  an  idle  tale.  It  appears  to  me  that  this  description  of  the 
countries  upon  the  western  coast  of  America,  in  the  Annual 
Register  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  is  at  least  as  credible  as  the 
account  contained  in  the  Icelandic  Sagas  of  the  discovery  of  the 
eastern  shores  of  the  New  World. 

20.  CHINESE  AND  JAPANESE  IN  THE  HAWAIIAN  GROUP  AND  IN 

*  Humboldt,  "  Neu-Spanien,"  iii,  138. 

f  Humboldt,  "  Neu-Spanicn,"  ii,  243. 

$  Nippon-lei— -I  e.,  "  Annual  Registers  of  the  Kingdom  of  Japan."  In  the 
entry  for  the  year  284  it  is  said  :  "  In  this  year  norses  were  brought  from  Corea  " ; 
but  it  is  not  especially  stated  that  they  were  the  first  in  Japan. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  101 

NORTHWESTERN  AMERICA. — In  support  of  the  theory  of  an  early 
communication  of  China  and  Japan  with  the  islands  between 
Asia  and  America  and  with  the  western  coast  of  this  division  of 
the  earth,  even  though  such  communication  may  have  been  only 
accidental,  a  number  of  facts  of  modern  date  may  be  adduced. 
Even  if  the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese,  who,  by  virtue  of  their 
knowledge  of  the  compass  since  the  earliest  date  of  their  his 
tory,  would  find  such  a  voyage  not  to  be  particularly  difficult, 
never  intentionally  undertook  any  voyages  by  sea  to  America, 
yet  it  may  have  happened,  as  it  still  happens,  that  ships  from 
Eastern  Asia,  China,  and  Japan,  as  well  as  those  of  Russians 
from  Ochotsk  and  Kamtchatka,*  were  thrown  upon  the  islands 
and  coast  of  the  New  World.  The  earliest  Spanish  travelers 
and  explorers  heard  of  foreign  merchants  who  had  landed  upon 
the  northwestern  coast  of  America,  and  even  claimed  to  have 
seen  fragments  of  a  Chinese  ship,  f  We  also  know  that  the 
crew  of  a  Japanese  junk  accidentally  discovered  a  great  conti 
nent  in  the  East,  wintered  there,  and  then  safely  returned  home. 
The  Japanese  stated  that  the  land  extended  farther  to  the  north 
west.!  They  may  have  passed  the  winter  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  California,  and  have  discovered  the  coast  farther  north,  to 
gether  with  the  Peninsula  of  Alaska. 

A  Japanese  ship  was  wrecked,  about  the  end  of  the  year  1832, 
upon  Oahu,  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  of  which  the  Hawaiian 
"  Spectator  "  contained  the  following  detailed  account :  "  This 
Japanese  ship  had  nine  men  on  board,  who  were  carrying  fish 
to  Jeddo  from  one  of  the  southerly  islands  of  the  *  Eastern  King 
dom.'  A  storm  drove  them  into  the  open  sea,  where  they  drifted 
about  for  ten  or  eleven  months,  until  they  finally  (in  December, 
1832)  landed  in  the  port  of  Waiala,  upon  the  island  of  Oahu. 
The  ship  sank,  but  the  men  were  saved  and  brought  to  Hono 
lulu,  where  they  remained  for  eighteen  months,  and  then,  in 
accordance  with  their  own  desires,  sailed  for  Kamtchatka,  hop 
ing  to  be  able  to  slip  quietly  from  this  country  into  their  native 
land.'*  For  the  terribly  barbarous  government  of  Japan,  remem- 

*  An  account  of  a  Russian  ship  which  was  driven  upon  the  coast  of  California 
in  1761  may  be  found  in  the  "Travels  of  Several  Missionaries  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  America,"  Nuremberg,  1785,  p.  337. 

f  Torquemada,  u  Mon.  Ind.,"  iii,  7 ;  Acosta,  "Hist.  Nat.  Amer.,"  iii,  12. 

\  Kaempfer,  "  Gcschichte  von  Japan,"  Lemgo,  1777,  i,  82. 


102  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

berino-  even  to  this  day  the  evil  artifices  of  the  Portuguese  Jesuits, 
and  fearing  the  secret  plots  of  the  neighbouring  Russians,  prohib 
ited  even  its  own  unfortunate  shipwrecked  subjects  from  re 
turning  to  their  native  land.  "  When  the  people  of  Hawaii,"  so 
continues  the  "  Spectator,"  "  saw  these  foreigners  so  closely  re 
sembling  them  in  external  form  and  in  many  customs  and 
usages,  they  were  much  astonished,  and  unanimously  declared, 
*  There  can  l>e  no  farther  room  for  doubt.  We  came  from 
Asia.' "  * 

Another  instance  of  a  Japanese  ship  in  America  and  of  the 
former  inconsiderate  iron  policy  of  the  Japanese  government  is 
as  follows  :  During  the  winter  of  1833-'34  a  junk  from  Japan 
suffered  shipwreck  upon  the  northwest  coast  of  America  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Island.  The  numerous 
members  of  the  crew,  weakened  by  hunger,  were,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  two  persons,  murdered  by  the  natives.  The  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  took  charge  of  these  unfortunate  beings,  and  in 
1834  sent  them  to  England,  from  which  country  they  were  sent 
on  to  Macao.  This  was  considered  as  a  fortunate  occurrence,  as 
it  was  hoped  that  the  government  at  Jeddo  would  show  some 
gratitude  for  this  humane  treatment  of  its  subjects,  and  possibly 
give  up  its  policy  of  prohibiting  the  entry  of  foreigners  into  the 
kingdom.  The  ship  which  it  was  intended  should  restore  these 
subjects  to  the  rulers  of  the  "Eastern  Kingdom,"  and  at  the 
same  time  extend  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion  to  Japan 
(for  Carl  Guetzlaff  was  on  board),  was  received  with  cannon- 
balls,  and  compelled  to  leave  the  coast  of  the  inhospitable  land, 
with  its  intended  good  work  unperformed. 

All  these  different  facts  sufficiently  prove  that  a  voyage  to 
America  and  the  neighbouring  islands,  on  the  part  of  some  of 
the  people  who  shared  in  the  Chinese  civilization,  can  not  have 
been  a  very  infrequent  occurrence.  And,  upon  the  other  side, 
the  inhabitants  of  these  islands  may,  in  their  frail  canoes,  have 
accidentally  or  intentionally  landed  from  time  to  time  upon  the 
Asiatic  Continent.  "  It  is  wonderful,"  says  the  Jesuit  Hierony- 
mus  d'Angelis,  who  in  1680  was  the  first  European  to  visit 

*  "  Hawaiian  Spectator,"  i,  296,  quoted  in  Belcher's  "  Voyage  Round  the 
World,"  London,  1843,  i,  304;  Jarvis's  "History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,"  Lon 
don,  1843,  27.  According  to  a  tradition  of  the  people  of  the  islands,  several  such 
ships  had  been  wrecked  upon  Hawaii  before  the  arrival  of  the  whites. 


NEUMANN'S  MONOGRAPH.  103 

Jesso,*  "  how  bold  these  people  are,  and  how  expert  in  naviga 
tion.  In  their  defective  boats  they  undertake  voyages  occupy 
ing  from  two  to  three  months,  and,  however  many  may  perish 
at  sea,  new  adventurers  are  always  found  to  undertake  the  same 
bold  risks/' 

Since  the  opening  of  Japan  to  other  nations  and  its  entrance 
into  the  affairs  of  the  world,  the  state  of  facts  outlined  above  is 
of  course  entirely  changed.  Voyages  from  Eastern  Asia  to 
Western  America  and  back  are  now  of  common,  almost  of  daily, 
occurrence.  The  large  Japanese  Embassy,  which  came  to  Wash 
ington  by  the  way  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  California  in 
1860,  is  fully  described  in  my  "  History  of  Eastern  Asia,"  and 
is  still  held  in  fresh  remembrance,  f 

*  P.  Dan  Bartolli,  "  Dell1  Historia  della  Compagnia  di  Giesu,"  Rome,  1640,  T, 
71.  D'Angelis  himself  designed  a  map  of  Jesso. 

f  "  Ost-Asiatische  Geschichte,  Tom  Ersten  Chinesischen  Krieg  bis  ru  den  Ver- 
tragen  zu  Peking "  (1840-1860),  yon  Karl  Friedrich  Neumann,  Leipzig,  1861, 
335  pp. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  ARGUMENTS  OF  MM.  PEREZ  AND  GODRON. 

Knowledge  of  America  possessed  by  the  Chinese— The  Country  of  Women — Other 
travelers  relate  incredible  stories — Klaproth's  argument — The  account  con 
tained  in  the  Japanese  Encyclopaedia — Note  denying  that  Fu-sang  is  Japan — 
Weakness  of  Klaproth's  argument — Identity  of  names  of  cities  in  Asia  and 
America — American  languages — Resemblance  of  the  Tartars  to  the  Abo 
rigines  of  America — Similitude  of  customs — A  Buddhist  mission  to  America 
in  the  fifth  century — The  Chinese  able  to  measure  distances,  and  possessed  of 
the  compass — The  musk-oxen  and  bisons  of  America — Horses — Names  of 
European  animals  misapplied  to  American  animals — The  "  horse-deer "  of 
America — Vines — The  difficulty  in  identifying  the  fu-sang  tree — Iron  and 
copper  in  America  and  Japan. 

Memoir  upon  the  Relations  of  the  Americans  in  Former  Times 
with  the  Nations  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa — Section  en 
titled,  "Knowledge  possessed  by  the  Chinese  in  the  Fourth 
Century  of  our  Era" — by  M.  Jose  Perez,  D.  M.m* 

THE  question  as  to  whether  or  not  the  people  of  Eastern 
Asia,  at  the  time  above  named,  had  any  communication  with  the 
natives  of  any  part  of  America,  appears  to  be  worthy  of  the 
careful  investigation  of  scholars.  An  unexpected  discovery  has 
thrown  light  upon  this  subject ;  and,  following  the  authority  of 
some  writers  and  the  criticisms  of  others,  it  appears  evident  that 
the  New  World  was  known  in  former  times  to  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese.  Before  engaging  in  a  discussion  regarding  the  authors 
who  have  thought  that  the  country  of  Fu-sang  should  be  iden 
tified  with  America,  it  is  indispensable  to  place  the  steps  of  the 
process  by  which  their  conclusion  was  reached  under  the  eyes 
of  the  reader,  without  taking  part  in  the  perversion  of  facts  for 
the  benefit  of  any  theory  whatever,  as  has  unfortunately  been 
done  to  the  injury  of  the  solution  of  the  problem  which  now 
occupies  us. 


THE    ARGUMENT  OF  M.  PEREZ.  105 

It  was  in  1761  that  de  Guignes  published  his  justly  cele 
brated  memoir,  in  which,  after  identifying  several  nations  of  the 
extreme  East,  mentioned  by  the  Chinese  accounts,  and  particu 
larly  that  of  Ta-han,  which  he  placed,  with  reason,  in  the  most 
eastern  part  of  Siberia,  this  learned  Sinologue  made  known  to 
the  astonished  scientific  world  the  Chinese  descriptions  of  the 
famous  country  of  Fu-sang,  in  which  he  recognized  a  part  of 
North  America.  This  continent,  say  the  writers  of  the  Celestial 
Empire,  is  situated  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  the  country 
of  Ta-han.  The  king  bears  the  title  of  Y-chi,  and  the  chiefs  of 
the  nation  beneath  him  are  the  great  and  petty  Tui-lu  and  the 
Na-to-sha.  "The  historian  from  whom  Ma  Twan-lin  copies 
this  account,"  says  de  Guignes,  "  adds  that  the  Chinese  had  no 
knowledge  of  the  country  of  Fa-sang  before  the  year  458,  and 
to  the  present  time  I  have  seen  no  other  than  these  two  writers 
who  give  any  extended  account  of  it.  Some  authors  of  diction 
aries  who  mention  it,  merely  say  that  it  is  situated  in  the  region 
where  the  sun  rises."  The  situation  of  I\i-sang,  clearly  described 
in  the  accounts,  and  the  great  distance  which  separates  it  from 
China,  to  the  east  of  which  country  it  lies — a  distance  stated  in 
precise  terms  by  the  Chinese  geographers — appear  to  positively 
prove  that  this  country  can  not  be  contained  in  Asia,  even  within 
its  utmost  bounds.  Moreover,  the  Chinese  historians,  as  de 
Guignes  has  remarked,  also  speak  of  another  country  a  thousand 
li  farther  east  than  Fu-sang,  a  country  called  "  the  Kingdom  of 
Women."  The  account  which  is  given  of  it  is,  it  is  true,  full  of 
fables  ;  but  that  merely  proves  that  this  last  country  marked  one 
of  the  extreme  limits  of  their  geographical  knowledge,  and  that 
it  was  a  land  of  which  they  had  but  very  imperfect  accounts, 
analogous  to  those  which  the  travelers  of  the  Middle  Ages  gave 
regarding  the  eastern  countries  which  they  reached.  Does  not 
even  Marco  Polo  himself,  whose  intellectual  superiority  and  the 
value  of  whose  geographical  statements  it  is  now  the  fashion  to 
exaggerate  beyond  all  reason,  relate  to  us  the  most  incredible 
stories  regarding  countries  in  which  he  lived  ?  .  .  . 

The  Chinese  account  of  "  the  Kingdom  of  Women  "  is  written 
with  no  less  intelligence  and  sincerity  than  the  European  works 
of  the  Middle  Ages  of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  that  which 
appears  to  us  to  be  fabulous  might  well  seem  true  if  it  were  better 
explained.  It  is  evident  that  the  author  did  not  intend  to  say 


100  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

i      -M 

that  it  was  the  river  of  this  country  which  caused  the  women's 
pregnancy,  but  merely  that  the  baths  taken  in  its  waters  were 
favourable  to  them  when  in  that  condition,  which  is  moreover 
proved  by  the  following  phrase,  where  it  is  said  that  they  gave 
birth  to  their  young  four  months  after  having  taken  these  baths  ; 
and  as  for  the  white  locks  which  they  had  at  the  back  of  the 
head,  by  which  they  nursed  their  children,  the  account  is  ex 
plained  very  easily  by  a  custom,  common  in  India  and  elsewhere, 
by  which  the  women  nurse  their  children  over  their  shoulders. 
Finally,  de  Guignes  mentions,  as  an  additional  proof  in  support 
of  his  theory,  the  shipwreck  in  507  A.  D.  of  a  Chinese  vessel 
upon  the  shores  of  an  unknown  island  situated  at  a  great  dis 
tance  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  women  of  this  country  resem 
bled  those  of  China,  and  the  men  made  themselves  understood 
by  barking,  undoubtedly  like  the  noise  made  by  the  Tse^as 
in  Louisiana  in  the  presence  of  their  king,  in  order  to  do  him 
honour. 

From  all  these  facts  it  appeared  indisputable  to  the  learned 
Sinologue  that  the  Chinese  had  penetrated  very  far  into  the  Pa 
cific  Ocean,  if  they  had  not  traveled  over  it,  and  that  they  had 
sufficient  boldness  to  go  to  California  in  the  year  458  A.  D.  .  .  . 

Klaproth,  the  famous  Orientalist,  having  much  learning,  but 
even  more  envy,  did  not  wish  that  any  one  should  have  greater 
credit  than  himself  for  Chinese  scholarship,  and  thought  it  pos 
sible  to  plunge  de  Guignes's  celebrated  discovery  into  forget- 
fulness  by  stuffing  it  into  a  mattress  of  paradoxes  quite  filled 
with  wonderful  statements.  ...  As  to  the  great  distance  which 
exists,  according  to  the  shaman's  account,  between  this  unknown 
country  and  China,  Klaproth  takes  a  lesson  from  the  trick  of 
decipherers  who  fail  either  to  understand  an  entire  inscription  or 
some  of  its  words  :  he  finds  errors  in  the  original  document. 

"  The  distances  named  in  the  accounts,"  says  he,  "  much  ex 
ceed  the  truth "  (that  is  to  say,  the  hypothesis  of  the  Prussian 
Sinologue),  "  and  the  Chinese  had  no  means  of  determining  the 
length  of  their  cruises  at  sea."  Finally,  to  make  it  impossible 
to  identify  Fa-sang  with  any  part  of  America,  Klaproth  con 
ceives  the  ruse  of  finding  a  place  upon  the  map  for  the  country 
of  Wen-shin.  After  having  consigned  these  unfortunate  "  Tat 
tooed  Men  "  to  the  island  of  Jesso,  he  writes,  quite  satisfied  with 
himself  :  "  The  identity  of  Ta-han  and  the  island  of  Tarakai, 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  M.  PEREZ.  1Q7 

once  demonstrated,  prevents  all  further  search  for  the  country 
of  Fu-sang  in  America."  Then,  viewing  his  fanciful  argument 
more  and  more  complacently,  he  adds  :  "  We  must,  therefore, 
reject  the  entire  tale  as  to  Fu-sang  as  fabulous,  or  else  find  a 
means  of  reconciling  it  with  the  truth.  This  may  be  found  by 
supposing  the  indication  of  the  direction  as  toward  the  east  to 
be  incorrect.  We  may,  therefore,  presume  that  one  goes  directly 
east  in  order  to  pass  the  Strait  of  Perouse  in  skirting  the  north 
ern  coast  of  Jesso,  but  that  upon  arriving  at  the  eastern  point  of 
this  island  the  course  turns  to  the  south  and  leads  us  to  the 
southeastern  part  of  Japan,  which  was  the  country  called  Fu- 
sang.  It  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  ancient  names  of  this  empire." 
We  will  soon  consider  the  attention  that  should  be  given  to  all 
this  arguing,  but  will  now  return  to  the  original  source  from 
which  proceeds  all  the  information  given  to  us  regarding  the 
country  in  which  we  are  interested.  Several  accounts  of  Fu- 
sang  are  in  existence,  but  they  are  evidently  derived  one  from 
another,  and  all  have  a  common  origin.  Our  limits  do  not  per 
mit  us  to  reproduce  those  which  have  been  successively  trans 
lated  by  de  Guignes  and  Klaproth,  but  we  will  give  here  the 
account  of  this  country  which  is  contained  in  the  large  and  cele 
brated  Japanese  Encyclopaedia,  entitled  Wci-kan-san-sai-dzou-ye 
(vol.  xiv),  which  M.  de  Rosny  has  kindly  translated  from  the 
original  expressly  for  our  work.  This  notice  is  merely  an  abridg 
ment  of  the  accounts  formerly  mentioned,  but  it  possesses  the 
inestimable  advantage  over  the  latter,  of  making  known  to  us 
the  clearly  expressed  opinion  of  the  Japanese  editor  upon  this 
question.  As  it  is  with  Japan  that  Klaproth  identifies  the  coun 
try  of  Fu-sang,  this  opinion  can  not  fail  to  be  of  great  weight  in 
the  balance.  The  following  is  the  translation  of  this  notice  : 

Fou-s6  (in  Chinese,  Fu-sang). — The  Encyclopaedia,  entitled 
San-sai-dzou-ye,  says  : 

"  The  country  of  Fou-so  is  situated  at  the  east  of  the  coun 
try  of  Tai-kan.  According  to  the  authority  of  the  work  en 
titled  Foung-tien,  Fou-so  is  distant  from  the  country  of  Tai-kan 
in  an  easterly  direction  about  20,000  li.  It  is  placed  to  the  east 
of  the  <  Middle  Kingdom '  (China).  Many  trees,  called  fou-s6- 
mok  (Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis),  are  found  there.*  Their  leaves 

*  In  Japanese,  "  Sono-tsontsi-ni  fou-so-mok  ohosi."     "  In  hanc  terram  fou-s6 
(sic  vocitatae)  arbores  multae  sunt." 


108  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


are  similar  to  those  of  the  to-tree  ;  when  they  are  young  they 
are  like  bamboo-sprouts,  and  the  natives  eat  them.  Their  fruits 
are  like  pears,  and  are  of  a  red  colour.  The  fiber  of  the  bark  is 
drawn  out  to  make  cloth  from  which  clothing  is  made.  Planks 
made  from  the  tree  are  employed  to  build  their  houses. 

"In  this  country  there  are  no  cities.  The  natives  have  a 
method  of  writing,  and  they  make  clothing  (sic)  from  the  bark 
of  the  fou-so  tree.  They  have  no  offensive  weapons  or  defen 
sive  armour,  and  do  not  wage  wars. 

"  They  give  to  their  king  the  name  of  UTi/ci-zin,  that  is  to 
say,  '  the  most  honourable  man.'  When  the  latter  walks  abroad 
he  is  accompanied  with  drums  and  trumpets.  At  different  peri 
ods  of  the  year  he  changes  the  colour  of  his  garments.  In  the 
cyclic  years  kia  and  i  they  are  blue  ;  in  the  years  ping  and  ting 
they  are  red,  etc. 

"The  natives  raise  deer,  as  cattle  are  raised,  and  prepare 
creamy  dishes  from  the  milk  of  the  animals. 

"  In  this  country  there  is  no  iron,  but  there  is  copper.  Gold 
and  silver  are  not  valued.  In  the  markets  no  duties  are  levied. 
The  rules  for  the  observance  of  the  marriage-ceremony  are  in 
general  the  same  as  those  of  the  l Middle  Kingdom'  (China).  In 
the  second  year  of  the  period,  called  ta-ming  (or  '  great  light '), 
the  year  458  of  our  era,  under  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Hiao 
Wu-ti*  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  five  bhikshus  (mendicant  priests)  of 
the  country  of  Ki-pin^  in  their  travels  reached  Fou-s6,  and  com 
menced  to  propagate  Buddhism  there."  The  editor  of  the  Wa- 
Jcan-san-sai-dzou-'ye  adds  the  following  comment  : 

"  NOTE. — It  is  not  now  certainly  known  what  to  think  re 
garding  the  country  of  FOU-SO,  which  is  said  to  be  to  the  east  of 
China  and  also  to  the  east  of  the  country  of  Tai-kan.  It  is 
therefore  uncertain  whether  the  country  to  which  the  bonzes  of 
the  country  of  Ki-pin  went,  carrying  the  doctrine  of  Buddha, 
is  situated  to  the  north  or  to  the  east  of  Japan.  In  any  case, 
it  is  wrong  to  think  that  the  account  refers  to  Japan,  and  the 
statement  that  Fou-s6  may  be  another  name  of  Japan  is  incor 
rect."  The  Japanese  author  adds  in  a  note  :  "  Ki-pin  is  one 
of  the  western  countries  (Si-yu).  It  is  San-ma-cell-han"  (Sa- 
marcand). 

*  This  prince  of  the  Pch  Sung,  or  Northern  Sung  dynasty,  reigned  from  454  to 
465  A.  D.  The  period  ta-ming  is  comprised  between  the  years  457  and  464. 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  M.   PEREZ.  1Q9 

To  this  account,  and  as  before  to  serve  as  the  foundation 
of  our  argument,  we  will  add  the  translation  which  M.  de 
Rosny  has  also  kindly  made  for  us  of  the  notices  of  the  great 
Japanese  Encyclopaedia  of  the  countries  of  Boun-zin  and  Tai- 
kan. 

BOUN-ZIN  (in  Chinese,  Wen-shin). — The  Encyclopedia,  en 
titled  San-sai-dzou-ye,  says  :  "  The  productions  of  the  country  of 
Boun-zin  (Men  with  Tattooed  Bodies)  are  of  very  little  value. 
In  the  inns  no  food  is  found.  The  dwelling  of  the  king  is  orna 
mented  with  gold  and  gems.  In  the  markets,  traffic  is  carried 
on  by  means  of  precious  objects." 

TAI-KAN  (in  Chinese,  Ta-hari). — The  Encyclopaedia,  entitled 
San-sai-dzou-ye,  says  :  "  In  the  country  of  Tai-kan  there  are 
no  armies,  and  war  is  not  waged.  The  people  are  similar  to 
those  of  Boun-zin  (the  Men  with  Tattooed  Bodies),  but  their 
language  is  different. 

"  Some  people  say  that  the  country  of  Tai-kan  is  situated  to 
the  east  of  the  country  of  Boun-zin^  at  a  distance  of  about  five 
thousand  li" 

Having  laid  these  documents  before  our  readers,  we  will  now 
attempt  to  discuss  the  arguments  that  have  been  urged  against 
the  identification  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang^  or  Fou-so,  with 
America.  First  of  all,  we  find,  in  the  account  translated  by  M. 
de  Rosny,  a  passage  which  completely  annihilates  the  hypothesis, 
otherwise  so  gratuitous  as  we  see,  of  the  Prussian  scholar,  ac 
cording  to  which  Fu-sang  was  one  of  the  names  of  Japan.  "  In 
any  case,"  says  the  Japanese  author  of  the  great  Encyclopae 
dia,  "  it  is  wrong  to  think  that  the  account  refers  to  Japan,  and 
the  statement  that  Fou-sd  (or  Fu-sang)  may  be  another  name  of 
Japan  is  incorrect."  I  will  add  that,  after  the  statement  of  such 
an  authority,  it  hardly  seems  necessary  to  further  refute  the  im 
aginary  system  invented  by  Klaproth  to  compensate  for  the  pov 
erty  of  his  cause,  since  M.  de  Rosny  has  been  unable  to  find  in 
any  of  the  Japanese-Chinese  dictionaries  of  his  excellent  col 
lection  anything  which  can  justify  the  statement  made  by  the 
German  scholar,  that  Fu-sang  is  another  name  for  Japan.  Then, 
if  we  admit  that  Fu-sang  is  the  same  as  Japan,  it  is  necessary  to 
find  between  this  last  country  and  China  another  country,  Ta- 
han,  inhabited  by  savages  with  tattooed  bodies  and  so  slightly 
advanced  in  knowledge  as  not  to  have  arms  of  any  nature— 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

which  is  expressly  contradicted  by  our  historical  and  geographi 
cal  knowledge. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  find  to  the  east  of  Japan,  and  not 
in  America,  another  country,  Niu-jin-Tcwoh,  which  one  of  the 
most  famous  Chinese  works,  the  Peu-tsao-kang-mouh,  places  to 
the  east  of  the  country  of  Fa-sang,  which  is  again  impossible. 
Then  it  is  necessary  to  admit,  as  Klaproth  wishes,  that  the  author 
of  the  description  of  Fa-sang  must  have  been  deceived  as  to  the 
distance  of  twenty  thousand  li  which  separated  this  remote  coun 
try  from  the  lands  known  at  this  time  ;  as  also  that  he  must  have 
been  mistaken  when  he  said  that  Buddhism  had  been  introduced 
there  in  the  year  458  A.  D.,  since  it  did  not  reach  Japan  until  a 
century  later  ;  he  must  also  have  been  mistaken  in  his  mention 
of  the  tree  which  gave  its  name  to  Fa-sang,  for,  according  to 
Klaproth,  "there  is  some  error  in  the  Chinese  account,  which 
confounds  the  hibiscus  (or  the  rose  of  China)  with  the  paper- 
mulberry,  or  Morus papyrifera"  etc.,  etc. 

Once  admitting  that  in  the  place  of  the  hypothesis,  at  least  very 
probable  at  first  sight,  so  skillfully  presented  by  M.  de  Guignes, 
another  hypothesis  absolutely  inadmissible  is  proposed  to  us,  let 
us  consider  the  weight  that  should  be  given  the  objections  of 
Klaproth  against  the  identification  of  Fa-sang  with  America. 

We  have  seen  that  Klaproth  thought  that  he  had  found  a 
serious  objection  in  the  grapes  which  the  Chinese  voyagers 
found  in  Fa-sang  •  but  this  objection  can  not  now  be  admitted. 
By  a  singular  oversight  he  forgets  that  the  forests  of  North 
America  abound  in  wild  vines  of  several  species,  and  that  the 
Scandinavians  had  placed  Vin-land,  or  the  "  Land  of  Wine,"  in 
its  northeastern  part ;  he  thinks  that  Fa-sang  may  have  been 
Japan,  where,  he  says,  the  vine  has  existed  from  times  imme 
morial,  although  the  Chinese  did  not  introduce  it  from  Western 
Asia  until  the  year  126  before  our  era. 

In  addition  to  all  that  precedes,  a  multitude  of  petty  particu 
lars  are  also  presented,  which,  by  their  significant  number,  suffice 
to  convince  the  most  unwilling  that  America  must  have  received 
colonies  from  Asia.  We  will  mention  only  a  few  of  these  par 
ticulars,  reserving  the  others  to  communicate  hereafter  to  those 
who  are  not  persuaded  that  to  discuss  the  matter  further  is  but 
to  labour  at  demolishing  open  gates.  We  not  only  find  in  Amer 
ica  the  grand  distinctive  traits  of  the  nations  of  the  extreme 


THE  ARGUMENT   OF   M.  PEREZ. 

Orient,  but  we  see  that  at  some  remote  epoch  the  Asiatics  had 
given  to  the  cities  of  the  New  World  the  same  names  as  the 
cities  of  their  mother  country,  as  the  Europeans  did  when  they 
gave  to  the  western  cities  of  the  New  World  the  names  of  New 
York,  New  Orleans,  New  Brunswick  (sic),  etc.  So  the  name 
of  the  famous  Japanese  city  of  Ohosaka,  to  the  west  of  the  Pa 
cific,  has  become  Oaxaca,  in  Mexico,  upon  its  eastern  side.  For 
merly  there  were  the  same  names  of  nations  or  of  tribes,  which 
we  find  with  the  most  striking  resemblance  upon  the  two  sides 
of  the  Pacific,  as,  for  example,  the  Chan,  a  tribe  living  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Palenque,  of  which  the  name  signifies  "  Ser 
pent."  *  The  identical  name  being  found  again  in  Indo-China,f 
in  the  country  of  the  Nagas,  "  Serpents."  Nachan,  "  the  City  of 
the  Serpents,"  in  America,  corresponds  with  the  Cambodian 
Nakhorchan  "  the  City  of  Serpents."  It  is  sufficient  to  add  that, 
in  glancing  over  an  old  map  of  Mexico,  the  geographical  names 
of  several  different  provinces  are  found,  and  among  them  names 
which  betray  a  Chinese  origin  at  first  sight,  such  as  Mi-choa-kan, 
Ko-li-man,  Te-koua-na-pan,  etc.  The  name  which  the  Otomis 
give  to  their  language,  "  Hiang-hioung,"  is  not  less  convincing, 
and  it  is  known  that  these  Indians  are  included  among  the  oldest 
populations  of  Central  America.  Grammatical  affinities,  not  less 
remarkable,  are  established  between  different  idioms  of  the  Old 
and  the  New  World.  In  several  languages,  both  of  Greenland 
and  of  Brazil,  a  special  form  of  negative  conjugation  is  found  ; 
and  in  the  Moska  and  the  Arawack  the  negation  is  interposed 
between  the  root  of  the  verb  and  its  terminations,  as  is  the  case 
in  the  Turkish  and  the  other  Tartarian  dialects.  In  Guarani,  in 
Chiquito,  and  in  Quichua,  as  in  Tagala  and  Mantchoo,  there 
exists  a  pronoun  of  the  first  person  plural,  excluding  those  who 
are  addressed,  and  another  which  includes  these  last.  The  con 
jugation  of  the  languages  of  the  plateau  of  Anahuac  recalls  in 
most  of  its  details  the  conjugations  of  the  Basque  and  the  Hun 
garian  verbs. 

The  type  of  the  different  Indian  nations  is  astonishingly 
similar  to  the  Mongolian  type.  M.  Ledyard,  who  has  had  the 
advantage  of  studying  the  American  race  in  the  countries  in 

*  See  the  Abbe  Brasscur  de  Bourbourg's  "  Popol  Vuh,"  p.  civ. 
f  See  the  notice  of  these  nations  given  by  Yule,  "Narrative  of  the  Mission 
sent  to  the  Court  of  Ava  in  1855." 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

which  its  members  live,  and  who  has  also  undertaken  ethno 
graphic  researches  in  Siberia,  was  so  much  struck  with  this  truth 
that  he  wrote  to  Jefferson  :  "  I  shall  never  be  able  to  inform  you 
how  closely  the  Tartars  resemble  the  aborigines  of  America,  both 
in  a  general  way  and  circumstantially."  *  At  the  south  the 
Chiriquanos,  a  Peruvian  tribe,  present  analogies  not  less  strik 
ing.  "  If  I  should  see  these  Indians  in  Europe,"  said  M.  Temple, 
in  speaking  of  them,  "  with  their  coppery  tint  approaching  sal- 
lowness,  with  their  long  hair  brilliantly  black,  and  with  their 
lack  of  beard,  I  should  assuredly  take  them  for  Chinese,  such  is 
the  close  resemblance  between  these  nations  in  their  traits."  f 
Another  traveler,  John  Bell,  said  there  were  no  other  tribes  in 
the  world  which  had  so  striking  a  resemblance  to  one  another  as 
that  of  the  natives  of  Canada  to  the  Tunguses.J  Alex,  von  Hum- 
boldt  goes  much  further.  He  mentions  a  monument  discovered 
in  Canada,  nine  hundred  leagues  from  Montreal,  upon  which  was 
found  an  inscription  in  Tartarian  characters.* 

Similitude  of  customs,  which  may  be  supposed  the  result  of 
chance,  but  which  may  rather  be  the  effect  of  another  cause,  are 
not  less  striking.  The  form  of  the  teo-calUy  "  the  house  of  the 
divinity,"  among  the  Mexicans,  singularly  resembles  that  of  the 
pagodas  with  steeples,  of  Barmany  and  of  Siam  ;  and  the  relig 
ious  ceremonies  which  were  practiced  there  are  not  less  analogous 
to  the  Brahmanic  ceremonies  than  the  figure  of  the  Mexican  god, 
Quetzalcoatl,  is  to  that  of  the  Indian  Buddha.  In  closing  this  part 
of  my  memoir,  I  shall  be  contented  to  remind  my  readers  of 
the  fact  that  numerous  scholars  have  called  attention  to  resem 
blances  between  America  and  Asia,  in  the  customs  and  institu 
tions  of  the  nations  of  the  two  continents,  which  an  intelligent 
critic  can  not  mistake  for  those  which  are  merely  the  effect  of 
chance. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  these  questions  may  consult  with 
profit  the  writings  of  Garcia,  Hugo,  Grotius,  Fischer,  Acosta, 
Brerewood,  and  Pennant,  as  well  as  many  other  erudite  works  bet 
ter  known,  which  it  is  therefore  less  necessary  to  mention  here. 

*  Sparks's  "  Life  of  Ledyard,"  p.  66. 

f  Temple,  "Travels  in  Peru,"  vol.  ii,  p.  184. 

\  "Travels  to  Various  Parts  of  Asia,"  1T88,  vol.  i,  p.  280.  See  also  the 
"  Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,"  vol.  i,  1845,  p.  175. 

*  "  Tableaux  de  la  Nature,"  vol.  i. 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  M.   GODRON. 


A  Buddhist  Mission  to  America  in  the  Fifth  Century  of  the 
Christian  Era—  by  Dr.  A.  Godron,  President  of  the  Acad 
emy  of  Sciences  o 


THE  Europeans  were  certainly  not  the  first  navigators  who 
landed  upon  the  American  Continent  after  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era.  Before  the  voyage  of  Columbus  to  the 
New  World,  before  the  visits  of  the  Basques  to  Newfoundland, 
even  before  the  times,  between  the  ninth  and  fourteenth  centu 
ries,  when  the  Norwegians  undertook  their  bold  excursions  to 
America  and  established  settlements  there,  the  Asiatics  certainly 
had  knowledge  of  this  immense  continent. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  discuss  in  this  article  all  the  proofs 
which  might  be  presented  in  support  of  this  statement  —  to  these 
I  will  return  hereafter  ;  but  for  the  present  I  propose  to  examine 
only  the  account  of  a  visit  of  Buddhist  missionaries  to  America, 
which  was  made  in  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

[Here  follows  a  resume  of  the  statements  and  arguments  of 
previous  writers  upon  the  subject.  M.  Godron  continues  :] 

As  to  the  point  raised  by  M.  Klaproth,  that  the  Chinese  did 
not  possess  means  of  measuring  the  distances  of  their  journeys 
accurately  and  of  determining  their  direction,  it  may  be  ob 
served  that  we  possess  a  document  which  disproves  this  asser 
tion,  and  which  is  the  more  curious  from  the  fact  that  it  came 
from  Klaproth  himself.  It  proves  that  the  Chinese,  even  in  the 
times  of  remote  antiquity,  were  no  novices  in  the  art  of  measur 
ing  distances  and  fixing  their  direction.  Reference  is  made  to 
a  letter  upon  the  invention  of  the  compass,  which  he  addressed 
to  von  Humboldt,  and  of  which  this  celebrated  traveler  pub 
lished  extracts.* 

Speaking  of  the  voyages  from  China  to  India  by  the  way  of 
the  Bolor,  which  he  had  been  discussing,  Klaproth  states  that 
the  accounts  of  these  journeys  are  worthy  of  the  more  confidence 
from  the  fact  that  the  compass  had  long  been  employed  by  the 
Chinese.  He  adds  that  Sse-ma-tscian,  a  Chinese  historian  who 
lived  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the  Bactrian  Empire 
by  Mithradates,  gives  the  following  account  :  "  The  Emperor 
TV-ing-wang,  1,110  years  before  the  Christian  era,  gave  a  pres- 
*  Alex,  von  Humboldt,  "  Asie  Centrale."  Paris,  1843,  in  8vo  ;  vol.  i,  Intro 
duction,  p.  40. 


H4:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ent  to  the  embassadors  of  Tong-Hng  and  Cochin-China.  Tbey 
feared  tbat  they  would  not  be  able  to  retrace  the  way  back 
to  their  country,  and  the  emperor  therefore  gave  them  five 
magnetic  chariots  which  pointed  to  the  south  by  means  of  the 
movable  arm  of  a  small  figure  covered  with  a  feather-robe." 
Adding  to  these  chariots  an  odometer,  that  is  to  say,  a  mechan 
ism  by  which  another  small  figure  strikes  a  blow  upon  a  drum 
or  bell  each  time  that  the  chariot  has  passed  over  the  distance  of 
a  Chinese  li,  we  then  have  an  indication  of  the  direction  of  the 
road,  and  a  means  of  measuring  the  distance  passed  over.  "  In 
the  third  century  of  our  era,"  adds  Klaproth,  "  the  Chinese  ships 
were  steered  upon  the  Indian  Ocean  according  to  the  indications 
of  a  magnetic  needle.  In  order  to  avoid  friction,  and  to  give  a 
freer  movement  to  the  needle,  it  has  been  supposed  that  they  al 
lowed  it  to  float  upon  water.  This  was  the  aquatic  compass  of 
the  Chinese  and  the  magnetic  fish  of  the  ancient  Indian  pilots." 

We,  therefore,  see  that  Klaproth  was  perfectly  well  informed 
upon  the  subject,  and  may  well  feel  surprised  at  his  remarks  in 
regard  to  the  voyages  to  Mi-sang.  If  the  scientific  honesty  of 
a  scholar  of  his  rank  were  not  sheltered  from  all  criticism,  it 
might  readily  be  believed  that  he  was  forced  to  mislead  the 
Chinese  navigators  in  order  to  prevent  their  arrival  in  America, 
and  to  compel  them  to  land  in  Japan. 

But  this  consideration  did  not  limit  the  criticisms  which  the 
scholarly  Prussian  Orientalist  made  regarding  the  theories  of  de 
Guignes.  He  picks  to  pieces  the  description  which  the  Bud 
dhist  monk  Hoei  Shin  gives  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang.  He  finds 
a  new  source  of  objection  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  animals 
and  vegetation  described  as  existing  in  this  country.  Accord 
ing  to  him,  cattle  and  horses  did  not  exist  in  America  until  they 
were  imported  by  the  Spaniards.  The  vine  and  wheat  were  un 
known  before  the  conquest.  He,  therefore,  arrives  at  the  con 
clusion  that  the  description  of  Fu-sang  is  not  applicable  to 
America.  These  new  difficulties  are  not  more  serious  than  those 
which  have  preceded. 

No  zoologist  denies  that  two  species  of  cattle  were  found 
native  in  North  America.  One  of  these  is  the  musk-ox  (Bos 
moschatos),  which  goes  in  small  herds  of  twenty  to  thirty  in 
dividuals  in  the  frigid  regions  which  border  upon  the  Arctic 
circle,  between  the  60th  and  73d  degrees  of  north  latitude, 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  M.   GODRON. 

and  which  can  not  be  referred  to  here.  The  other  is  the  bison 
(Bos  Americanus),  which  goes  in  herds  that  are  often  ex 
tremely  numerous,  which  are  found -in  the  temperate  regions 
of  North  America,  and  which  in  winter  migrate  farther  south. 
These  cattle  were  certainly  found  in  the  region  which  the  Chi 
nese  of  the  fifth  century  knew  by  the  name  of  Fu-sang,  and 
which  must  correspond  to  New  California.  They  also  existed 
in  abundance  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  the  kingdom  of  Cibola 
and  the  country  of  Quivera.  The  first  Spanish  conquerors  who 
penetrated  into  this  country  called  them  vaccas,  and  these  ani 
mals  were  a  precious  and  abundant  resource  for  them. 

One  of  these  "  conquistador  es"  P.  de  Castaneda  de  Nogera,  de 
scribed  them  in  a  manner  which  it  is  impossible  to  misunderstand.* 

According  to  Gomara,  there  existed  at  the  same  time,  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  Mexico,  a  population  whose  principal  wealth 
consisted  in  domestic  bisons.f 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  horses  were  imported  into  America 
from  Europe.  If  the  Buddhist  monks  stated  that  they  were 
found  in  Fu-sang,  it  must  have  been  because  of  the  natural  tend 
ency  of  a  man  who  arrives  in  a  new  country  to  assimilate  the 
animals  which  he  finds  there  to  those  which  he  has  seen  in  his 
native  land,  and  many  examples  of  this  tendency  might  easily  be 
cited.  To  confine  ourselves  to  America,  it  is  known  that  the  in 
vaders  of  the  New  World  applied  the  names  of  European  animals 
to  the  animals  found  in  America,  being  guided  by  the  general 
resemblance,  which  was  often  very  remote,  in  the  selection  of 
the  particular  name.  Thus,  they  called  the  llamas  "big  sheep," 
because  they  were  covered  with  wool ;  the  peccaries  they  called 
"hogs,"  remarking,  it  is  true,  that  they  were  smaller  than  our 
hogs.  Turkeys  were  in  their  eyes  "  hens,"  which  were  larger 
than  those  of  Spain.  The  Buddhist  missionaries  might  have 
even  found  sheep  in  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  if  they  had  pene 
trated  farther  into  the  mountains. 

P.  de  Castaneda  de  Nogera  saw  animals  near  Chichilticale, 
to  which  he  applied  this  name.t  He  referred  to  a  species  of 

*  P.  de  Castaneda  de  Nogera,  "Relation  du  Voyage  de  Cibola  entrepres  en 
1540,"  in  the  collection  of  Ternaux-Compans.     Paris,  in  8vo ;   vol.  is  (18 
p.  237. 

f  Gomara,  "  Historia  General  de  las  Indias."    Medina,  1558,  in  8vo,  chap,  cc 
See  his  work  cited  above,  p.  54. 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

mountain-goat,  the  Musimon  montanus,  which  is  found  in  these 
regions  up  to  the  present  day. 

But  what  zoological  type  existed  upon  the  western  coast  of 
North  America  to  which  the  Buddhist  missionaries  gave  the 
name  of  the  horse  ?  Was  it  not  the  same  species  of  which  the 
Spaniards,  during  their  expeditions  into  the  same  country,  saw 
such  numerous  individuals,  which  they  called  horse-deer  ;  animals 
remarkable  for  their  great  height,  and  bearing  large  and  branch 
ing  antlers  ?  *  This  appears  extremely  probable.  These  Spanish 
adventurers  were  no  more  naturalists  than  the  Buddhist  monks 
of  whom  we  have  spoken.  The  name  was  undoubtedly  applied 
to  the  elk,  because  it  stands  as  high  as  a  horse,  and  the  female 
is  without  horns.  Even  the  males  shed  their  horns  every  year, 
and,  when  without  these  ornaments,  they  may  easily  have  been 
mistaken  at  a  distance  for  horses.  Moreover,  the  Spaniards 
made  a  broad  distinction  between  these  "  horse-deer  "  and  the 
common  deer  which  they  shot  in  the  same  part  of  America. 

Several  species  of  vines  are  indigenous  to  North  America, 
and  they  grow  in  a  wild  state.  The  Norwegians,  in  the  year 
1000,  when  exploring  the  eastern  coast  of  the  continent  near  the 
forty-first  degree,  north  latitude,  gave  the  name  of  Yinland  to 
the  country  for  this  reason,  f  But  this  does  not  suffice  to  prove 
that  this  plant  existed  also  upon  the  western  coast  fifty-two  de 
grees  of  longitude  farther  west. 

But  the  Spaniards  observed  vines  in  1540  in  the  country  of 
Cibola  and  Quivera,  notably  among  the  Teyas  and  the  Querechos. 
They  found  the  grapes  of  an  agreeable  flavor,  and  ate  both  them 
and  red  plums.  J 

It  is  therefore  no  occasion  for  astonishment  to  learn  that  the 
Buddhist  missionaries  saw  vines  in  the  country  of  Fa-sang. 

The  Spanish  conquerors  also  found  a  cereal  abundantly  culti 
vated  by  the  natives  in  the  same  part  of  North  America,  and  in 
several  of  their  accounts  they  give  it  the  name  of  "wheat" 

*  L.  Cabiera  de  Cordove,  "  Histoire  de  Phillippe  II,  Roi  d'Espagne,"  in  the  col 
lection  of  Ternaux-Compans,  vol.  x,  p.  444. 

f  C.  Christ.  Rafn,  "  Metnoire  sur  la  Decouverte  de  PAmerique  au  xe  Siecle." 
Copenhagen,  1845,  in  4to,  p.  13. 

f  P.  de  Castaneda  de  Nogera,  in  the  work  cited,  vol.  ix,  pp.  125  and  278. 
Juan  Jaranello,  "  Relation  du  Voyage  fait  a  la  Nouvelle  Terre  par  Vasquez  de 
Coronado,"  in  the  collection  of  Ternaux-Compans,  vol.  ix,  p.  378. 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  M.   GODRON. 

(trigo),  and  in  others  it  is  designated  by  the  name  of  maize, 
which  has  been  preserved  for  it.  Need  we  wonder  that  the  Bud 
dhist  monks  should  have  availed  themselves  of  the  name  appli 
cable  to  wheat  to  designate  this  precious  cereal  ?  Do  not  the 
French  peasants  even  now  call  it  Turkish  wheat,  or  Roman 
wheat?* 

But  what  is  that  tree  which  is  covered  with  red,  pear-shaped 
fruit,  and  which  furnishes  the  natives  with  the  raw  material  from 
which  their  cloth  is  made  ?  Some  authors  have  thought  this  to  be 
the  Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis  ;  others,  the  Broussonetia  papyrifera. 
We  can  not  admit  either  of  these  views  to  be  correct.  The  Hi 
biscus  rosa  Sinensis  is,  as  its  name  indicates,  a  native  of  China. 
The  Broussonttia  grows  in  China  and  Japan  and  in  the  islands 
of  Polynesia,  but  not  in  America. 

We  do  not  know  to  what  botanical  species  the  tree  men 
tioned  by  the  Chinese  historian  should  be  referred  ;  but  the 
failure  to  decide  this  question  does  not  furnish  the  least  ob 
jection  in  regard  to  the  geographical  position  of  the  country  of 
Fa-sang. 

Iron  was  unknown  in  this  last  country,  and  in  fact  the  natives 
of  North  America  were  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  this  valuable 
metal.  It  was  certainly  used  in  Japan  before  the  fifth  century  ; 
and  this  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  country  of 
Fu-sang  can  not,  as  Klaproth  wishes,  be  identified  with  the 
great  island  of  Japan.  The  Americans,  on  the  contrary,  were  ac 
quainted  with  the  use  of  copper,  and  made  tools  from  it  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Europeans.  Native  copper  exists  in  several 
countries  of  the  New  World,  and  it  is  found  in  great  abundance 
near  Lake  Superior,  where  it  is  still  mined.  Along  the  southern 
shore  of  this  lake,  Mr.  Knapp,  Superintendent  of  the  Minnesota 
Mining  Company,  discovered  in  1840  a  great  number  of  galleries 
often  from  seven  to  nine  meters  in  depth,  and  of  an  extent  equal 
to  about  the  same  number  of  kilometers.  These  excavations 
were  the  work  of  the  early  indigenes,  the  proof  of  this  assertion 
having  been  found  by  clearing  out  the  trenches.  Very  many 
stone  mallets  and  hammers  were  found,  and  also  wooden  shov* 
els  and  a  great  quantity  of  pottery  made  without  the  aid  of 

*  The  account  of  Fu-sang  says  nothing  about  wheat.  It  seems  probable  that 
Dr.  Godron  had  in  mind  the  wheat  mentioned  by  the  Northmen  as  foxmd  in  Yin- 
land,  and  that,  writing  from  memory,  he  confused  the  two  accounts. — E.  P.  V. 


118  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

the  potter's  wheel.*  It  may  also  be  added  that  many  very  old 
pines  have  grown  upon  the  rubbish  thrown  out  of  these  ancient 
excavations.  Mr.  Foster  counted  three  hundred  and  ninety-five 
concentric  rings  upon  the  trunk  of  one  of  them  which  was  cat 
down.  Moreover,  the  pines  now  living  are  surrounded  by  de 
cayed  trunks,  the  debris  of  preceding  generations.! 

We  therefore  see  that  all  the  difficulties  raised  by  Klaproth 
fall  one  after  the  other,  and  leave  the  views  of  the  scholarly 
French  Sinologue,  de  Guignes,  without  serious  objection.  The 
country  which  the  Chinese  of  the  fifth  century  designated  by 
the  name  of  Fit-sang  can  therefore  have  been  nothing  else  than 
the  American  Continent,  thus  discovered  by  the  Asiatics  ten 
centuries  before  Christopher  Columbus. 

*  Lubbock,  "North  American  Archaeology,"  French  translation  given  in  the 
Revue  Archeologique  of  1865,  p.  182. 

f  Lubbock,  "Prehistoric  Man,"  French  translation.    Paris,  1867,  8vo,  p.  205. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

D'EICHTHAL'S  "  STUDY." 

The  Buddhistic  origin  of  American  civilization — The  geographical  relations  between 
Northeastern  Asia  and  Northwestern  America — The  memoirs  of  de  Guignes 
and  Klaproth — If  Fu-sang  was  in  Japan,  there  is  no  room  for  the  "  Coun 
try  of  Women " — The  Japanese  deny  that  Fu-sang  was  in  their  country — 
De  Guignes's  map — The  ease  of  a  voyage  from  Asia  to  America — The  warm 
current  of  the  Pacific  Ocean — The  Aleutian  Islands — Voyages  of  the  natives 
— The  civilization  of  New  Mexico — A  white  population — Cophene — Bud 
dhism — How  it  is  modified  and  propagated — Its  absorption  of  the  doctrines  of 
other  religions — Its  proselytism— Its  religious  communities — The  route  from 
Cophene  to  Fu-sang — A  Buddhist  sanctuary  at  Palenque — Description  of 
Stephens — An  image  of  Buddha — The  lion-headed  couch — The  winged  globe 
— The  aureola  about  the  figure — Decadence  in  art — The  altars  upon  which 
flowers  and  fruits  are  offered — Reply  to  observations  of  M.  Vivien  de  Saint 
Martin — The  two  routes  to  Ta-han—  That  country  located  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Amoor  River — Traces  of  Buddhism  in  that  neighbourhood — Ease  of 
voyage  to  the  Aleutian  islands — Klaproth's  theory  untenable — No  other  hy 
pothesis  remaining  than  that  Fu-sang  must  be  sought  in  America. 

Study  concerning  the  Buddhistic  Origin  of  American  Civili 
zation — by  M.  Gustave  crMchthaV™ 

CONDENSED    TRANSLATION. 

ARTICLE  I. — The  Geographical  Relations  between  Northeast 
ern  Asia  and  Northwestern  America.  (From  the  "  Revue  Arche"- 
ologique,"  of  September  1,  1864.) 

The  memoir  of  de  Guignes,  "  Upon  the  Voyages  of  the  Chi 
nese  to  the  Coast  of  America  and  as  to  some  Tribes  situated 
at  the  Eastern  Extremity  of  Asia,"  does  not  in  its  title  fully  ex 
press  the  thought  which  he  entertained.  The  true  problem 
which  he  intended  to  examine  was  that  of  the  existence  of  a 
connection  between  the  civilization  of  America  and  that  of  East 
ern  Asia  ;  and  some,  at  least,  of  the  most  important  elements  for 
its  solution  were  in  his  hands.  Upon  the  one  side,  the  discover- 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ies  of  Behring  in  1728  and  1741  had  confirmed  the  old  Japanese 
documents,  and  made  known,  at  least  in  a  general  manner,  the 
geographical  relations  between  the  northern  portions  of  Asia  and 
America  ;  upon  the  other  side,  the  studies  of  de  Guignes  for  his 
history  of  the  Mongols  had  made  him  acquainted  with  the  an 
cient  Chinese  histories,  and  in  one  of  them  he  found  the  accoun* 
upon  which  all  his  work  is  based. 

Klaproth,  in  an  equally  celebrated  memoir,  has,  as  is  well 
known,  sought  to  overthrow  de  Guignes's  conclusion,  and  has 
endeavoured  to  substitute  another  hypothesis.  The  publication 
of  this  last  memoir  has  had  a  deplorable  result.  By  the  weight 
attached  to  his  name  the  author  has  shaken,  in  the  minds  of 
others,  the  solution  indicated  by  de  Guignes,  and  has  turned  them 
aside  from  the  truth;  yet,  nevertheless,  viewed  as  an  attempted 
refutation,  Klaproth's  memoir  may  be  said  to  be  a  valueless 
work,  and  we  shall  presently  show  the  incredible  weakness  of 
the  arguments  which  he  opposes  to  those  of  his  predecessor. 
He  produces  no  new  documents,  and  does  no  more  than  to  re 
peat  those  already  quoted  by  de  Guignes,  and  in  fact  the  only 
merit  that  can  be  recognized  in  his  work  is  that  he  often  trans 
lates  them  more  accurately,  and  with  the  superiority  given  him 
by  the  general  progress  in  his  times  in  the  science  of  geography 
and  in  acquaintance  with  the  Chinese. 

Klaproth,  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner,  places  himself  in  op 
position  to  the  letter  of  his  text  by  assuming  that  the  statement 
that  Fu-sang  is  situated  to  the  east  of  Ta-han  is  erroneous,  and 
placing  it  to  the  south  instead  ;  but  this  is  not  the  only  objec 
tion  to  his  argument,  for  no  one  in  Japan  has  ever  been  heard 
to  speak  of  it  as  Fu-sang;  the  details  which  are  given  by  the 
Chinese  narrator  regarding  this  country  do  not  agree  with  Japan 
in  any  respect,  and  among  other  circumstances  there  is  one  that  is 
mentioned  which  is  quite  decisive.  The  narrator  not  only  places 
Fu-sang  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  Ta-han,  but  he  speaks 
of  a  country,  "  the  Kingdom  of  Women,"  which  is  found  one 
thousand  li  to  the  east  of  Fu-sang.  Now,  one  thousand  li  to  the 
east  of  Japan  there  is  nothing  but  the  sea. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  Chinese,  living  so  near 
to  Japan,  and  having  communications  with  that  country  from 
the  most  ancient  times,  have  never  dreamed  of  placing  the  coun 
try  of  Fu-sang  there.  To  them  Fu-sang  has  become  merely  a 


D'EICHTHAL'S  "STUDY." 

legendary  country,  of  which  fables  are  told  that  would  never  be 
believed  as  to  a  neighbouring  land,  for  the  prestige  of  distance 
and  of  novel  circumstances  is  necessary  to  give  rise  to  tales  of 
such  a  nature. 

History  is  no  more  favourable  than  fable  to  Klaproth's  opin 
ion,  for,  as  he 'himself  admits,  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  the 
country  of  Fa-sang  in  the  year  458  A.  D.,  and  was  not  introduced 
into  Japan,  officially  at  least,  until  552,  about  a  century  later. 
How,  then,  can  it  be  admitted  that  Fa-sang  can  be  Japan,  or 
even  any  part  of  Japan  ?  .  .  . 

With  a  species  of  divinatory  instinct,  or  rather  with  extreme 
good  sense,  de  Guignes  traced  upon  the  map  drawn  by  him  the 
probable  route  to  America  followed  by  those  whom  he  calls 
Chinese  navigators  ;  the  details  are  undoubtedly  very  imperfect ; 
only  one  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  the  first  Behring's  Island,  is 
shown,  and  upon  the  other  hand  the  peninsula  of  Alaska  is  im 
moderately  extended  both  in  length  and  breadth  ;  there  is  also  a 
complete  absence  of  exact  determination  of  latitudes  and  longi 
tudes  ;  nevertheless,  the  general  outline  of  the  coasts  of  Asia  and 
America  is  perfectly  correct.  All  the  discoveries  and  observa 
tions  since  made  have  only  served  to  confirm  it. 

We  have  three  very  important  documents  before  us,  i.  e.  : 
"  Statistische  und  ethnographische  Nachrichten  liber  die  Russi- 
schen  Besitzungen  an  der  Nordwest-Kiiste  von  America,"  by 
Rear- Admiral  von  Wrangell,  St.  Petersburg,  1839  ;  an  analysis 
by  F.  Loewe,  of  the  work  of  Pere  Wenjaminow,  upon  "The 
(Aleutian)  Islands  of  the  District  of  Unalaska,"  extracted  from 
the  eighth  number  for  1842  of  the  periodical,  entitled  "Archiv 
fur  die  wissenschaftliche  Kunde  von  Russland";  and,  finally,  the 
analysis  in  the  "Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,"  for  April  1,  1858,  of 
the  memoir  of  Maury  regarding  the  ease  of  the  passage  between 
the  northeastern  shores  of  Asia  and  the  northwestern  coast  of 
America.  All  these  documents  agree  in  demonstrating  the  ease 
of  this  communication,  and  of  establishing  a  settlement  upon  the 
northwestern  coast  of  America.  The  climate  of  all  this  region, 
even  in  the  highest  latitudes,  and  up  to  the  sixtieth  degree,  is 
relatively  very  mild.  The  chain  composed  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands  and  the  peninsula  of  Alaska  forms,  as  it  were,  a  barrier 
to  arrest  the  polar  influences.  Moreover,  the  great  warm  current 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  observed  by  modern  navigators,  raises  the 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

temperature  there  very  notably.  From  observations  carefully 
collected,  it  has  been  proved  that  the  mean  temperature  of  Sitka 
is  about  45°  Fahrenheit,  with,  it  is  true,  but  very  slight  differ 
ence  between  the  summer  and  the  winter ;  even  in  winter  the 
sea  is  never  solidly  frozen,  and,  in  a  word,  according  to  the 
unanimous  testimony  of  navigators,  there  is  no  other  place  in  the 
world  where  so  great  and  sudden  a  change  of  climate  is  found 
as  is  met  in  passing  from  Behring's  Sea  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  Aleutian  Islands,  before  their  conquest  by  the  Russians 
(1760-1790),  were  inhabited  by  a  numerous  and  prosperous  pop 
ulation.  Amphibious  and  fur-bearing  animals  existed  there  in 
immense  numbers.  The  inhabitants  had  a  tradition  that  they 
were  of  Asiatic  origin,  and  they  transported  themselves  easily 
from  one  island  to  another  in  their  leather  canoes,  or  baidares. 

"  The  farther  one  goes  north,"  says  Maury,  "  the  easier  the 
passage  becomes,  and  the  greater  attraction  the  natives  seem  to 
find  in  it.  A  pole  serves  them  as  a  rudder  ;  a  branch  of  a  tree 
provided  with  its  limbs  and  foliage  is  set  up  in  the  air  to  serve 
as  a  sail.  The  crew,  which  is  usually  composed  of  a  man  with 
his  wife  and  children,  take  the  opportunity  when  the  wind  blows 
gently  toward  the  point  which  they  wish  to  reach,  and  they  may 
be  seen  fearlessly  sailing  before  the  wind  in  the  open  sea  at  a 
speed  of  four  or  five  miles  an  hour."  Langsdorff,  in  his  "  Voy 
age  around  the  World  in  the  Years  1803-1807,"  speaks  of  canoes 
made  by  the  natives,  which  would  hold  as  many  as  a  dozen  per 
sons,  and  mentions  the  fact  that  they  sailed  in  them  from  the 
Island  of  Kodiak  to  Sitka. 

All  this,  it  is  true,  is  proof  only  of  navigation  by  the  indi 
genes  either  between  Asia  and  America,  or  from  one  point  to 
another  of  the  northwestern  coast  of  America.  We  see  nothing 
of  any  question  of  navigation  in  these  regions  by  the  Chinese, 
or  even  of  a  direct  navigation  by  the  Japanese  between  the  two 
Continents  ;  and  although  there  are  numerous  instances,  some  of 
them  quite  recent,  in  which  Japanese  junks  have  been  driven  by 
tempests,  or  the  ocean  currents,  upon  the  American  coast,  the 
return  is  much  more  difficult,  and  there  does  not  exist  any  trace 
of  a  regular  navigation  between  China  or  Japan  and  America  in 
ancient  times.  In  this  respect  the  title  given  by  de  Guignes  to 
his  memoir,  "  Upon  the  Voyages  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Coast  of 
America,"  shows  that  the  author  wished  to  give  a  prudent  vague- 


D'EICHTHAL'S   "STUDY."  123 

ness  to  the  title,  but  said  perhaps  too  much.  All  the  facts  go  to 
show  that  the  relations  with  America,  of  which  de  Guignes  caught 
a  glimpse,  can  and  must  have  existed  ;  but  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge  *  we  must  hold  that  they  took  place  by  means  of 
more  modest  navigators,  who  still  had  sufficient  skill  for  so  easy 
a  passage.  .  .  . 

The  brief  and  judicious  observations  made  by  de  Guignes, 
regarding  the  state  of  civilization  attained  by  the  natives  of  the 
region  now  known  as  New  Mexico,  have  been  fully  confirmed 
by  the  more  perfect  knowledge  derived  from  old  and  new  docu 
ments  regarding  the  region,  and  we  now  have  unquestionable 
proof  of  its  high  state  of  civilization,  and,  in  some  respects,  of 
its  connection  with  the  Chinese  civilization  before  the  conquest. 
All  historical  documents,  moreover,  authorize  us  to  place  in  this 
country  the  point  at  which  originated  the  civilization  of  the 
American  tribes  found  farther  south.  .  .  . 

What  is  said  regarding  the  existence  of  a  white  population 
is  confirmed  by  the  observations  of  modern  explorers,f  and 
finally  what  is  said  regarding  the  existence  of  two  prisons  in 
the  country  may  find  its  explanation  in  the  belief  as  to  future 
punishments  held  by  some  Indian  tribes,  especially  by  the  Man- 
dans.  J  .  .  . 

When  de  Guignes  translated  from  the  Chinese  records  the 
statement  that  the  religion  of  Fo  was  formerly  unknown  in  the 
land  of  Fu-sang,  but  that  under  the  Sung  dynasty  five  bonzes 
from  Samarcand  carried  their  doctrine  into  this  country  and 
changed  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants,  neither  he  nor  any  man 
of  that  day  suspected,  either  that  the  religion  of  Fo  was  any 
thing  more  than  the  national  religion  of  China,  or  that  it  was 
identical  with  Buddhism,  and  the  question  does  not  seem  to  have 
occurred  to  de  Guignes  as  to  how  these  so-called  Chinese  priests 
can  have  come  from  Samarcand. 

The  country  of  Ki-pin,  the  ancient  Cophene,  corresponded 
very  closely  with  the  country  now  called  Bokhara,  the  land  of 
Samarcand.  Samarcand,  in  fact,  at  the  time  spoken  of,  was  one 

*  The  species  of  suzerainty  exercised  by  China  over  Kamtchatka  is  the  only 
proof  given  by  de  Guignes  of  the  action  of  China  in  its  neighbourhood. 

f"  Report  on  the  Indian  Tribes,"  by  Lieutenant  Whipple,  p.  31 ;  Catlin, 
"  Letters  and  Notes,"  etc.,  vol.  i,  p.  93. 

\  Catlin,  "Letters  and  Notes,"  etc.,  vol.  i,  p.  157. 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

of  the  great  foci  of  Buddhism.  Moreover,  it  is  in  the  center  of 
Asia,  in  contact  with  Persia  upon  one  side  and  Turkestan  upon 
the  other,  at  the  outlet  of  all  the  routes  which  lead  from  this 
central  region  to  the  northern  frontier  of  China,  and  to  all  the 
northwestern  part  of  Asia  as  far  as  to  the  coast  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  .  .  . 

At  the  time  of  Klaproth,  the  history  of  Buddhism,  although 
something  was  known  of  it,  was  far  from  complete.  The  great 
works  of  Hodgson,  of  Tumour,  and  of  Burnouf  had  not  then 
appeared.  That  of  which  de  Guignes  could  not  even  have 
thought,  and  which  Klaproth  himself  could  have  accomplished 
but  very  imperfectly,  it  is  now  possible  to  attempt  with  a  hope 
of  success.  By  recapitulating  all  that  we  know  now  regard 
ing  the  internal  development  and  the  distant  propagation  of 
Buddhism,  it  will  be  easy  to  understand  what  may  have  been 
the  results  of  its  propagation  in  America,  and  from  this  point  of 
view  to  judge  the  institutions  and  the  monuments  of  American 
civilization. 

ARTICLE  II. — Buddhism :  How  it  is  Modified  and  Propagated. 
(November  1,  1864.) 

This  article  shows  that  the  spirit  of  good-will  and  charity 
which  animated  the  doctrines  of  the  Buddhist  religion  dis 
posed  it  to  conciliation  toward  the  foreign  religions  that  sur 
rounded  it,  when  carried  from  India,  the  land  of  its  birth,  into 
other  countries,  even  when  these  other  religions  had  but  slight 
affinity  with  it. 

It  never  placed  itself  in  open  hostility  to  the  world  by  which 
it  was  surrounded,  and  in  India  respected  the  pantheon  of  the 
gods  that  were  worshiped  there.  Hostile  as  the  spirit  which 
dictated  the  distinction  of  castes  in  India  is  to  the  ardent  charity 
which  animated  Buddhism,  it  accepted  the  distinction  of  castes 
as  an  accomplished  fact. 

The  fusion  of  Buddhism  with  the  national  religion,  even  with 
that  of  the  sects  of  India  the  most  opposed  to  its  nature,  is  a  fact 
established  by  the  most  authentic  documents  and  by  unquestion 
able  proofs.  In  principles,  nothing  can  be  more  opposite  to 
Buddhism  than  the  worship  of  Siva  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  this, 
at  the  end  of  a  few  centuries  we  see  an  intimate  union  estab 
lished  between  the  two  religions. 

In  Java,  Buddhism  is  found  mixed  with  Brahmanism,  or  with 


D'EICHTHAL'S  "STUDY."  125 

the  worship  of  Siva,  and  the  union  of  Buddhism  with  Brahman- 
ism  is  also  found  in  Ceylon  ;  and  the  Buddhistic  religion  of  Ja 
pan  shows  a  large  mixture  of  other  elements. 

This  series  of  facts  shows  what  transformations  Buddhism 
underwent,  even  in  very  early  times,  by  contact  with  the  other 
religions  which  it  encountered.  It  also  shows  us  the  expansive 
force  by  which  it  was  animated,  and  which  served  to  transport 
it  to  a  great  distance  from  the  place  at  which  it  originated. 
Proselytism  is  an  essential  feature  of  Buddhism  ;  it  is  the  con 
sequence  of  the  sentiments  of  good-will  and  universal  charity 
which  it  professed,  and  at  the  same  time  of  the  profound  faith 
which  the  word  of  the  master  inspired  in  his  disciples.  "  If  the 
great  saint  Buddha  formerly  descended  upon  the  earth,"  says 
Hiuen-tsang,  "  it  was  that  he  might  himself  spread  abroad  the 
blessed  influences  of  his  law — Buddha  established  his  doctrine  in 
order  that  it  might  be  spread  abroad  into  all  places.  What  man 
is  there  who  would  wish  to  be  the  only  one  to  drink  of  it  ?  I 
can  not  forget  the  words  of  the  sacred  book,  '  Whosoever  has 
hidden  the  law  from  men  shall  be  struck  with  blindness  in  all 
his  transmigrations.'  " 

"  The  man  who  believes  in  the  mission  of  Sakya-muni,"  says 
M.  Neumann,  "is  obliged  to  consider  every  man  as  an  equal  and 
a  brother,  and  must  even  strive  to  have  the  blessed  news  of  re 
demption  carried  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  should,  following  the  example  of  the  divine-man, 
submit  himself  to  all  trials  and  all  sufferings.  This  is  why  we 
see  a  multitude  of  Buddhist  monks  and  missionaries  going  from 
Central  Asia,  China,  Japan,  and  Corea,  and  traveling  into  all 
parts  of  the  world,  known  and  unknown.  It  is  to  preach  to  un 
believers  the  doctrine  of  the  three  jewels  (i.  e.,  Buddha,  the  Law, 
and  the  Assembly),  or  to  gather  news  of  their  co-religionists." 

Buddhism  rejected  the  mystery  in  which  Brahmanism  was  en 
veloped,  and,  proclaiming  the  superiority  of  moral  works  above 
mere  ritualistic  practices,*  its  preachings  opened  its  doctrines  to 
the  acceptance  of  all  mankind.  Its  disciples,  both  men  and 
women,  after  having  in  the  earliest  days  shared  a  nomadic  life, 
were  united  in  religious  communities  and  convents,  which  were 
governed  by  the  eldest  or  the  most  honoured,  f  It  recommended 

*  Burnouf  s  "  Introduction  H  I'Histoire  du  Buddhisme,"  pp.  335  and  337. 
f  Burnouf,  p.  214. 


126  AN"  mGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

penance  as  the  means  of  progressive  improvement ;  it  instituted 
the  confession  ;  *  it  prohibited  bloody  sacrifices.f 

We  can  now  understand  both  the  truth  and  importance  of 
the  statements  made  in  the  Chinese  account :  that  five  monks 
went  to  Fu-sang,  and  there  spread  abroad  the  law  of  Buddha  ; 
that  they  carried  with  them  their  books,  their  sacred  images,  and 
their  ritual,  and  instituted  monastic  customs,  and  so  changed  the 
manners  of  the  inhabitants.  A  Buddhist  mission  could  not  be 
better  characterized.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  books  and  images  carried  by  these  missionaries  of  the  fifth 
century  would  undoubtedly  contain  quite  as  strong  an  infusion 
of  the  elements  of  Brahmanism  (and  of  the  worship  of  Siva  in 
particular)  as  of  the  elements  of  Buddhism  properly  so  called. 
China  and  Japan  seem  also  to  have  furnished  their  contingent, 
and  we  in  fact  know  that  if  this  doctrine  was  first  established  in 
Fu-sang  by  monks  from  Samarcand,  the  account  which  has  been 
transmitted  to  us  is  the  work  of  a  Chinese  monk  who  had  so 
journed  there  himself.  As  to  the  indication  of  Samarcand,  as  the 
country  from  which  the  mission  departed,  there  is  nothing  that 
should  not  seem  to  us  to  be  perfectly  authentic.  Since  the  pub 
lication  of  the  journey  of  Hiuen-tsang,  we  know  that  the  Buddh 
ist  propagandist,  setting  forth  from  the  north  of  India,  passed 
Samarcand  in  order  to  reach,  by  way  of  Turkestan  and  the  des 
ert  of  Gobi,  the  northern  frontiers  of  China. 

Starting  from  this  point,  the  Buddhist  missionaries  would 
have  nothing  further  to  do  than  to  turn  toward  the  north,  in 
order  to  follow  the  route  indicated  by  de  Guignes,  which,  by 
way  of  the  Lake  of  Baikal  and  the  Amoor  River,  would  lead 
them  to  the  country  of  Ta-han.  The  remarkable  Buddhist 
monuments  recently  discovered  near  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor 
River,  although  their  date  can  not  be  precisely  determined, 
prove  in  any  case  that  at  a  very  ancient  epoch  this  country  was 
frequented  by  the  Buddhists.J; 

From  Ta-han,  as  stated  in  the  Chinese  account,  these  mis 
sionaries  reached  Fu-sang. 

AETICLE  III.— Consideration  of  the  Observations  of  Hum- 
boldt  upon  the  Relations  between  the  Civilization  of  Asia  and 
America  (January  1,  1865),  and 

*  Burnouf,  p.  300.  f  Burnouf,  p.  339. 

\  See  C.  de  Sabin,  "  Le  Fleuve  Amoftr,"  Paris,  1861. 


D'EICUTHAL'S   "  STUDY.' 


127 


AETICLE  IV. — Upon  the  Presence  of  Buddhism  among  the 
Red-skins  (April  1,  1865),  it  seems  unnecessary  to  translate  ;  as 
Humboldt's  arguments  are  fully  given  elsewhere,  and  as  Article 
IV  relates  mostly  to  the  religious  belief  and  practices  of  the 
Mandan  Indians. 

ARTICLE  V. — A  Buddhist  Sanctuary  at  Palenque  (June  1 
1865). 

John  Stephens,  in  his  book,  entitled  "  Incidents  of  Travel  in 
Central  America,  Chiapas,  and  Yucatan,"  new  edition,  London, 
1844,  vol.  ii,  p.  318,  makes  the  following  statement : 

"  Within  the  walls  of  the  palace  of  Palenque,  at  the  east  of 
the  interior  tower,  is  another  building  with  two  corridors,  one 
richly  decorated  with  pictures  in  stucco,  and  having  in  the  center 
an  elliptical  tablet.  It  is  four  feet  long  and  three  wide,  of  hard 
stone,  set  in  the  wall.  Around  it  are  the  remains  of  a  rich  stucco 
border.  The  principal  figure  sits  cross-legged  on  a  couch  orna 
mented  with  two  leopards'  heads  ;  the  attitude  is  easy,  the 
physiognomy  the  same  as  that  of  the  other  personages,  and  the 
expression  calm  and  benevolent.  The  figure  wears  around  its 
neck  a  necklace  of  pearls,  to  which  is  suspended  a  small  medal 
lion  containing  a  face  ;  perhaps  intended  as  an  image  of  the  sun. 
Like  every  other  subject  of  sculpture  we  had  seen  in  the  coun 
try,  the  personage  has  ear-rings,  bracelets  on  the  wrists,  and  a 
girdle  round  the  loins.  The  head-dress  differs  from  most  of  the 
others  at  Palenque  in  that  it  wants  the  plume  of  feathers." 

Stephens  abstains  from  noting  any  analogy  between  this 
image  and  any  other  known  type  ;  but  M.  Lenoir,  who,  in  his 
"Parallel  of  the  Ancient  Mexican  Monuments  with  those  of  the 
Old  World,"  referred  to  this  figure,  made  the  remark  that  its 
graceful  attitude  is  analogous  with  the  pose  which  the  East 
Indians  give  to  their  god  Buddha.*  We  shall  be  bolder  than 
M.  Lenoir,  and  where  he  only  suspected  an  analogy  we  shall  not 
fear  to  recognize  a  true  identity. 

In  fact,  the  scene  which  we  find  under  our  eyes  is  frequently 
found  in  the  monuments  of  Buddhist  worship.  It  may  be  ob 
served,  for  instance,  three  times  repeated,  in  the  bas-reliefs  of 
the  temple  of  Boro-Boudor  in  Java,  which  Crawfurd  has  inserted 
in  his  work  upon  the  Indian  Archipelago.  These  picture  one  or 
more  worshipers  presenting  to  Buddha,  in  accordance  with  the 
*  "  Antiquites  Mexicaines,"  vol.  ii,  p,  77. 


128 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


precepts  of  his  religion,  offerings  of  flowers  and  of  fruits.     One 

of  these  images  in  par 
ticular,  that  repro 
duced  in  Crawfurd's 
plate  xxii,*  and  copied 
in  the  accompanying 
cut,  Fig.  1,  offers  a 
striking  resemblance 
to  our  image  of  Pa- 
lenque,  which  is  copied 
in  Fig.  2.  In  each 
we  see  a  worshiper 
offering  to  the  divin 
ity,  before  whom  he 
is  kneeling,  a  flower, 
which,  in  the  case  of 
the  Buddhist,  is  in- 
contestably  a  lotus- 
flower,  and,  in  the  case 
of  the  American  wor 
shiper,  either  the  same 
flower  or  some  other 
of  similar  appearance 
— possibly,  as  has  been 
suggested  by  M.  the 
Abbe  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg,  a  cacao- 
tree  flower.  Here, 
however,  the  flower  is 
not  found,  as  in  the 
bas  -  relief  of  Boro- 
Boudor,  in  the  hand 
of  the  worshiper,  but 
it  rests  upon  a  sort  of 
support  which  the 

*  Crawfurd's  "  History  of 
the  Indian  Archipelago,"  3 
vols.  in  12rao.  Edinburgh, 
1820;  vol.  ii,  plates  xix, 
xxii,  and  xxiii. 


FIG.  1. — "Worshiper  offering  a  flower  to  the  image 
of  Buddha. 


FIG.  2.— Bas-relief  found  at  Palenque. 


D'EICHTHAL'S   "STUDY.' 


129 


worshiper  presents  to  the  divinity  ;  but  this  same  disposition,  or 
one  that  is  analogous,  may  be  seen  in  Crawfurd's  plate  xix. 
Moreover,  this  same  flower  is  twice  found  upon  the  head  of  our 
divinity,  and  is  also  frequently  found  associated  with  the  figures 
of  the  gods  of  Palenque.  (See,  among  the  rest,  Stephens's  "  Cen 
tral  America,"  vol.  ii,  p.  316,  plate  No.  2.)  The  two  lions,  or 
leopards,  facing  in  opposite  directions,  upon  which  our  divinity 
is  seated,  recall  the  lions  which,  in  the  paintings  of  India,  some 
times  support  the  seat  of  Buddha  (and  even  sometimes  of  other 
divinities),  and  of  which  an  example  is  given  in  the  image  of 
Buddha  reproduced  in  Fig.  1. 

But  they  also  recall  the  figures  of  animals  in  pairs,  facing  in 
opposite  directions,  which  are  found  so  often  in  th6  sculptures 
and  paintings  of  Asia.  Such  are  notably  the  celebrated  capi 
tals  of  the  columns  of  Persepolis,  and  of  the  temple  of  Delos, 
formed  of  two  horses  ;  and  the  group  of  the  lion  and  the  bull 
placed  back  to  back,  attributed  to  Ardahnari ;  finally,  they 
agree  in  every  particular  with  the  group  of  two  crouching  lions 
— which,  although  brought  from  the  island  of  Cyprus,  are  of 
Assyrian  type — which  may  be  seen  in  the  Museum  of  Napoleon 
III,  and  of  which  an  engraving  is  here  given  (Fig.  3). 

Nevertheless,  the  resemblance  of  this  last  group  with  that 
which  serves  as  a  seat  for  our  Buddha  is  much  less  than  that 
which  it  presents  to  two  other  groups  of  lions  or  leopards,  placed 
back  to  back,  one  found  at  the  base  of  a  niche  of  the  edifice 
called  the  "  House  of  the  Nuns,"  at  Uxmal,*  the  other  discovered, 
or  more  properly  disinterred,  by  Stephens  in  the  same  city.  A 


FIG.  3.— Sculpture  from  the  island  of 
Cyprus. 


FI0.  4.— Sculpture  found  at  Uxmal,  Yu 
catan. 


*  Catherwood,  "Views  of  Ancient  Monuments  of  Central  America,  Chiapas, 
and  Yucatan,"  plate  xv. 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

picture  of  the  latter  is  given  in  the  "Incidents  of  Travel  in 
Yucatan,"  vol.  i,  p.  183,  and  we  reproduce  it  in  Fig.  4,  p.  129, 
in  order  that  the  reader  may  be  able  to  appreciate  its  resemblance 
to  the  Cyprian  group. 

Upon  the  plinth  of  the  Cyprian  group  there  is  seen  the  image 
of  the  winged  globe,  so  frequently  represented  upon  the  pedi 
ments  and  friezes  of  the  temples  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Persia. 
This  emblem  does  not  occur  in  the  last-mentioned  American 
group,  but  an  ornament,  either  identical  or  at  least  very  similar, 
may  be  seen  above  a  door  opening  into  the  interior  of  a  sanct 
uary  at  Ocosingo,  a  city  not  very  far  distant  from  Palenque. 

"  In  the  back  wall  of  the  central  chamber  of  this  temple," 
says  Stephens,*  "  was  a  doorway  of  the  same  size  with  that  in 

front,  which  led  to  an 
apartment  without  any 
partitions,  but  in  the 
center  was  an  oblong  in- 
closure,  eighteen  feet  by 
eleven,  which  was  mani 
festly  intended  as  the 
FIG.  5.-Ornament  above  a  door  of  a  ruin  at  mogt  important  part  of 

Ocosmgo.  A  / 

the  edifice.      The   door 

was  choked  up  with  ruins  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  top,  but 
over  it,  and  extending  along,  the  whole  front  of  the  structure, 
was  a  large  stucco  ornament,  which  at  first  impressed  us  most 
forcibly  by  its  striking  resemblance  to  the  winged  globe  over 
the  doors  of  Egyptian  temples.  Part  of  this  ornament  had 
fallen  down,  and,  striking  the  heap  of  rubbish  underneath, 
had  rolled  beyond  the  door  of  entrance.  We  endeavoured 
to  roll  it  back  and  restore  it  to  its  place,  but  it  proved  too  heavy 
for  the  strength  of  four  men  and  a  boy.  The  part  which 
remains  is  represented  in  the  engraving,  and  differs  in  details 
from  the  winged  globe.  The  wings  are  reversed  ;  there  is  a 
fragment  of  a  circular  ornament,  which  may  have  been  intended 
for  a  globe,  but  there  are  no  remains  of  serpents  entwining  it." 

Even  at  Palenque,  above  the  door  and  upon  the  frieze  of  the 
sanctuary  of  the  edifice  described  by  Stephens  under  the  name 
of  "  Casa  No.  3,"  we  see  the  two  extremities  of  a  similar  orna 
ment,  the  central  part  having  been  destroyed.  Stephens  has  re- 

*  Stephens's  "  Central  America,"  vol.  ii,  p.  259. 


D'EICHTHAL'S  "STUDY."  131 

produced  this  ornament,  or  at  least  the  two  extremities  which 
still  remain  of  it,  without  making  it  the  object  of  any  observa 
tion  in  his  text.* 

At  our  first  step  into  the  study  of  the  antiquities  of  Central 
America,  we,  therefore,  find  again  the  same  singularity  which 
struck  us  in  the  traditions  relative  to  the  Deluge.  We  see  our 
selves  carried  in  one  direction  to  Western  Asia  and  the  banks  of 
the  Mediterranean,  and  in  the  other  to  India  and  Eastern  Asia. 
Between  the  two  lies  the  land  of  Chaldea,  and  it  is  from  this 
intermediate  point  that  traditions  and  rites,  as  well  as  civiliza 
tion,  have  radiated. 

"It  is  in  Chaldea,"  says  M.  Alfred  Maury,f  "that  civilization 
arose  for  the  first  time  upon  our  globe,  or  at  least  this  country 
was  one  of  the  first  centers  from  which  it  was  spread  abroad  into 
neighbouring  lands.  It  is  therefore  easy  to  conceive  that  a  legend 
existing  in  Chaldea  may  have  been  carried  among  the  nations 
who  from  all  quarters  resorted  to  this  country." 

Bearing  in  mind,  again,  that  we  have  every  reason  to  believe 
Samarcand  to  have  been  the  point  of  departure  of  the  Buddhism 
propagated  in  America,  this  circumstance  makes  it  more  easy  to 
conceive  of  the  presence  in  the  New  World  of  Asiatic  elements 
borrowed  even  by  Western  Asia. 

But  the  course  of  our  work  has  brought  us  again  into  the 
presence  of  very  serious  and  difficult  questions.  We  shall  there 
fore  content  ourselves  with  the  presentation  of  the  facts  which 
we  have  given,  and  conclude  this  article  with  a  return  to  the 
examination  of  the  figure  of  Buddha  at  Palenque. 

The  oval  in  which  the  figure  is  inscribed,  although  it  is  true 
it  is  a  little  larger,  recalls  that  which  envelopes  the  bust  of 
our  Boro-Boudor  (see  Fig.  1,  upon  page  128),  an  oval  which 
in  itself  is  nothing  more  than  the  aureola  which  at  first  -sur 
rounded  only  the  head  of  Buddha,  but  which  was  gradually 
enlarged. 

But  there  is  another  point  of  resemblance  which,  although  it 
relates  to  a  simple  detail  only,  is  still  more  striking  and  decisive. 
Stephens  relates,  as  we  have  remarked,  that  the  oval  was  origi 
nally  surrounded  by  a  border  in  stucco,  of  which  he  saw  only 
the  remains,  and  which  he  did  not  indicate  in  his  design  ;  but 

*  Stephens's  "  Central  America,"  vol.  ii,  p.  354. 
f  "  Encyclopedic  Moderne,"  t.  xii,  p.  71. 


132  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

in  the  design  of  Castaiieda  *  this  border  is  clearly  shown,  although 
even  then  very  dilapidated.  It  is  after  this  model  that,  in  our 
copy  of  the  design  of  Stephens,  we  have  attempted  to  restore  the 
border  in  question,  in  part  at  least,  and  at  the  same  time  we 
have  restored  a  series  of  small  ornaments,  also  given  by  Cas- 
taneda,  of  which  the  form  is  somewhat  crescent-shaped.  These 
ornaments  have  given  rise  to  the  most  singular  interpretations  ; 
but  the  same  ornaments,  similarly  disposed,  are  found  about  the 
aureola  of  the  figure  of  an  East  Indian  divinity  which  Raffles 
has  given  in  his  "  History  of  Java "  (vol.  ii),  and  which  is  re 
produced  below. 

Moreover,  if  the  origin  and  signification  of  this  ornament  is 
sought,  it  will  be  found,  from  a  study  of  the  other  figures  given 
by  Raffles,  that  it  grew  from  successive 
transformations  of  the  flames  originally 
drawn  about  the  aureola  of  the  divinities, 
and  of  which  an  example  is  found  in  our 
figure  itself. 

Such   analogies   as  these,  we  believe, 
can  not  be  the  effect  of  chance. 

In  order  to  explain  them,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  Buddhist  artists  who 
came  to  America  brought  with  them  the 
Fia.  6^-Aureola  about  the     game  collection   of  plans   and  designs,  the 
head  of  an  East  Indian 
idol.  same  albums,  if  I  may  use  the  word,  which 

were  found  in  the  hands  of  the  Buddhist 

missionaries  in  the  south  of  India  and  in  the  Indian  Archipelago. 
It  is  a  supposition  which  is  confirmed  by  all  the  analogies  that 
we  know  to  exist  between  American  and  Asiatic  art,  and  more 
over  it  is  a  very  natural  supposition,  fully  justified  by  the  his- 
tory-of  Buddhist  propagandism,  and  without  which  the  existence 
of  so  marked  a  connection  between  American  and  Asiatic  art 
appears  an  insoluble  problem. 

It  should,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that,  between  the  primi 
tive  types  imported  by  the  Buddhists  and  the  different  monuments 
which  we  are  examining, we  should  expect  to  find  all  the  differences 
produced  by  an  inevitable  decadence  in  art,  as  well  as  by  the  influ 
ence  of  local  causes  and  the  aspect  of  novel  natural  surroundings. 

*  "  Antiquites  Mexicaines,"  vol.  ii,  plate  xxvi ;  and  Kingsborough's  "  Antiqui* 
ties  of  Mexico,"  vol.  iv,  part  third,  plate  xx. 


D'EICHTHAL'S   "  STUDY." 


133 


Below  and  in  front  of  our  bas-relief  there  was  also  found  a 
species  of  table,  or  bracket-shelf,  which  Castaiieda  gives  in  his 
design,  but  of  which  Stephens  saw  no  more  than  the  mark  upon 
the  wall  of  the  place  where  it  had  stood,  which  he  reproduces 
with  dotted  lines  "  after  the  model  of  similar  tables  existing  in 
other  places."  * 

"Del  Rio,"  says  Mr.  Squier,  in  his  "Researches  regarding 
the  Serpent  Symbol  in  America,"  «  describes  this  table  as  a  large 
flag-stone,  six  feet  in  length, f  three  feet  four  inches  wide,  and 
seven  inches  thick,  placed  upon  four  legs  like  a  table.  These 
legs  were  ornamented  by  figures  in  bas-relief.  Along  the  tab 
let  against  the  wall  there  reached  a  sort  of  border  similarly 
sculptured. 

Now,  this  is  precisely  the  character  of  the  Balang-ko  of  the 
Hindoos,  or  the  Then-balang  of  the  Siamese — stones  or  altars  of 


FIG.  7.— Table  or  altar  found  at  Palenque. 

Buddha,  upon  which  fruits  and  flowers  were  offered  instead  of 
bloody  sacrifices.  These  are  found  in  the  Siamese  and  Japanese 
temples,  as  well  as  in  all  Buddhist  temples  generally.  J 

*  "Central  America,"  vol.  ii,  p.  318.  "  Antiques  Mexicaines,"  vol.  ii,  plate 
xxvi,  Fig.  33. 

f  This  length  is  in  fact  that  which  is  indicated  in  the  report  of  Del  Rio  (see 
"Memoires  de  la  Societe  Geographique  de  Paris,"  vol.  ii,  p.  170)  and  in  the  Ger 
man  translation  given  by  Minutoli,  "  Beschreibung  einer  alten  Stadt,"  etc.,  Berlin, 
1832.  Nevertheless,  this  measure  does  not  agree  with  that  given  by  Stephens,  and 
by  Del  Rio  himself,  in  the  place  cited  for  the  length  of  the  bas-relief— a  measure 
which,  according  to  the  engraving,  should  be  equal  to  that  of  the  tablet. 

\  Squier,  "  The  Serpent  Symbol  and  the  Worship  of  the  Reciprocal  Principles 
of  Nature  in  America,"  New  York,  1851,  p.  89.  Squier  himself  refers  to  an  arti 
cle  by  Captain  James  Lowr  "  On  Buddha  and  the  Phrabat — Explanation  of  the 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Quite  recently  an  English  journal,  the  "  London  Illustrated 
News  "  (February  25,  1865,  p.  193),  has  given,  with  an  image  of 
Buddha,  a  specimen  of  a  Buddhist  altar,  perfectly  conformable 
to  the  Mexican  altar,  of  which  an  illustration  is  given  in  Fig.  7. 
The  presence  of  this  altar,  added  to  all  the  resemblances  of  detail 
which  we  have  pointed  out  in  the  bas-relief,  seems  to  us  to  clear 
ly  prove  the  Buddhistic  character  of  the  Sanctuary  of  Palenque. 
The  figure  which  we  have  described  is,  to  our  knowledge,  the 
only  one  of  the  kind  which  exists  at  Palenque.  Outside  of  this 
city,  and  in  all  the  other  ruins  of  Central  America,  we  do  not 
know  of  any  other  figure  at  all  similar,  unless  it  is  a  figure 
which  M.  Waldeck  has  given  in  his  "  Voyage  to  Yucatan,"  and 
which  he  says  he  saw  repeated  four  times  in  that  number  of 
niches  of  the  southern  f acade  of  the  "  House  of  the  Nuns  "  at 
Uxmal. 

It  is  noticeable  that  this  artist,  who  thought  that  he  found 
the  imprint  of  Buddhism  at  Uxmal  in  a 
number  of  details,  perhaps  indifferent, 
seems  not  to  have  remarked  the  resem 
blance  of  this  figure  drawn  by  him  to  the 
reformer  of  India.  He  contents  himself 
with  the  statement  that  "  upon  the  sill  of 
the  niche  which  surmounts  each  door 
there  is  placed  a  small  seated  figure" 
FIG.  8.-Seated  figure  Qn  thig  occasion  at  least  M.  Waldeck 
found  in  niches  of  ••/.•.  -•  A  i  • 

a  building  at  Uxmal.          can  not  therefore  be  accused  of  taking 

sides.     Moreover,  the  southern  fa9ade  of 

the  "  House  of  the  Nuns,"  of  which  he  speaks,  has  been  drawn 
again  by  Stephens  in  a  general  view  of  the  site,  and  has  since 
been  drawn  by  Catherwood.*  The  niches  indicated  above  each 

Symbols  on  a  Prapatha  or  Impression  of  the  Divine  Foot,"  in  the  "  Transac 
tions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,"  vol.  iii,  p.  77. 
I  have  verified  the  citation,  and  it  is  entirely  correct.  I  fear,  however,  that  there 
may  have  been  an  error  in  the  transcription  of  the  Indian  name  given  as  Ealang- 
ko  or  Tlien-balang.  The  word  is  unknown  to  all  the  Indian  scholars  whom  I  have 
been  able  to  consult.  May  there  not  have  been  a  confusion  with  the  stone  Bin- 
lang  of  the  worshipers  of  Siva  ?  (See  Coleman's  "  Mythology  of  the  Hindus,"  p. 
176.)  I  have  not  succeeded,  however,  in  discovering  the  true  name  of  these 
altars.  The  authors  who  describe  them  merely  mention  them  without  stating  the 
name  by  which  they  are  called. 

*  Stephens,  "  Yucatan,"  vol.  i,  p.  306.    Catherwood,  "  Views  of  Ancient  Monu- 


D'EICHTHAL'S   "  STUDY." 


135 


door  are  perfectly  distinguishable,  although,  by  reason  of  the 
distance  from  which  the  view  is  supposed  to  be  taken,  it  is  im 
possible  to  distinguish  whether  any  object  is  or  is  not  contained 
in  them.* 

Admitting  as  authentic,  therefore,  the  image  given  by  M. 
Waldeck  (and  there  is  every  reason  for  so  doing),  it  is  impossible 
to  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  analogy  which  it  presents  with  the 
representations  of  Buddha  in  general,  but  particularly  with  the 
figure  of  Buddha  sitting  cross-legged,  which  is  found  placed  and 
repeated  in  an  entirely  similar  manner  in  the  four  hundred  niches 
of  the  temple  of  Boro-Boudor  at  Java.f  The  characteristic  posi 
tion  of  the  right  arm  is  the  same  in  both  cases.  The  head-dress 
is  different,  but  we  find  an  almost  exactly  similar  head-dress 
upon  other  figures  of  Buddha,  or 
upon  the  heads  of  other  divinities. 
It  is  a  sort  of  fan  which  adorns 
the  head  of  the  divine  person 
age,  and  which  is  formed  by  a  ser 
pent  with  several  heads.J  It  is  an 
ordinary  attribute  of  Vishnu.*  It 
is  also  found  upon  the  head  of 
Hanouman,  ||  upon  that  of  Gane- 
sa, A  of  Vira-Badhra,  Q  etc.,  and 
finally  upon  that  of  Buddha  him 
self  4  A  Buddha  with  this  head 
dress  somewhat  modified  is  sculpt 
ured  upon  the  wall  of  the  temple  of  Indra-Saba  at  Ellora  ;  it  has 

ments  in  Central  America^'  plate  viii.  It  is  true  that  there  are  not  merely  four 
of  these  niches  visible  upon  the  southern  fa9ade,  as  stated  in  the  account,  but 
eight.  At  the  same  time,  however,  it  is  also  true  that  the  fa9ade  is  divided  into 
two  compartments,  each  containing  four  niches,  and  this  fact  may  possibly  explain 
Waldeck's  error. 

*  The  part  of  this  f a9ade  photographed  by  M.  de  Charney  contains  only  two 
of  the  eight  niches,  and,  even  with  the  magnifying-glass,  it  is  impossible  to  distin 
guish  any  appearance  of  a  statue  in  either  of  them.     But  the  form  of  the  niche 
is  exactly  as  given  by  Waldeck,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  statues  have  been  de 
stroyed  since  the  visit  of  that  traveler. 

f  Crawfurd's  "  History  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,"  vol.  ii,  plate  xxix. 
\  Moor's  "  Hindu  Pantheon,"  plate  xxiv. 

*  Ibid.,  plate  viii.  II  Ibid.,  plate  xcii. 
A  Ibid.,  Frontispiece.         0  Ibid->  Plate  xxvi-  $  Ibid>>  plate  lxXV' 


FIG.  9. — Figure  of  Buddha — from 
a  temple  at  Ellora. 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

been  reproduced  by  Daniel,*  and  we  give  it  in  our  Fig.  9  (page 
135),  that  it  may  be  compared  with  the  figure  at  Uxmal.t 

The  existence  of  these  niches,  with  their  uniform  statues, 
often  found  in  very  great  numbers  in  the  walls  of  the  terraces 
which  support  the  temples,  is  one  of  the  common  traits  of  the 
religious  architecture  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  and  of  Central 
America.  We  content  ourselves  here  with  merely  pointing  out 
this  analogy.  "VVe  shall  return  to  the  subject  again  when,  after 
our  review  of  American  history,  we  return  to  the  examination 
of  the  antiquities  of  Palenque.J 

GUSTAVE  D'EICHTHAL. 

Supplement  to  the  First  Article.     Reply  to  some  Observations  of 
M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin  upon  de  Guignes's  Memoir. 

The  first  question  which  presents  itself  to  us,  in  connection 
with  this  work,  is  that  of  the  geographical  connections  and  the 
ancient  communications  between  Asia  and  America,  which  could 
have  permitted  the  passage  of  Buddhist  missionaries  to  the  New 
World.  We  have  said  that  it  seems  to  us  to  be  possible  to  reduce 
this  question  to  the  analysis  and  development  of  de  Guignes's 
memoir  upon  the  subject.  In  our  first  article  we  therefore  took 
up  the  examination  of  this  memoir,  and  concluded  by  adopting 

*  "  Oriental  Scenery."    Description  of  Ellora. 

f  Even  the  modification  which  is  presented  by  the  head-dress  of  the  statue 
at  Uxmal  seems  to  be  an  indication  of  its  authenticity. 

|  Before  terminating  this  article,  we  think  it  necessary  to  again  call  the  atten 
tion  of  our  readers  to  another  bas-relief  which  decorates  the  house  designated  by 
Stephens  as  Casa  No.  4.  It  is  an  unknown  divinity,  but  one  which  has  complete 
ly  the  appearance  and  attitude  of  an  East  Indian  divinity.  M.  Lenoir,  in  his 
"  Parallel  of  the  Ancient  Mexican  Monuments  with  those  of  the  Old  World,"  was 
the  first  to  make  the  remark.  "  This  bas-relief,"  says  he,  "  represents  a  divinity 
who  offers,  especially  in  his  attitude,  a  great  resemblance  to  the  divinities  of 
India  or  Japan"  ("Antiquites  Mexicaines,"  vol.  ii,  p.  78);  the  figure  itself  is 
found  in  the  same  volume,  plate  xxxiii,  and  also  in  the  "  Antiquities  of  Mexico  " 
of  Lord  Kingsborough,  vol.  iv,  third  part ;  also  in  the  "  Memoircs  de  la  Societe" 
de  Geographic,"  vol.  ii,  plate  xvi.  Unfortunately  this  bas-relief  was,  by  1840, 
almost  destroyed.  Stephens  saw  only  a  fragment  ("Central  America,"  vol.  ii,  p. 
S55).  Compare  this  bas-relief  with  the  figure  of  Parvati,  given  by  Moor,  "Hindu 
Pantheon,"  plate  v,  figure  5 ;  and  with  a  statuette  of  Lakchmi  which  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  Imperial  Library.  A  bas-relief  discovered  by  Stephens  at  Chichen-Itza,  in 
Yucatan,  is  the  only  one  among  the  American  figures  with  which  we  are  acquainted 
that  shows  a  similar  attitude.  ("  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Yucatan,"  vol.  ii,  p.  292.) 


D'EICHTHAI/S   "STUDY."  137 

the  opinion  expressed  by  de  Guignes,  that  the  Fu-sang  of  the 
Chinese  tradition  can  be  nothing  else  than  a  portion  of  America. 

An  eminent  geographer,  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  has  com 
bated  this  conclusion  in  a  chapter  of  his  "  Annee  Geographique  " 
(1865),  entitled  "Une  Vieille  Histoire  remise  &  Flot "  (i.  e.,  An 
Old  Story  Set  Afloat). 

There  is  always  profit  to  be  found  in  a  work  emanating  from 
M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  and  we  ourselves  have  found  it  in 
this  article  ;  but  we  persist  none  the  less  in  the  opinion  which 
we  have  expressed :  we  even  think  that  the  observations  of  M. 
Vivien  de  Saint-Martin  have  only  added  a  new  force  to  our  con 
viction.  The  memoir  of  de  Guignes  is  composed  of  two  quite 
distinct  parts  :  one  is  the  account  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang, 
written  in  the  fifth  century  of  our  era  by  a  Buddhist  missionary 
named  Hod  Shin,  which  de  Guignes  extracted  from  the  history 
of  Li-yan-cheu  •  the  other  part  is  a  commentary  intended  to 
determine  the  geographical  position  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang. 
In  the  first  part,  de  Guignes  is  merely  a  translator  ;  in  the  sec 
ond,  he  appears  as  a  critic,  and  a  critic  of  the  first  order. 

His  merit,  as  we  formerly  remarked  (and  upon  this  point 
M.  Vivien  is  in  accord  with  us),  is  that,  enabled  by  his  vast 
knowledge  of  Chinese  literature,  he  discovered  two  itineraries — 
one  maritime,  the  other  terrestrial ;  both  of  which  terminate  at 
the  country  of  Ta-han,  the  point  of  Asia  which,  according  to  the 
account,  is  nearest  to  the  country  of  Fu-sang. 

The  meeting  of  the  two  routes  at  their  northern  extremity 
proves  that  the  country  of  Ta-han  is  necessarily  situated  at  some 
point  upon  the  northeastern  coast  of  Asia.  De  Guignes  thinks 
that  this  point  is  in  Kamtchatka.  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin 
thinks  that  it  should  be  sought  upon  the  river  Amoor,  near  the 
point  at  which  it  empties  into  the  Sea  of  Ochotsk,  in  the  region 
in  which,  as  we  have  already  said,  Buddhist  monuments  in  a 
state  of  excellent  preservation  have  been  recently  discovered. 
We  were  instantly  struck  by  the  same  thought  as  M.  Vivien  de 
Saint-Martin,  andr  after  a  new  examination  of  the  question,  we 
declare  that  we  are  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  this  view. 

In  fact,  even  according  to  the  description  of  the  route  trans 
lated  by  de  Guignes,  we  see  that  by  traveling  five  clays  to  the 
east,  in  the  direction  of  the  Amoor  River,  the  Shy-wei  Ju-che 
are  reached ;  from  there,  after  traveling  five  days  to  the  north, 


AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  country  of  Ta-han  is  reached,  surrounded  on  three  sides 
by  the  sea.  Now,  below  its  junction  with  the  Soungari-Oula, 
and  especially  below  its  junction  with  the  Oussori,  the  Amoor 
turns  directly  to  the  north,  and  the  country  of  Ta-han  may 
probably  be  located  near  its  mouth.  The  circumstance  that  it 
is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the  sea,  may  be  accounted  for 
by  supposing  that  it  is  situated  in  some  bend  described  by  the 
river.  But  de  Guignes,  who  was  but  imperfectly  acquainted 
with  the  course  of  the  Amoor  and  with  the  geography  of  this 
region,  has  thought  it  necessary  to  go  as  far  north  as  Kam- 
tchatka  to  find  a  locality  which  corresponds  with  the  descrip 
tion  of  his  itinerary. 

We,  therefore,  very  willingly  make  this  concession  to  M. 
Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  or,  rather,  we  thank  him  for  the  recti 
fication  which  he  has  led  us  to  adopt.  But  this  fact  does  not 
prove  that  de  Guignes's  memoir  should  be  considered  any  the 
less  worthy  of  interest,  or  that  the  solution  of  the  question 
which  he  proposes  is  any  the  less  probable.  But  let  M.  Vivien 
speak  for  himself  : 

"  The  few  germs  of  rudimentary  civilization,  of  which  the 
trace  is  found  among  the  tribes  of  the  Amoor,  are  of  Buddhist 
origin  :  they  undoubtedly  appertain  to  several  different  epochs, 
but  the  oldest  are  connected  with  the  missions  of  the  sixth  cent 
ury  and  the  three  following  centuries,  which  are  mentioned  in  the 
texts  which  de  Guignes  was  the  first  to  describe.  This  is  a  real 
service,  among  many  others,  which  the  scholarly  author  of  the 
*  History  of  the  Huns'  has  rendered  to  science,  and  of  which 
his  error  as  to  the  location  of  Ta-han  does  not  at  all  dimmish 
the  merit."  * 

After  calling  attention  to  the  Buddhist  monuments  discov 
ered  some  ten  years  ago  upon  the  lower  bank  of  the  Amoor 
River,  near  the  village  designated  as  "  Ghiliak  of  the  Tower," 
M.  Vivien  continues  thus  : 

"  We,  therefore,  now  have  positive  proof  that  the  mission 
aries  of  the  religion  of  Buddha,  or  of  Fo,  as  it  is  called  by  the 
Chinese,  not  only  carried  shamanism  into  all  of  Central  Asia, 
but  pressed  to  the  east  and  descended  the  valley  of  the  Amoor 
River  as  far  as  to  the  shores  of  the  Eastern  Sea,  at  the  same  time 
that  other  propagators  of  this  pre-eminently  proselyting  religion 

*  "  L'Ann^e  Geographique,"  Paris,  1865,  p.  258. 


D'EICHTHAL'S  "STUDY."  139 

spread  themselves  by  the  maritime  route  into  all  the  islands 
contained  within  the  boundaries  of  the  sea  inclosed  between  the 
Japanese  Archipelago  and  the  coast  of  Mantchooria,  designated 
upon  our  maps  as  the  Sea  of  Japan."  * 

Having  traveled  this  distance,  would  the  Buddhist  mission 
aries  arrest  their  voyage  here,  or  would  they  not  rather,  profiting 
by  the  ease  with  which  the  chain  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  would 
enable  them  to  pass  from  one  continent  to  the  other,  press  on 
until  they  had  penetrated  to  America  ?  A  tradition,  mentioned 
by  de  Guignes,  states  that  at  an  early  epoch  "  the  Tartars  who 
lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Amoor  River  were  accustomed 
from  this  point  to  reach  the  southern  portion  of  Kamtchatka, 
after  five  days'  navigation  toward  the  north." 

This  is  the  most  direct  route  to  reach  the  Aleutian  Islands. 
They  could  also  reach  them  almost  equally  well  by  turning  the 
point  of  the  island  of  Saghalien,  or  Taraikai,  upon  the  south,  and 
coasting  along  the  chain  of  the  Kurile  Islands.  It  is  true  that 
we  have  no  historical  proof  of  navigation  across  what  may  be 
called  the  Aleutian  Sea,  either  by  the  Tartars  or  by  the  Bud 
dhist  missionaries.  But  the  ease  of  this  navigation  is  an  incon 
testable  fact,  and  here,  moreover,  the  tradition  of  Fu-sang  is 
found. 

This  tradition  is  not  founded  merely  upon  the  unsustained 
statement  of  an  obscure  missionary ;  it  is  attested  by  a  multi 
tude  of  legendary  beliefs,  of  which  Klaproth  himself  has  made 
known  to  us  the  principal  monuments.  From  that  time  the 
question  has  been,  "  Where  is  this  land  of  Fu-sang  situated  ?  " 
De  Guignes  founded  his  answer  to  this  question  upon  the  dis 
tance  of  twenty  thousand  li,  at  which  distance  to  the  east  from 
Ta-han,  Hoei  Shin  stated  that  this  country  was  situated,  and 
thus  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  Fu-sang  must  be  found  at 
some  point  upon  the  American  coast,  probably  in  California. 
As  for  us,  we  believe  (and  M.  Vivien  is  of  the  same  opinion) 
that  the  round  distance  of  twenty  thousand  li  is  purely  emphatic, 
and  merely  indicates  that  the  distance  is  very  great.  But  even 
this  interpretation  does  not  at  all  weaken  de  Guignes's  conclu 
sion  :  "  The  Chinese,"  says  this  illustrious  scholar,  "  have  pene 
trated  into  countries  very  distant  toward  the  east.  I  have  ex 
amined  their  measures,  and  they  have  conducted  me  to  the  coast 
*  "  L'Annee  GSographique,"  p.  259. 


140  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

of  California.  I  have  concluded  from  this  that  they  have  known 
America  since  the  year  458  A.  D.  In  the  countries  near  to  those 
where  they  landed  we  find  the  most  civilized  nations  of  America. 
I  have  thought  that  they  were  indebted  for  their  civilization  to 
the  commerce  which  they  have  had  with  the  Chinese.  This  is  all 
that  I  have  sought  to  establish  in  this  memoir."  If,  at  the  epoch 
when  de  Guignes  lived,  this  conclusion  offered  itself  to  him  as 
a  probable  hypothesis,  how  much  stronger  would  he  have  con 
sidered  the  proof  if  he  had  known,  as  we  now  know,  both  the 
character  of  Buddhism,  and  its  diffusion  in  the  countries  along 
the  coast  of  the  Sea  of  Japan  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor 
River,  and,  in  addition,  the  proofs,  which  we  dare  call  incontest 
able,  of  its  presence  in  America. 

It  is,  nevertheless,  against  this  fortunate  divination  of  an 
illustrious  scholar  that  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin  now  protests. 
Undoubtedly  he  has  shown  that  in  the  account  of  the  shaman 
Hoei  Shin  several  particulars  do  not  agree  with  America.  We 
may,  therefore,  conclude  that  Hoei  Shin,  not  having  any  one 
to  check  his  account,  and  perhaps  never  having  been  himself  in 
Fu-sang  (for  the  text  is  mute,  or  at  least  doubtful,  as  to  this 
point),  may  have,  as  to  some  points,  consulted  his  imagination 
rather  than  his  recollection  ;  but  making  all  concessions  on 
this  account,  there  remain  two  important  points  in  his  story  as 
to  which  no  doubt  can  be  raised  :  the  essentially  Buddhistic 
character  of  the  customs  of  Fu-sang,  and  its  situation  at  a 
great  distance  to  the  east  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ta-han  and  the 
"  Middle  Kingdom."  Now,  from  these  two  characters,  Fu-sang 
can  not  be  located  elsewhere  than  in  America.  M.  Vivien  de 
Saint-Martin  is  not  of  this  opinion.  It  is  true  that  he  does  not 
offer  any  conclusion  that  is  well-founded  ;  he  merely  thinks  that 
the  "  supposition  of  Klaproth  (who  sees  in  Fu-sang  a  portion  of 
Japan)  is,  as  has  been  said  of  it,  the  most  probable."  But  the 
supposition  of  Klaproth,  as  we  have  repeated  time  after  time, 
and  as,  moreover,  M.  Vivien  himself  acknowledges,  has  insur 
mountable  objections  opposed  to  it  :  it  places  to  the  south  of 
Ta-han  that  which,  according  to  the  account,  should  be  found  at 
the  east,  and  it  supposes  the  existence  of  a  Buddhist  kingdom  in 
Japan  at  an  epoch  when  Buddhism  was  not  known  there.  It 
remains,  therefore,  to  return  to  de  Guignes's  hypothesis,  which, 
moreover,,  is  now  a  hundred  times  more  probable  than  it  seemed 


D'EICHTHAL'S   "STUDY." 

at  the  epoch  when  it  was  first  produced  by  its  illustrious  author. 
"  Old  stories,"  in  spite  of  the  displeasure  of  M.  Vivien  de  Saint- 
Martin,  are  good  to  revive  when  they  are  true  old  stories. 

To  the  documents  which  we  named  in  our  second  article,  as 
showing  the  association  which  has  existed  between  Buddhism 
and  the  Brahmanic  religions,  particularly  the  worship  of  Siva, 
there  should  be  added  those  given  by  Koeppen,  in  his  history  of 
Buddhism  in  Thibet,  "  Die  Lamaische  Hierarchic  und  Kirche," 
vol.  i,  page  296  and  following. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

COINCIDENCES   NOTED   BY    HUMBOLDT,  LOBSCHEID,  AND    PEESCOTT. 

Extracts  from  the  "  Views  of  the  Cordilleras  "  —  Similarity  of  Asiatic  and  Ameri 
can  civilizations—  The  struggles  of  the  Brahmans  and  Buddhists  —  The  divis 
ions  of  the  great  cycles  —  The  Mexicans  designated  the  days  of  their  months 
by  the  names  of  the  zodiacal  signs  used  in  Eastern  Asia  —  Cipactli  and 
Capricornus  —  Table  of  resemblances  —  The  tiger  and  monkey  found  only 
in  southern  countries  —  The  Aztec  migration  from  the  north  —  Resemblance 
between  certain  Mexican  and  Tartarian  words  —  The  cutting-stones  of  the 
Aztecs  —  The  sign  ollin  and  the  foot-prints  of  Vishnu  —  Effects  of  a  mixture  of 
several  nations  —  Changes  resulting  from  changed  circumstances  and  lapse  of 
time  —  Analogies  in  religious  customs  —  Analogy  in  the  fables  regarding  the 
destructions  of  the  universe  —  Lobschcid's  reasons  for  thinking  the  American 
Indians  to  be  one  race  with  the  Japanese  and  Eastern  Asiatics  —  Similarity 
of  customs  —  Tiles  —  Anchors  —  The  route  from  Asia  to  America  —  Shipwrecks 
of  fishing-boats  —  Head-dresses  —  Languages  —  Religion  —  Customs  —  Marriage 
solemnized  by  tying  the  garments  together  —  Extracts  from  Prescott's  "  History 
of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  —  Analogies  in  traditions  and  religious  usages  — 
Disposal  of  the  bodies  of  the  dead  —  The  analogies  of  science  —  The  calendar  — 
General  conclusions. 

Extracts  from  the  "  Views  of  the  Cordilleras  and  Monuments  of 
the  Indigenous  Nations  of  America"  —  by  Alexander  von 
Hurnboldt. 


1579  JT  jg  a  gurprjge  t0  fin(^  toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  in  a  world  that  we  call  "  new,"  the  ancient  institutions, 
the  religious  ideas,  the  forms  of  edifices  which,  in  Asia,  appear 
to  belong  to  the  first  dawn  of  civilization.  It  is  true  of  the 
characteristic  traits  of  the  nations,  as  of  the  interior  structure  of 
the  vegetation  scattered  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe,  that 
everywhere  they  exhibit  the  imprint  of  a  primitive  type,  in  spite 
of  the  differences  which  are  produced  by  the  nature  of  the  cli 
mates  and  of  the  soil,  and  by  the  combined  influences  of  various 
accidental  causes.  . 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT.  143 

1580  If  the  languages  offer  but  feeble  proof  of  ancient  commu 
nication  between  the  two  worlds,  this  communication  is  indispu 
tably  shown  in  the  cosmogonies,  the  monuments,  the  hieroglyphics, 
and  the  institutions  of  the  nations  of  America  and  Asia.  .  .  . 

IMS  jf  we  reflect  ever  so  little  upon  the  epoch  of  the  earliest 
Toltec  migrations,  upon  the  monastic  institutions,  the  symbols  of 
worship,  the  calendar,  and  the  form  of  the  monuments  of  Cholula, 
Sogamozo,  and  Cuzco,  we  perceive  that  Quetzalcoatl,  Bochica,  and 
Manco-Capac  did  not  draw  their  code  of  laws  from  the  north  of 
Europe.  Everything  appears  to  carry  us  to  Eastern  Asia,  to  the 
nations  that  have  been  in  contact  with  the  Thibetans,  the  sha- 
manistic  Tartars,  and  the  bearded  Ainos  of  the  islands  of  Jesso 
and  Saghalien.  .  .  . 

USB  ^  prolonged  struggle  between  two  religious  sects,  the 
Brahmans  and  the  Buddhists,  ended  by  the  emigration  of  the 
shamans  of  Thibet  into  Mongolia,  China,  and  Japan.  If  any 
of  the  tribes  of  the  Tartarian  race  passed  by  the  way  of  the 
northwestern  coast  of  America,  and  from  there  southerly  and 
easterly  to  the  banks  of  the  Gil  a  and  those  of  the  Missouri,  as  the 
etymological  researches  of  Yater  in  his  work  upon  the  peopling 
of  America  appear  to  indicate,  it  would  be  less  surprising  to  find, 
among  the  semi-barbarous  tribes  of  the  new  continent,  idols  and 
architectural  monuments,  a  hieroglyphic  writing,  an  exact  knowl 
edge  of  the  duration  of  the  year  and  traditions  concerning  the 
first  condition  of  the  world,  which  all  recall  the  knowledge,  the 
arts,  and  the  religious  opinions  of  the  Asiatic  nations.  ... 

1592  We  have  seen  that  the  Mexicans,  the  Japanese,  the  Thibe 
tans,  and  several  other  nations  of  Central  Asia,  have  followed 
the  same  system  in  the  division  of  the  great  cycles  and  in  the 
names  of  the  years  that  compose  them.  It  remains  for  us  to 
examine  a  fact  which  more  directly  concerns  the  history  of  the 
migrations  of  the  nations,  and  which  appears  to  have  hitherto 
escaped  the  attention  of  scholars.  I  expect  to  be  able  to  prove 
that  a  great  part  of  the  names  by  which  the  Mexicans  designated 
the  twenty  days  of  their  months  are  those  of  the  signs  of  a 
zodiac  used,  from  the  most  remote  antiquity,  by  the  nations  of 
Eastern  Asia.  To  make  it  evident  that  this  assertion  is  less 
hazardous  than  it  appears  at  first  sight,  I  will  give  in  a  single 
table— first,  the  names  of  the  Mexican  hieroglyphs  as  they  have 
been  transmitted  to  us  by  all  the  authors  of  the  sixteenth  cent- 


144 


AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


ury  ;  second,  the  names  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  among 
the  Tartars,  Thibetans,  and  Japanese  ;  third,  the  names  of  the 
nakchatras,  or  lunar  houses  of  the  calendar  of  the  Hindoos.  I 
dare  flatter  myself  that  those  of  my  readers  who  will  examine 
this  comparative  table  attentively  will  be  interested  in  the  dis 
cussion  into  which  we  must  enter  regarding  the  first  divisions  of 
the  zodiac. 


SIGNS  OF  THE  ZODIAC. 

Hindooi, 

Mantchoo- 

of  the 
Mexican  Calendar. 

Lunar  Houses  of 
the  Hindooi. 

Greeks,  and 

Japanese. 

Thibetan*. 

Eastern  Nations. 

Aquarius. 
Capricornus. 
Sagittarius. 

Singueri. 
Ouker. 
Pars. 

Ne. 
Ous. 
Torra. 

Tchip,  rat,  water. 
Lang,  ox. 
Tah,  tiger. 

Atl,  water.          [ster. 
Cipactli,  marine  mon- 
Ocelotl,  tiger. 

(The  mahara 
is     a     marine 

Scorpio. 

Taoulai. 

Ov. 

To,  hare. 

Tochtli,  hare. 

monster.) 

Libra. 
Virgo. 
Leo. 
Cancer. 

Lon. 
Mogai. 
Morin. 
Koin. 

Tats. 
Mi. 

Ouma. 
Tsitsouse. 

Broil,  dragon. 
Prow/,  serpent. 
7%a,  horse. 
Zon,  goat. 

Cohuatl,  serpent. 
Acatl,  reed. 
Tecpatl,  flint  (knife). 
Ollin,  path  of  the  pun. 

Serpent. 
Eeed. 
Kazor.  [Vishnu 
Foot-tracks  of 

Gemini. 

Petchi. 

Bar. 

Prehou,  monkey. 

Ozomatli,  monkey. 

Monkey. 

Taurus. 

Tukia. 

Torri. 

Tcha,  bird. 

Quauhtli,  bird. 

Aries. 
Pisces. 

Nokai. 
Gacai. 

In. 
Y. 

£y,  dog. 
Pah,  hog. 

Itzcuintli,  dog. 
Calli,  house. 

A  dog's  tail. 
House. 

From  the  most  ancient  times,  the  people  of  Asia  have  known 
two  systems  of  dividing  the  ecliptic  :  one  into  twenty-seven  or 
twenty-eight  houses,  or  lunar  mansions,  the  other  into  twelve 
parts.  The  opinion  which  has  been  advanced,  that  this  last 
method  of  division  existed  only  among  the  Egyptians,  is  erro 
neous.  The  oldest  monuments  of  Indian  literature,  the  works  of 
Kalidasa,  and  of  Amarsinh,  mention  both  the  twelve  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  and  the  twenty-seven  "  Companions  of  the  Moon.'* 
From  our  knowledge  concerning  the  communications  which  oc 
curred  several  thousand  years  before  our  era,  between  the  nations 
of  Ethiopia,  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  of  Hindostan,  we  are  justified 
in  dismissing  the  supposition  that  all  that  the  Egyptians  trans 
mitted  to  the  Grecian  tribes  appertained  exclusively  to  them. 

The  division  of  the  ecliptic  into  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight 
lunar  houses,  is  probably  more  ancient  than  the  division  into 
twelve  parts,  connected  with  the  annual  movement  of  the  sun. 
The  phenomena  which  are  repeated  in  the  same  order  with  every 
revolution  of  the  moon,  attract  the  attention  of  mankind  more 
readily  than  changes  of  position,  of  which  the  cycle  is  com 
pleted  only  in  the  space  of  a  year.  .  .  . 


COINCIDENCES   NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT.  145 

1593  Examining  first  the  analogy  which  the  names  of  the 
Mexican  days  offer  to  the  signs  of  the  Thibetan,  Chinese,  Tar 
tarian,  and  Mongolian  zodiac,  the  analogy  is  found  to  be  very 
striking  in  the  eight  hieroglyphs  called  atl,  cipactli,  ocelotl, 
tochtli,  cohuatl,  quauhtli,  ozomatli,  and  itzcuintli.  Atl,  water,  is 
often  indicated  by  a  hieroglyph,  of  which  the  parallel  lines  and 
undulations  recall  the  sign  which  we  employ  to  designate 
Aquarius.  The  first  tse,  or  catasterism,  of  the  Chinese  zodiac, 
the  rat  (chit),  is  also  frequently  found  represented  by  the  figure 
of  water.  At  the  time  of  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Chuen-hiu, 
there  was  a  great  deluge  ;  and  the  celestial  sign  hiuen-hiao, 
which  corresponds  in  position  with  our  Aquarius,  is  the  symbol 
of  his  reign.  So  Pere  Souciet  observes,  in  his  "  Researches  upon 
the  Cycles  and  the  Zodiacs,"  that  China  and  Europe  agree  in 
representing,  under  different  names,  the  sign  which  we  call 
Amphora,  or  Aquarius.  Among  the  western  people  the  water 
which  falls  from  the  vase  of  the  water-bearer  forms  another  con 
stellation  (Hydor),  to  which  the  beautiful  stars  Fomahand  and 
Deneb  Jcaitos  belong,  as  is  proved  by  several  passages  from 
Aratus,  Geminus,  and  Scholiaste  de  Germanicus. 

Cipactli  is  a  marine  animal.  This  hieroglyph  presents  a  strik 
ing  analogy  with  Capricornus,  which  the  Hindoos  and  other 
people  of  Asia  call  a  marine  monster.  The  Mexican  sign  indi 
cates  a  fabulous  animal,  a  cetacean  armed  with  a  horn.  Gomara 
and  Torquemada  call  it  espadarte,  a  name  by  which  the  Spaniards 
designate  the  narwhal,  of  which  the  great  tooth  is  known  by  the 
name  of  the  unicorn's  horn.  Boturini  has  mistaken  this  horn 
for  a  harpoon,  and  erroneously  translates  cipactli  by  "  serpent 
armed  with  harpoons."  As  this  sign  does  not  represent  a  real 
animal,  it  is  very  natural  that  its  form  should  vary  more  than 
those  of  the  other  signs.  Sometimes  the  horn  appears  to  be  a 
prolongation  of  the  muzzle,  as  in  the  famous  fish  oxyrinque,  rep 
resented  in  the  place  of  the  southern  fish  beneath  Capricornus 
in  some  Indian  planispheres  ;  in  other  cases  the  horn  is  lacking 
entirely.  Casting  the  eyes  upon  figures  copied  from  very  an 
cient  designs  and  reliefs,  it  is  seen  that  Valades,  Boturini,  and 
Clavigero  have  all  erroneously  represented  the  first  hieroglyph 
of  the  Mexican  days  as  a  shark,  or  a  lizard.  In  the  manuscript 
of  the  Borgian  Museum,  the  head  of  the  cipactli  resembles  that 
of  a  crocodile  ;  and  this  same  name  of  crocodile  is  given,  by  Son- 
10 


'    OF   THt 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


146  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

nerat,  to  the  tenth  sign  of  the  Indian  zodiac,  which  is  our  Capri- 
cornus. 

In  addition,  the  idea  of  the  marine  animal  cipactli  is  found 
united  in  the  Mexican  mythology  with  the  history  of  a  man,  who, 
at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the  fourth  sun,  after  having 
floated  upon  the  water  for  a  long  time,  was  saved,  alone,  by 
attaining  the  top  of  the  mountain  of  Colhuacan.  We  have  else 
where  observed  that  the  Noah  of  the  Aztecs,  who  was  usually 
called  "  Coxcox,"  bore  also  the  name  of  "  Teo-cipactli,"  in  which 
the  word  "god"  or  "  divine"  is  added  to  that  of  the  sign  cipactli. 
In  casting  the  eyes  upon  the  zodiac  of  the  Asiatic  tribes,  we  find 
that  the  Capricornus  of  the  Hindoos  is  the  fabulous  fish  mahara, 
or  souro,  celebrated  for  its  exploits,  and  represented  from  the 
most  remote  antiquity  as  a  marine  monster  with  the  head  of  a 
gazelle. 

As  the  people  of  India,  as  well  as  the  Mexicans,  often  indi 
cate  the  naJcchatras  (lunar  houses)  and  the  laquenons  (the 
twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac)  merely  by  the  heads  of  the  animals 
which  compose  the  lunar  and  solar  zodiacs,  it  is  not  at  all  sur 
prising  that  the  western  nations  have  transformed  the  mahara 
into  Capricornus  (alyonepG)^),  and  that  Aratus,  Ptolemy,  and  the 
Persian  Kazwini  have  not  given  it  even  a  fish's  tail.  An  ani 
mal  which,  after  having  lived  in  the  water  for  a  long  time,  takes 
the  form  of  a  gazelle,  and  climbs  the  mountains,  reminds  the 
people,  of  whom  the  restless  imagination  seizes  upon  the  most 
distant  affinities,  of  the  ancient  traditions  of  Menu,  of  Noah,  and 
of  the  Deucalions  celebrated  among  the  Scythians  and  the  Thes- 
salians.  It  is  true  that,  according  to  Germanicus,  Deucalion, 
who  may  be  considered  to  resemble  Coxcox,  or  Teo-cipactli  of 
the  Mexican  mythology,  should  be  placed,  not  in  the  sign  Capri 
cornus,  but  in  Aquarius,  the  sign  which  immediately  follows  it. 
This  circumstance,  however,  is  not  surprising,  as  it  merely  con 
firms  the  ingenious  view  of  M.  Bailly  regarding  the  ancient  con 
nection  of  the  three  signs,  Pisces,  Aquarius,  and  Capricornus  or 
the  fish-gazelle. 

Ocelotl,  tiger,  the  jaguar  (felis  oncd)  of  the  warm  regions  of 
Mexico  ;  tochtli,  hare  ;  ozomatli,  she-monkey  ;  itzcuintli,  dog  ; 
cohuatl,  serpent ;  quauhtli,  bird,  are  the  catasterisms  which  are 
found  under  the  same  name  in  the  Tartarian  and  Thibetan 
zodiac.  In  Chinese  astronomy  the  hare  is  not  only  the  fourth 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT.  147 

tse,  or  sign  of  the  zodiac,  but  the  moon,  since  the  remote  epoch  of 
the  reign  of  Too,  has  been  figured  as  a  disk,  in  which  a  hare,  sit 
ting  upon  its  hind  feet,  turns  a  stick  in  a  vessel,  as  if  making  but 
ter  ;  a  puerile  fancy  which  may  have  had  its  origin  in  the  plains 
of  Tartary,  where  hares  abound,  and  which  are  inhabited  by  pas 
toral  tribes.  The  Mexican  monkey,  ozomatli,  corresponds  to  the 
heu  of  the  Chinese,  thepetchi  of  the  Mantchoos,  and  the  prehou 
of  the  Thibetans,  three  names  which  designate  the  same  animal. 
Procyon  appears  to  be  the  monkey  Hanuan,  so  known  in  the 
Hindoo  mythology,  and  the  position  of  this  star,  placed  upon  the 
same  line  with  Gemini  and  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  corresponds 
very  well  with  the  place  which  the  monkey  occupies  in  the  Tar 
tar  zodiac,  between  Cancer  and  Taurus.  Monkeys  are  also  found 
in  the  heaven  of  the  Arabs.  They  are  the  stars  of  the  constella 
tion  Canis  Major,  called  El-Jcurttd  in  the  catalogue  of  Kazwini. 
I  enter  into  these  details  concerning  the  sign  ozomatli  because  it 
is  a  very  important  point,  not  only  in  the  history  of  astronomy, 
but  also  in  that  of  the  migrations  of  the  tribes,  to  find  an  animal 
of  the  torrid  zone  placed  among  the  constellations  of  the  Mon 
golian,  Mantchoo,  Aztec,  and  Toltec  tribes. 

The  sign  itzcuintli,  dog,  corresponds  with  the  last  sign  but  one 
of  the  Tartarian  zodiac,  the  ky  of  the  Thibetans,  the  nokai  of 
the  Mantchoos,  and  the  in  of  the  Japanese.  Pere  Gaubil  informs 
us  that  the  dog  of  the  Tartarian  zodiac  is  our  sign  Aries  ;  and  it 
is  very  remarkable  that,  according  to  le  Gentil,  although  the 
Hindoos  were  not  acquainted  with  the  series  of  signs  which  com 
mences  with  the  rat,  Aries  is  sometimes  replaced  by  a  wild  dog. 
In  the  same  way,  among  the  Mexicans  itzcuintli  designates  the 
wild  dog,  for  they  call  their  domestic  dog  techichi.  Mexico 
formerly  abounded  with  carnivorous  quadrupeds  which  united 
the  qualities  of  the  dog  and  the  wolf,  and  which  Hernandez 
has  described  to  us  but  imperfectly.  The  race  of  these  animals, 
known  by  the  names  of  xoloitzcuintli,  itzcuintepotzotli,  and  tepeitz- 
cuintli,  is  probably  not  entirely  extinct,  but  they  have  more  likely 
retired  into  the  wildest  and  most  remote  forests  ;  for  in  the  part 
of  the  country  which  I  have  passed  through  I  have  never  heard 
a  wild  dog  mentioned. 

Le  Gentil  and  Bailly  have  been  misled  in  the  opinion  which 
they  have  advanced  that  the  word  mdcha,  which  designates  our 
ram,  signifies  a  wild  dog.  This  Sanskrit  word  is  the  common 


AN"  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

name  of  the  ram,  and  it  has  been  employed  very  poetically  by  an 
Indian  author  who,  describing  the  combat  of  two  warriors,  says 
that  "  by  their  heads  they  were  two  mtchas  (rams),  by  their 
arms  two  elephants,  by  their  feet  two  noble  coursers." 

The  following  table  shows  at  one  view  the  signs  of  the  Tar 
tarian  zodiac  and  the  names  of  the  days  of  the  Mexican  calendar, 
which  are  alike  : 

Zodiac  of  the  Tartar-Mantchoos.  Zodiac  of  the  Mexicans. 

Pars,  tiger.  Ocelotl,  tiger. 

Taoulai,  hare.  Tochtli,  hare,  rabbit. 

Mogai,  serpent.  Cohuatl,  serpent. 

Petchi,  monkey.  Ozomatli,  monkey. 

Nokal,  dog.  Itzcuintli,  dog. 

Tufaa,  bird,  fowl.  Quauhtli,  bird,  eagle. 

Without  connecting  the  hieroglyphs  water  (atl)  and  the 
marine  monster  (cipactli),  which  offer  a  striking  analogy  with  the 
zodiacal  signs  of  Aquarius  and  Capricornus,  the  six  signs  of  the 
Tartarian  zodiac  which  are  also  found  in  the  Mexican  calendar 
are  sufficient  to  make  it  extremely  probable  that  the  nations  of 
the  two  continents  have  drawn  their  astronomical  ideas  from  a 
common  source,  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  points  of 
resemblance  upon  which  we  insist  are  not  derived  from  rude 
pictures  or  allegories,  susceptible  of  being  interpreted  in  ac 
cordance  with  any  hypothesis  that  it  is  desired  to  sustain.  If 
we  consult  the  works  composed  at  the  time  of  the  conquest,  by 
Spanish  authors,  or  by  American  Indians  who  were  ignorant  of 
the  existence  of  a  Tartarian  zodiac,  it  will  be  seen  that  in  Mex 
ico,  from  the  seventh  century  until  our  era,  the  days  have  been 
called  "tiger,"  "dog,"  "monkey,"  "hare"  or  "rabbit,"  as, 
throughout  Eastern  Asia,  the  years  bear  the  same  names  among 
the  Thibetans,  the  Tartar-Mantchoos,  the  Mongols,  the  Calmucks, 
the  Chinese,  the  Japanese,  the  Coreans,  and  among  the  nations 
of  Tonquin  and  Cochin-China. 

It  is  conceivable  that  nations  which  never  had  any  connection 
may  have  similarly  divided  the  ecliptic  into  twenty-seven  or 
twenty-eight  parts,  and  given  to  each  lunar  day  the  name  of  the 
stars  near  which  the  moon  is  found  to  be  placed  in  its  progress 
ive  movement  from  west  to  east.  It  also  appears  very  natural 
that  pastoral  and  hunting  nations  should  designate  the  constel 
lations  and  the  lunar  days  by  the  names  of  the  animals  which 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT.  149 

are  the  constant  objects  of  their  affections  or  their  fears.  The 
heaven  of  the  nomad  tribes  may  be  found  to  be  peopled  with 
dogs,  deer,  bulls,  and  wolves,  without  furnishing  sufficient  ground 
for  the  conclusion  that  the  tribes  have  ever  formerly  made  parts 
of  the  same  nation.  Traits  of  resemblance  which  are  purely  acci 
dental,  or  which  arise  from  a  similarity  of  circumstances  or  lo 
cation,  should  not  be  confounded  with  those  which  are  the  results 
of  a  common  origin  or  of  ancient  communication. 

But  the  Tartarian  and  Mexican  zodiacs  are  not  confined  ex 
clusively  to  animals  found  in  the  regions  inhabited  by  these 
nations  now  ;  in  both,  the  tiger  and  the  monkey  are  also  found. 
The  two  animals  are  unknown  upon  the  plateau  of  Eastern  and 
Central  Asia,  to  which  the  great  elevation  gives  a  colder  temper 
ature  than  that  which  is  found  in  the  same  latitude  farther  east. 
The  Thibetans,  the  Mongolians,  the  Mantchoos,  and  the  Cal- 
mucks  have  therefore  received  from  a  more  southerly  country  the 
zodiac  which  has,  too  exclusively,  been  called  the  Tartarian  cycle. 
The  Toltecs,  the  Aztecs,  the  Tlascaltecs  migrated  from  the  north 
toward  the  south  ;  we  know  of  Aztec  monuments  as  far  north  as 
the  banks  of  the  Gila,  between  33°  and  34°  north  latitude,  and 
history  informs  us  that  the  Toltecs  came  formerly  from  regions 
still  farther  north.  The  colonists  coming  from  Aztlan  did  not 
arrive  as  barbarian  tribes  ;  everything  announces  the  remains  of 
an  ancient  civilization  as  existing  among  them. 

The  names  given  to  the  cities  which  they  constructed  were 
the  names  of  the  places  which  their  ancestors  had  inhabited  ; 
their  laws,  their  annals,  their  chronology,  the  order  of  their  sacri 
fices,  were  modeled  upon  the  knowledge  which  they  had  acquired 
in  their  father-land.  Now,  the  monkeys  and  the  tigers,  which 
figure  among  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  days,  and  in  the  Mexican 
traditions  of  the  four  ages,  or  destructions  of  the  sun,  do  not  live 
in  the  northern  part  of  New  Spain,  or  on  the  northwestern  coast 
of  America.  As  a  consequence,  the  signs  ozomatli  and  ocelotl  ren 
der  it  extremely  probable  that  the  zodiacs  of  the  Toltecs,  the 
Aztecs,  the  Mongolians,  the  Thibetans,  and  many  other  nations, 
which  are  now  separated  by  a  vast  extent  of  country,  originated 
at  the  same  point  in  the  Old  World. 

The  lunar  houses  of  the  Hindoos,  in  which  we  find  also  a 
monkey,  a  serpent,  a  dog's  tail,  and  the  head  of  a  gazelle,  or  of 
a  marine  monster,  offer  still  other  signs,  of  which  the  names  re- 


150  AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

call  those  of  calli,  acatl,  tecpatl,  and  ollin  of  the  Mexican  calen 
dar. 

Indian  Nakchatras.  Mexican  Signs. 

Magha,  house.  Calli,  house. 

Venu,  cane  (reed).  Acatl,  cane  (reed). 

Critica,  razor.  Tecpatl,  flint,  stone  knife. 

Sravana,  three  foot-prints.  Ollin,  movement  of  the  sun, 

figured  by  three  foot-prints. 

We  can  not  help  noticing  that  the  Aztec  word  calli  has  the 
same  signification  as  kuala  or  holla,  among  the  Wogouls,  who 
live  upon  the  banks  of  the  Kama  and  the  Irtish,  as  ail,  the 
Aztec  word  for  water,  and  itels  (river)  recall  the  words  atel, 
atelch,  etel  or  idel  (river)  in  the  languages  of  the  Mongolian  Tar 
tars,  the  Tcheremissians,  and  the  Tchuwassians.  The  denomina 
tion  of  calli,  house,  also  designates  very  well  a  lunar  station  or 
inn  (mendzil  el  kamar,  in  Arabian),  a  place  of  repose.  So,  also, 
among  the  Indian  nakchatras,  in  addition  to  the  houses  (magha 
and  punarvasu),  we  also  find  a  bedstead  and  a  couch. 

The  Mexican  sign  acatl,  cane,  is  generally  drawn  as  two  reeds 
tied  together  ;  but  the  stone  found  in  Mexico  in  1790,  and  which 
offers  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  days,  represents  the  sign  acatl  in  a 
very  different  manner.  We  recognize  there  a  bundle  of  rushes, 
or  a  sheaf  of  maize,  contained  in  a  vase.  We  recall,  in  this  con 
nection,  the  fact  that,  in  the  first  period  of  thirteen  days  of  the 
year  tochtli,  the  sign  acatl  is  constantly  accompanied  by  Cinteotl, 
who  is  the  goddess  of  maize,  the  Ceres  of  the  Mexicans,  the  di 
vinity  who  presides  over  agriculture.  Among  the  western  peo 
ple,  Ceres  is  placed  in  the  fifth  of  the  twelve  signs.  We  also 
find  very  ancient  zodiacs  in  which  a  bundle  of  ears  of  grain  fills 
all  the  place  which  should  be  occupied  by  Ceres,  Isis,  Astre"e,  or 
Erigone,  in  the  sign  of  the  harvests  and  vintages.  Thus  we 
find  that,  from  a  high  antiquity,  the  same  ideas,  the  same  sym 
bols,  the  same  tendency  to  think  physical  phenomena  dependent 
upon  the  mysterious  influence  of  the  stars,  existed  among  nations 
the  most  widely  separated  from  one  another. 

The  Mexican  hieroglyph  tecpatl  indicates  a  cutting-stone  of 
an  oval  form,  elongated  toward  the  two  extremities,  similar  to 
those  which  are  used  as  knives,  or  which  are  attached  to  the 
end  of  a  pike.  This  sign  recalls  the  critica,  or  cutting-knife, 
of  the  lunar  zodiac  of  the  Hindoos.  Upon  the  large  stone  (rep- 


COINCIDENCES   NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT. 

resented  in  a  plate  given  in  the  original  French  edition),  the 
hieroglyph  tecpatl  is  figured  in  a  different  manner  from  the  form 
ordinarily  given  to  it.  The  stone  is  pierced  in  the  center,  and 
the  opening  appears  to  be  intended  to  receive  the  hand  of  the 
warrior  who  uses  this  two-pointed  weapon.  It  is  known  that 
the  Americans  had  a  peculiar  method  of  piercing  the  hardest 
stones  and  of  working  them  into  shape  by  friction.  I  brought 
from  South  America,  and  deposited  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  an 
obsidian  ring,  which  had  served  for  a  young  girl's  bracelet,  and 
which  formed  a  hollow  cylinder  of  almost  seven  centimetres  in 
ternal  diameter,  and  four  centimetres  height,  and  of  which  the 
thickness  is  not  more  than  three  millimetres.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  how  a  vitreous  and  fragile  mass  can  have  been  reduced 
to  so  thin  a  band.  Tecpatl,  however,  differed  in  other  respects 
from  obsidian,  a  substance  which  the  Mexicans  called  iztli.  Un 
der  the  name  tecpatl,  jade,  hornblende,  and  flint  were  con 
founded. 

The  sign  ollin,  or  ollin  tonatiuh,  presided,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  over  the  seventeenth  day  of  the 
first  month.  The  explanation  of  this  sign  greatly  embarrassed 
the  Spanish  monks,  who,  destitute  of  the  most  elementary  prin 
ciples  of  astronomy,  attempted  to  describe  the  Mexican  calen 
dar.  The  Indian  authors  translated  ollin  by  movements  of  the 
sun.  When  they  found  the  number  nahui  (four)  added,  they 
rendered  nahui  ollin  by  the  words  "  the  sun  (tonatiuh)  in  its 
four  movements."  The  sign  ollin  is  made  in  three  ways  :  some 
times  like  two  interlaced  ribbons,  or  rather  like  two  parts  of 
the  curved  lines,  which  intersect  and  have  three  distinct  folds 
upon  their  summits  ;  sometimes,  like  the  solar  disk,  inclosed  by 
four  squares,  which  contained  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  numbers  one 
(ce)  and  four  (nahui)  ;  sometimes  like  three  foot-prints.  The 
four  squares,  as  we  shall  hereafter  show,  alluded  to  the  famous 
tradition  of  the  four  ages,  or  four  destructions  of  the  world, 
which  occurred  upon  the  days  four  tiger  (nahui  ocelotl),four 
wind  (nahui  ehecatl),  four  rain  (nahui  quiahuitl),  and  four 
water  (nahui  atl),  in  the  years  one  reed  (ce  acatl),  one  flint  (ce 
tecpatl),  and  ce  calli,  one  house.  The  solstices,  the  equinoxes, 
and  the  passages  of  the  sun  past  the  zenith  of  the  city  of 
Tenochtitlan,  correspond  very  nearly  to  these  days.  The  repre 
sentation  of  the  sign  ollin  by  three  xocpalli,  or  foot-prints,  such  as 


152  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

are  often  found  in  the  manuscripts  preserved  in  the  Vatican  and 
in  the  Codex  Borgianus,  folio  47,  n.  210,  is  remarkable  from  the 
analogy  which  it  offers  in  appearance  with  sravana,  or  "the 
Three  Foot-prints  of  Vishnu,"  one  of  the  mansions  of  the  lunar 
zodiac  of  the  Hindoos.  In  the  Mexican  calendar  the  three  foot 
prints  indicate  either  the  course  of  the  sun  in  its  passage  to  the 
equator,  and  in  its  movement  toward  the  two  tropics,  or  the 
three  positions  of  the  sun,  in  the  zenith,  upon  the  equator,  and  at 
one  of  the  solstices.  It  may  be  possible  that  the  lunar  zodiac 
of  the  Hindoos  contains  some  sign  which,  like  that  of  Libra,  re 
lates  to  the  course  of  the  sun.  We  have  seen  that  the  zodiac  of 
twenty-eight  signs  may  have  been  transformed,  little  by  little, 
into  a  zodiac  of  twelve  mansions  of  the  full  moon,  and  that  some 
nakchatras  may  have  changed,  their  name  since  the  zodiac  of 
the  full  moon  has,  from  a  knowledge  of  the  annual  movement 
of  the  sun,  become  a  true  solar  zodiac.  Krishna,  the  Apollo  of 
the  Hindoos,  is  in  fact  nothing  but  Vishnu  under  the  form  of  the 
sun,  who  is  adored  more  particularly  under  the  name  of  the  god 
Surya.  In  spite  of  this  analogy  of  ideas  and  of  signs,  we  think 
that  the  three  foot-prints  which  indicate  sravana,,  the  twenty- 
third  of  the  nakchatras,  have  only  an  accidental  resemblance 
with  the  three  foot-tracks  which  represent  the  sign  ottin.  M.  de 
Chezy,  who  unites  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  Persian  to  that 
of  the  Sanskrit,  observes  that  the  sravana  of  the  Indian  zodiac 
alludes  to  a  legend  which  is  very  celebrated  among  the  Hindoos, 
and  which  is  recorded  in  most  of  their  sacred  books,  particularly 
in  the  Bhdgavat  Pdrdnd.  Vishnu,  wishing  to  punish  the  pride 
of  a  giant,  who  thought  himself  as  powerful  as  the  gods,  present 
ed  himself  before  him  in  the  form  of  a  dwarf,  and  begged  him  to 
give  him  in  his  vast  empire  the  space  which  he  could  inclose  by 
three  of  his  paces.  The  giant  smilingly  granted  his  request ;  but 
immediately  the  dwarf  grew  so  prodigiously  that  with  two  paces 
he  measured  the  distance  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
As  he  demanded  a  place  to  set  his  foot  for  the  third  pace,  the 
giant  recognized  the  god  Vishnu,  and  prostrated  himself  before 
him.  This  fact  explains  so  well  the  figure  of  the  naJcchatra  named 
sravana,  that  it  seems  difficult  to  admit  that  the  sign  can  be 
connected  with  that  of  ollin,  as  cipactli  and  the  Mexican  Noah, 
Teo-cipactli,  are  connected  with  the  constellation  Capricornus 
and  with  Deucalion,  placed  formerly  in  Aquarius. 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  HUMBOLDT.  153 

We  have  thus  developed  the  connection  which  exists  between 
the  signs  composing  the  different  zodiacs  of  India,  of  Thibet,  and 
of  Tartary  and  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  days  and  the  years  of  the 
Mexican  calendar.  We  have  found  that  among  the  proofs  of 
such  connection  the  most  striking  and  the  most  numerous  are 
those  which  are  presented  by  the  cycle  of  twelve  animals,  which 
we  have  designated  by  the  name  of  the  Tartarian  and  Thibetan 
zodiac.  In  terminating  a  discussion  of  which  the  results  are  so 
important  in  regard  to  the  history  of  the  ancient  communication 
of  the  nations,  it  remains  for  us  to  examine  the  last  zodiac  more 
closely,  and  to  prove  that  in  the  system  of  Asiatic  astronomy, 
with  which  the  Mexican  astronomy  appears  to  have  had  a  com 
mon  origin,  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  presided  not  only  over 
the  months,  but  also  over  the  years,  the  days,  the  hours,  and  even 
the  smallest  divisions  of  the  hours.  .  .  . 

1594  \vherever  we  observe  at  the  same  time  several  divisions 
of  the  ecliptic  which  differ,  not  in  the  number  of  the  signs,  but 
in  their  general  names,  as  the  tse,  the  tchi,  and  the  celestial  ani 
mals  of  the  Chinese,  the  Thibetans,  and  the  Tartars,  this  multi 
plicity  of  signs  is  probably  due  to  a  mixture  of  several  nations, 
which  have  been  subjugated  one  by  another.  The  effects  of  this 
mixture,  particularly  of  the  influence  exercised  by  the  conquerors 
upon  the  conquered,  are  especially  manifest  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  Asia,  in  which  the  languages,  in  spite  of  the  great  num 
ber  of  Mongolian  and  Tartarian  roots  which  they  contain,  differ 
so  essentially  among  themselves,  that  they  seem  to  be  incapable 
of  any  methodical  classification.  The  greater  the  distance  from 
Thibet  and  Hindostan,  the  greater  the  difference  in  the  type  of 
the  civil  institutions,  in  knowledge,  and  in  culture.  Now,  if  the 
tribes  of  Eastern  Siberia,  among  whom  the  dogmas  of  Buddhism 
have  evidently  penetrated,  show  but  feebly  their  connection 
with  the  civilized  nations  of  Eastern  Asia,  we  need  not  be  sur 
prised  that  in  the  New  Continent  we  find  only  a  few  points  of 
analogy  in  the  traditions,  in  the  chronology,  and  in  the  style  of 
the  ancient  monuments,  while  in  other  respects  we  discern  a 
great  number  of  striking  differences.  When  nations  of  Tartarian 
or  Mongolian  origin,  transplanted  to  foreign  shores,  mixed  with 
the  hordes  indigenous  to  America,  and  traced  out  painfully  a 
path  toward  civilization,  their  languages,  their  mythology,  their 
divisions  of  time,  all  took  a  character  of  individuality  which 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

effaced,  so  to  say,  the  primitive  type  of  their  national  physiog 
nomy.  .  .  . 

1597  Thibet   and    Mexico  present  very  remarkable  traits  of 
connection  in  their  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  in  the  number  of 
their  religious  fraternities,  in  the  extreme  austerity  of  their  pen 
ances,  and  in  the  order  of  the  processions.     It  is  impossible  to 
fail  to  be  struck  with  these  resemblances,  when  reading  with 
attention  the  account  which  Cortez  gave  to  the  Emperor  Charles 
the  Fifth  of  his  solemn  entry  into  Cholula,  which  he  called  the 
holy  city  of  the  Mexicans.  .  .  . 

1598  Of  all  the  traits  of  analogy  which  have  been  observed 
in  the  monuments,  in  the  manners,  and  in  the  traditions  of  the 
nations  of  Asia  and  America,  the  most  striking  is  that  which  the 
Mexican  mythology  presents  in  its  fable  regarding  the  system  of 
the  universe,  of    its  periodic    destructions   and    regenerations. 
This  fable,  which  unites  the  idea  of  a  renewal  of  matter  sup 
posed  to  be  indestructible  with  the  completion  of  great  cycles, 
and  which  attributes  to  space  that  which  appears  to  appertain 
only  to  time,  goes  back  to  the  greatest  antiquity.     The  sacred 
books  of  the  Hindoos,  especially  the  Bhdgavat  P&rdnd,  speak 
of  the  four  ages  and  of  the  pralayas,  or  cataclysms,  which  at 
different  epochs  have  caused  the  destruction  of  the  human  spe 
cies.     A  tradition  of  five  ages,  analogous  to  that  of  the  Mexicans, 
is  found  upon  the  plateau  of  Thibet.     It  is  true  that  this  astro 
logical  fable,  which  has  become  the  basis  of  a  system  of  cos 
mogony,  had  its  birth  in  Hindostan  ;  it  is  probable,  also,  that 
from  there  it  passed  to  the  western  nations  by  the  way  of  Iran 
and  Chaldea.     The  resemblance  between  the  Indian  tradition  of 
the  yugas  and  the  Jcalpas,  the  cycles  of  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Etruria,  and  this  series  of  exterminated  generations,  charac 
terized  by  Hesiod  under  the  emblem  of  four  metals,  should  not 
be  forgotten. 

The  nations  of  Culhua,  or  of  Mexico,  says  Gomara,  who 
wrote  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  believed,  according 
to  their  hieroglyphical  paintings,  that  before  the  sun  which  now 
shines  upon  them,  there  existed  four  others  which  were  de 
stroyed  one  after  another.  The  "five  suns  "  are  as  many  ages  in 
which  our  species  has  been  annihilated  by  inundations,  by  earth 
quakes,  by  a  universal  conflagration,  and  by  the  effect  of  hurri 
canes.  After  the  destruction  of  the  fourth  sun,  the  world  was 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  LOBSCHEID.  155 

plunged  into  darkness  for  the  space  of  twenty-five  years.  It  was 
in  the  middle  of  this  profound  night,  ten  years  before  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  fifth  sun,  that  the  human  race  was  re-created. 

599  As  it  may  cause  surprise  to  find  five  ages,  or  suns,  among 
the  Mexican  tribes,  while  the  Hindoos  and  the  Greeks  admit 
only  four,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Mexican  cosmogony 
is  in  accord  with  that  of  the  Thibetans,  who  also  regard  the 
present  age  as  the  fifth.  If  we  examine  with  care  the  beautiful 
fragment  of  an  earlier  tradition,  preserved  by  Hesiod,  in  which  he 
explains  the  Oriental  system  of  the  renewal  of  nature,  it  will  be 
seen  that  this  author  really  counts  five  creations  in  four  ages. 
He  divides  the  period  of  bronze  into  two  parts,  which  make  up 
the  third  and  fourth  creations  ;  and  it  is  surprising  that  so  clear 
a  passage  has  sometimes  been  misinterpreted. 

We  are  ignorant  as  to  the  number  of  ages  referred  to  in  the 
Sibylline  books  ;  but  we  think  that  the  analogies  which  we  indi 
cate  are  not  accidental,  and  that  it  is  not  without  interest  for  the 
philosophical  history  of  man  to  see  the  same  fables  scattered 
from  Etruria  to  Thibet,  and  from  there  to  the  Cordilleras  of 
Mexico. 

Extracts  from  the  "  Grammar  of  the  Chinese  Language" — by 
the  Hev.  W.  Lobscheid. 

1756  AMERICAN  INDIANS  APPARENTLY  ONE  RACE  WITH  THE 
JAPANESE  AND  EASTERN  ASIATICS. — ...  In  passing  across  the  Isth 
mus  of  Panama,  and  in  Mexico,  I  was  struck  with  the  similarity 
of  architecture  between  the  Chinese  and  these  people.  Instead  of 
excavating  mountains,  instead  of  making  expensive  vaults,  all  the 
principal  edifices  are  erected  on  elevated  ground.  The  tiles  of  the 
roofs  are  concave  and  convex,  just  as  we  have  them  in  China  ; 
the  anchors  of  their  boats  are  the  same  as  we  find  them  in  Japan 
and  the  north  of  China,  i.  e.,  with  four  hooks  without  a  barb  ; 
and  innumerable  other  manners,  customs,  and  peculiarities  of 
civilization  agree  exactly  with  those  of  Eastern  Asia,  as  in  no 
other  country  of  the  world. 

We  now  come  to  inquire  as  to  how  these  tribes  could  reach 
America.  During  the  summer  months,  when  the  sun  did  not  set 
for  one  whole  month,  the  inhabitants  of  the  extreme  parts  of 
Northeastern  Asia,  either  pressed  by  hostile  tribes,  or  from  an  im 
pulse  of  adventure,  must  have  crossed  over  to  the  American  Conti- 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

nent,  where,  either  by  hunting  or  fishing,  they  could  easily  sup 
port  themselves  and  provide  for  their  wants  during  the  coming 
winter.  Wave  after  wave  of  immigration  is  likely  to  have  rolled 
on  ;  and  if  only  at  long  intervals  a  few  returned  to  their  native 
place,  that  was  sufficient  to  account  for  a  knowledge  of  a  large 
Eastern  Continent,  floating  among  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  and 
other  Asiatics. 

The  large  fleets  of  fishing-boats  about  the  coasts  of  Japan  and 
China  are,  we  know,  frequently  overtaken  by  tremendous  gales, 
and  either  destroyed  or  carried  eastward.  We  know  of  Japa 
nese  junks  having  been  picked  up  beyond  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
and  close  to  the  shore  of  America,  after  an  absence  of  more  than 
nine  months.  But  much  more.  Large  fleets  of  war-junks,  some 
times  manned  by  as  many  as  one  hundred  thousand  men,  have 
left  the  coast  of  China  and  Japan,  and  have  been  scattered  by  the 
northwest  gales,  and  but  few  of  these  ever  survived  or  returned. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  these  junks,  being  well  provisioned, 
have  continued  in  their  eastern  course,  until,  within  28°  north 
latitude,  they  fell  in  with  the  trade-wind,  which  compelled  them 
to  change  their  course,  and  carried  them  toward  Mexico  or  Lower 
California,  where  they  laid  the  foundation  of  that  kind  of  civiliza 
tion  which  resembles  so  closely  that  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese. 
Look  at  the  Chinese  dress  five  or  six  centuries  ago,  and  you  have 
the  head-dress  of  the  Mexicans  ;  look  at  the  monstrous  uniforms 
and  coats-of-mail,  and  at  the  head-dress  of  the  Japanese  women, 
and  you  will  be  struck  with  their  similarity  to  the  Mexicans.  As 
all  the  kings,  chiefs,  and  priests — in  one  word,  all  the  creators  of 
that  peculiar  civilization — were  destroyed  by  the  Spaniards,  we 
need  not  wonder  at  the  low  ebb  of  education  of  the  present  race, 
who  are  merely  the  children  of  peasants  and  the  lower  classes. 
Were  Chinese  who  speak  the  different  dialects  and  well  versed 
in  their  own  literature,  and  Japanese  of  education,  well  furnished 
with  ancient  works,  sent  with  scientific  men  to  America,  we 
may  rest  assured,  they  would  soon  decipher  the  inscriptions  now 
fast  going  to  ruin. 

SUMMARY  OF  SIMILARITY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  INDIANS  WITH  THE 
JAPANESE,  CHINESE,  AND  NORTHERN  ASIATICS. — I.  LANGUAGE. 
Monosyllabic,  as  spoken  by  the  Otomi  and  other  tribes.  Hiero 
glyphs,  or  ideographic  characters,  on  the  same  principle  as  the 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  LOBSCHEID.  157 

Chinese  ;  absence  of  the  R  among  the  tribes  where  the  ideo 
graphic  characters  are  found  ;  prevalence  of  hissing  sounds  and 
gutturals,  and  most  words  terminating  in  a  vowel.  2.  Poly 
syllabic  language  of  a  syllabic  character,  representing,  not  sound, 
but  syllables,  as  in  Japan.  Japanese  words  detected  in  the  Indian 
language  ;  Japanese  form  of  the  possessive  case  ;  prevalence  of 
the  R,  and  the  termination  of  every  word  in  a  vowel  except 
theN. 

II.  RELIGION.     The  most  ancient  religion  of  the  Indians,  now 
forming  the  wandering  tribes,  is  the  belief  in  one  Great  Spirit, 
whom  they  worship,  like  the  Japanese  their  Sin  (spirit),  without 
image.     In  both  places,  long,  hortatory  addresses  are  delivered  to 
the  audience,  and  both  exhibit  profound  reverence  of  that  spirit, 
and  deep  religious  feelings.    The  polytheistic  form  of  worship,  as 
found  in  Mexico,  etc.,  is,  according  to  accepted  history,  the  most 
modern  one,  and  was,  if  we  believe  Chinese  legends,  introduced  by 
Buddhists  and  shaman  priests,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century  of  our  era,  which  nearly  coincides  with  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Toltecan  history,  which  is  put  down  at  A.  D.  596.    The 
dragon  or  serpent  worship  was  very  prevalent.     That  the  Chi 
nese  dragon  is  nothing  but  a  serpent,  can  be  proved  from  the  fact 
that  at  this  moment  serpents  are  kept  in  temples  as  representa 
tives  of  the  ancient  dragon.     They  resembled  the  Chinese  and 
(Buddhist)  Japanese  in  their  ideas  of  "  the  transmigration  of  the 
soul ;  in  the  monastic  forms  and  discipline  ;  in  their  penances, 
ablutions,  alms-givings,  and  public  festivals  ;  in  the  worship  of 
their  household  gods  ;  in  the  devotions  of  the  priests  to  the  study 
of  astrology  and  astronomy  ;  in  the  admission  of  virgin  females 
to  the  vows  and  rites  of  the  cloister  ;  in  the  incense  and  chants 
of  their  worship  ;  in  their  use  of  charms  and  amulets  ;  in  some 
of  their  forms  of  burning  their  dead,  and  the  preservation  of  the 
ashes  in  urns,  and  in  the  assumption  of  the  right  to  educate  the 
youth."     Among  other  superstitious  notions  is  the  one  of  a  celes 
tial  dragon  endeavouring  to  devour  the  sun  during  its  eclipse, 
and  their  fondness  for  the  drum,  gong,  and  rattle. 

III.  CUSTOMS.     The  dragon-standard  ;  banner-lances,  as  we 
find  them  in  Chinese  Buddhist  temples  ;   ensigns  and  banners 
stuck  in  a  ferula,  fixed  at  the  back  of  a  warrior.     A  kind  of  her 
aldry  as  we  meet  among  the  Japanese.     Some  of  their  nuptials 
were  symbolized  by  the  ceremony  of  tying  the  garments  of  the 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

two  contracting  parties  together.  There  was  only  one  lawful 
wife,  though  a  plurality  of  concubines.  I  have  already  referred 
to  the  similarity  of  dress,  architecture,  and  anchors  of  ships. 

Physiologically  considered,  there  is  not  the  slightest  difference 
between  these  tribes  and  those  of  Japan  and  China,  and  the  tribes 
among  themselves  differ  no  more  from  each  other  than  the  peo 
ple  of  Europe  of  one  and  the  same  stock. 

Extracts  from  the  "  History  of  the   Conquest  of  Mexico  "—by 
William  H.  Prescott. 

2083  An  obvious  analogy  is  found   in   cosmogonal  traditions 
and  religious  usages.     The   reader  has  already  been  made  ac 
quainted  with  the  Aztec  system  of  four  great  cycles,  at  the  end  of 
each  of  which  the  world  was  destroyed,  to  be  again  regenerated. 
The  belief  in  these  periodical  convulsions  of  nature,  through  the 
agency  of  some  one  or  other  of  the  elements,  was  familiar  to 
many  countries  in  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  ;  and,  though  varying 
in  detail,  the  general  resemblance  of  outline  furnishes  an  argu 
ment  in  favour  of  a  common  origin.     The  fanciful  division  of 
time  into  four  or  five  cycles  or  ages  was  found  among  the  Hin 
doos   ("Asiatic   Researches,"  vol.    ii,  mem.  7),   the   Thibetans 
(Humboldt,  "  Vues  des  Cordilleres,"  p.  210),  the  Persians  (Bailly, 
"  Traite  de  PAstronomie,"  Paris,  1787,  tome  i,  discours  prelimi- 
naire),  the  Greeks  (Hesiod,  ""Epya  KCU  -H^epai,"  v,  108  et  seq.), 
and  other  people,  doubtless.  .  .  . 

2084  "  I  have  purposely  omitted  noticing  the  resemblance  of  re 
ligious  notions,  for  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  to  separate 
from  such  views  every  influence  of  Christian  ideas,  if  it  be  only 
from  an  imperceptible  confusion  in  the  mind  of  the  narrator." 
(Quoted  from  Vater's  "  Mithridates,"  Berlin,  1812,  Theil  III, 
Abtheil  3,  p.  82,  note.)  .  .  . 

15  These  coincidences  must  be  allowed  to  furnish  an  argu 
ment  in  favour  of  some  primitive  communication  with  that  great 
brotherhood  of  nations  on  the  Old  Continent  among  whom  simi 
lar  ideas  have  been  so  widely  diffused.  The  probability  of  such 
a  communication,  especially  with  Eastern  Asia,  is  much  strength 
ened  by  the  resemblance  of  sacerdotal  institutions,  and  of  some 
religious  rites — as  those  of  marriage  and  the  burial  of  the  dead  ; 
by  the  practice  of  human  sacrifices,  and  even  of  cannibalism — 
traces  of  which  are  discernible  in  the  Mongol  races  ;  and,  lastly, 


COINCIDENCES  NOTED  BY  PRESCOTT.  159 

by  a  conformity  of  social  usages  and  manners  so  striking  that 
the  description  of  Montezuma's  court  may  well  pass  for  that  of 
the  Grand  Khan's,  as  depicted  by  Maundeville  and  Marco  Polo. 
It  would  occupy  too  much  room  to  go  into  details  in  this  mat 
ter,  without  which,  however,  the  strength  of  the  argument  can 
not  be  felt,  nor  fully  established.  It  has  been  done  by  others  ; 
and  an  occasional  coincidence  has  been  adverted  to  in  the  preced 
ing  chapters.  .  .  . 

2086  There  are  certain  arbitrary  peculiarities,  which,  when 
found  in  different  nations,  reasonably  suggest  the  idea  of  some 
previous  communication  between  them.  Who  can  doubt  the 
existence  of  an  affinity,  or  at  least  intercourse,  between  tribes 
who  had  the  same  strange  habit  of  burying  the  dead  in  a  sitting 
posture,  as  was  practiced  to  some  extent  by  most,  if  not  all,  of 
the  aborigines,  from  Canada  to  Patagonia  ?  The  habit  of  burn 
ing  the  dead,  familiar  to  both  Mongols  and  Aztecs,  is,  in  itself, 
but  slender  proof  of  a  common  origin.  The  body  must  be  dis 
posed  of  in  some  way  ;  and  this,  perhaps,  is  as  natural  as  any 
other.  But,  when  to  this  is  added  the  circumstance  of  collecting 
the  ashes  in  a  vase,  and  depositing  the  single  article  of  a  precious 
stone  along  with  them,  the  coincidence  is  remarkable.  Such 
minute  coincidences  are  not  unfrequent  ;  while  the  accumulation 
of  those  of  a  more  general  character,  though  individually  of  little 
account,  greatly  strengthens  the  probability  of  a  communication 
with  the  East.  .  .  . 

2067  A  proof  of  a  higher  kind  is  found  in  the  analogies  of 
science.  We  have  seen  the  peculiar  chronological  system  of  the 
Aztecs — their  method  of  distributing  the  years  into  cycles,  and 
of  reckoning  by  means  of  periodical  series,  instead  of  numbers. 
A  similar  process  was  used  by  the  various  Asiatic  nations  of  the 
Mongol  family,  from  India  to  Japan.  .  .  . 

2088  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  reconcile  the  knowledge  of  Oriental 
science  with  the  total  ignorance  of  some  of  the  most  serviceable 
and  familiar  arts,  as  the  use  of  milk  and  iron,  for  example— arts 
so  simple,  yet  so  important  to  domestic  comfort,  that,  when  once 
acquired,  they  could  hardly  be  lost.  .  .  .  Yet  there  have  been 
people  considerably  civilized,  in  Eastern  Asia,  who  were  almost 
equally  strangers  to  the  use  of  milk.  ...  It  is  possible,  more 
over,  that  the  migration  may  have  been  previous  to  the  time 
when  iron  was  used  by  the  Asiatic  nation  in  question.  .  .  .  Such 


160  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

is  the  explanation,  unsatisfactory  indeed,  but  the  best  that  sug 
gests  itself,  of  this  curious  anomaly.  .  .  . 

2089  TI^  reader  of  the  preceding  pages  may,  perhaps,  acquiesce 
in  the  general  conclusions — not  startling  by  their  novelty  : 

First,  that  the  coincidences  are  sufficiently  strong  to  authorize 
a  belief  that  the  civilization  of  Anahuac  was,  in  some  degree,  in 
fluenced  by  that  of  Eastern  Asia  ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  discrep 
ancies  are  such  as  to  carry  back  the  communication  to  a  very 
remote  period — so  remote,  that  this  foreign  influence  has  been 
too  feeble  to  interfere  materially  with  the  growth  of  what  may 
be  regarded,  in  its  essential  features,  as  a  peculiar  and  indigenous 
civilization. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SHORTER   ESSAYS. 

"  Where  was  Fu-sang  ?  " — by  the  Rev.  Nathan  Brown,  D.  D. — Difficulties  attending 
a  decision— Horses — Grapes — Reason  for  thinking  Fu-sang  more  distant  than 
Japan — Length  of  the  li — Distances  of  the  route — Difficulties  attending 
Klaproth's  theory — The  military  expeditions  of  the  Japanese — The  introduc 
tion  of  the  Buddhist  religion — The  Hans — Great  Han — Identification  of  the 
fu-sang  tree  with  the  bread-fruit  tree — Conclusion — Remarks  of  the  Abbe 
Brasseur  de  Bourbourg — The  paper  and  books  of  the  Mexicans  and  Central 
Americans — Civilization  of  New  Mexico — Chinese  boats — Animals — Mr.  Lc- 
land's  "  Fusang" — An  earlier  article — Who  discovered  America  ?— J.  Hanlay's 
essay — The  fu-sang  tree  identified  with  the  maguey — Metals — Resemblance 
in  religion  and  customs — Also  in  features — Language — Civilization  on  Pacific 
coast — Letter  of  Mr.  Th.  Simson — The  Mexican  aloe— The  fu-sang  tree — 
Japan — Letter  of  E.  Bretschneider,  M.  D. — Accounts  of  Fu-sang  by  the 
Chinese  poets — "The  Kingdom  of  Women" — Verdict  of  Father  Ilyacinth — 
The  distance — Horses  and  deer — The  fu-sang  tree — The  t'ung  tree — The  paper- 
mulberry — Metals—"  The  Kingdom  of  Women  "  and  Salt  Lake  City — Fu-sang 
not  Japan — Ta-han  in  Siberia — Envoys  from  Fu-sang — Contradictory  fancies 
— Mr.  Leland's  criticism — Letter  of  Fere  Gaubil — Unreliability  of  Chinese 
texts — The  peopling  of  Japan — Chinese  knowledge  of  surrounding  countries — 
Remarks  of  Humboldt — Letter  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Channing  M.  Williams — The 
Chinese  "  Classic  of  Mountains  and  Seas  " — Fabulous  stories — Translation  of 
extracts  therefrom — Remarks  of  M.  Leon  de  Rosny — Passage  from  Asia  to 
America — The  distance — Character  of  the  Esquimaux — An  article  from  a 
newspaper  of  British  Columbia — Discovery  of  Chinese  coins  in  the  bank  of  a 
creek— Evidence  that  they  had  been  buried  for  a  long  time. 

"  Where  was  Fu-sang  f  " — by  the  Rev.  Nathan  Brown,  D.  Z>.850 

IT  is  not  a  little  amusing  to  observe  the  regularity  with  which 
the  discovery  of  an  ancient  connection  between  China  and  Mex 
ico  annually  goes  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers. 

The  author  of  the  discovery  is  generally  stated  to  be  Pro 
fessor  Karl  Neumann,  who  has  lit  upon  some  old  Chinese  record 
containing  it  ;  but  no  dates  are  given  for  verifying  the  fact,  and 
no  translation  of  the  documents  upon  which  he  relies. 
11 


162  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  following  paragraph,  from  the  first  chapter  of  Riviero's 
"  Peruvian  Antiquities,"  translated  by  Dr.  Hawks,  is  somewhat 
more  definite.  After  speaking  of  various  theories  framed  in  ref 
erence  to  the  colonization  of  America,  he  says  : 

"  But  the  hypothesis  which  in  importance  surpasses  all  these 
is  that  of  de  Guignes,  who,  relying  upon  the  chronicles  of 
China,  attributes  Peruvian  civilization  to  emigration  proceeding 
from  the  i  Celestial  Empire,'  or  the  East  Indies.  Recent  inves 
tigations  would  seem  to  confirm  this  opinion."  .  .  . 

Signer  Riviero  goes  on  to  say  there  is  "  no  doubt "  that  Que- 
tzalcoatl,  Bochica,  Manco  Capac,  and  other  reformers  of  Central 
America  were  Buddhist  priests.  Such  random  assertions  are  a 
positive  injury  to  archaeological  science  ;  they  destroy  confidence, 
not  only  in  the  author  who  makes  them,  but  in  antiquarian  re 
searches  generally.  The  connection  of  the  Mexican  mythology 
with  Buddhism  is  a  thing  to  be  proved,  not  assumed  as  a  matter 
beyond  doubt.  Buddhism  is  the  most  gentle  and  inoffensive  of 
all  the  heathen  religions  ;  it  is  as  unlike  to  the  bloody  religion 
of  the  Aztecs  as  it  is  to  the  cruel  rites  of  the  Brahmanical  wor 
shipers  of  Siva  and  Durga.  If  an  idol  is  to  be  found  in  Yuca 
tan  combining  these  two  opposite  forms  of  worship,  it  is  a 
phenomenon  well  worth  the  study  of  the  learned.  But,  before 
attempting  a  solution  of  the  enigma,  we  want  certain  proof  that 
such  a  combination  exists.  .  .  . 

The  difficulties  presented  ...  are  formidable,  whether,  with 
Klaproth,  we  suppose  that  the  Chinese  account  refers  to  Japan, 
or  with  de  Guignes,  that  it  refers  to  America.  The  former 
asserts  that  neither  the  vine  nor  horses  were  known  in  America 
till  after  the  time  of  Columbus,  and  that  this  circumstance  alone 
disproves  the  theory  of  de  Guignes.  But  such  a  summary  dis 
posal  of  the  question  can  not  be  admitted.  The  fossil  remains 
of  this  continent  have  not  been  sufficiently  examined  to  decide 
that  the  bones  of  the  horse  are  not  among  them.  But  were  this 
point  settled,  it  would  still  be  very  supposable  that  some  other 
animal  might  be  intended  by  the  word  translated  "horses."  In 
regard  to  the  grape,  M.  Klaproth  is  certainly  mistaken.  New 
England,  as  early  as  the  year  1000,  was  called  by  the  Norwe 
gians  Vinland,  or  "  the  Land  of  Vines,"  from  the  abundance  of 
grapes  which  they  found  there. 

The  narrative  of  Hoei  Shin  is  classed  by  Klaproth  with  the 


SHORTER  ESSAYS. 


163 


stories  and  exaggerations  of  the  Chinese  poets,  who  make  Bu 
sang  their  land  of  fables,  a  country  lying  in  the  remote  East, 
where  the  sun  rises  and  makes  his  toilet.  .  .  . 

Other  passages  say  that  beyond  the  Southeastern  Ocean,  be 
tween  the  Kan-shui,  or  "  Sweet  Rivers,"  lies  the  kingdom  of 
Ghi-wa-kof,  where  lived  the  virgin  Ghi-wa,  or  Ili-ho,  who  mar 
ried  the  prince  of  Ghi-ica  and  gave  birth  to  ten  suns. 

But  these  fables  are  rather  against  than  in  favour  of  M.  Klap- 
roth's  theory  ;  for  the  poets  would  have  been  more  likely  to 
select,  as  the  scene  of  the  marvelous,  a  remote  and  unknown 
country  rather  than  one  so  near  as  Japan.  The  life-like  particu 
larity  of  Hoei  Shin's  account  evidently  raises  it  out  of  the  region 
of  fable,  and  compels  us  to  regard  it  as  a  matter-of-fact  descrip 
tion  of  some  existing  country.  But  where  is  Ta-han?  De  Guig- 
nes  says  this  country  is  Kamtchatka  ;  Klaproth  says  it  is  Taraikai, 
or  Saghalien.  .  .  . 

The  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  Hoang-ho  to  the  coast  of 
North  America,  by  a  direct  eastern  course,  would  be  from  6,500 
to  7,000  miles  ;  corresponding  very  well  to  20,000  Chinese  li,  as  at 
present  reckoned.  But  the  question  arises,  whether  Hoei  Shin  in 
tends  to  say  that  Fit-sang  is  equally  distant  from  China  and  from 
Ta-han,  or  whether  he  means  that  Fa-sang  is  at  the  same  dis 
tance  from  Ta-han  that  Ta-han  is  from  China.  The  latter  sense 
would  require  the  translation  to  read  :  "  Fu-sang  is  20,000  li  east  of 
the  country  of  Ta-han,  and  it  [meaning  Ta-han]  is  equally  distant 
to  the  east  of  China."  This  would  locate  Ta-han  on  the  road  to 
Fu-sang,  instead  of  making  Ta-han  and  China  the  basis  of  an 
isosceles  triangle,  of  which  Fu-sang  is  the  apex.  It  would  render 
the  account  more  natural  and  consistent  ;  for  if  Fu-sang  is  in 
an  easterly  direction  from  both  the  other  countries,  we  must  infer 
that  the  three  were  nearly  in  a  line. 

If  we  adopt  Li-yan-cheits  statement  of  the  route  to  Ta-han, 
whether  the  latter  be  Saghalien  or  Kamtchatka,  we  must  contract 
our  estimate  of  the  U,  and  that  will  bring  Fu-sang  proportionately 
nearer. 

As  navigation  in  those  early  times  was  generally  along  the 
shore,  with  very  little  means  of  accurately  measuring  distances 
by  water,  it  will  not  perhaps  be  unreasonable  to  allow,  on  the 
average,  six  nautical  li  to  the  mile,  and  then  20,000  K  would 
just  be  sufficient  to  land  us  in  Oregon  or  California.  From  the 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

southern  point  of  Kamtchatka  to  Alaska  the  distance  is  about 
one  thousand  miles,  and  to  Oregon  as  much  farther  ;  so  that  of 
the  20,000  li,  or  3,300  miles,  we  would  have  a  surplus  of  1,300 
miles  to  allow  for  the  windings  along  the  coast.  The  stages  of 
the  voyage  would  then  become  :  From  Corea  to  the  chief  port  in 
Japan  (making  a  very  large  allowance  for  winding  course),  2,000 
miles  ;  thence  to  Wen-shin  (either  in  Jesso  or  Saghalien),  1,100 
miles  ;  thence  to  Kamtchatka,  800  miles  ;  thence  to  Fu,-sang,  a 
long  stretch  of  3,300  miles. 

Thus  we  see  there  is  no  insuperable  objection  to  the  theory 
of  de  Guignes.  On  the  contrary,  the  supposition  of  Klaproth, 
that  Fa-sang  was  the  southern  part  of  Japan,  involves  us  in  inex 
tricable  difficulties. 

It  makes  Li-yan-cheu  and  Hoei  Shin  contradict  each  other : 
one  affirming  that  Japan  is  12,000  li  distant,  the  other  that  it  is 
20,000  ;  one  declaring  that  it  is  east  of  Ta-han,  the  other  that  it  is 
directly  south.  Klaproth  endeavours  to  show  that  thefu-sang  tree 
is  the  mulberry,  of  which  the  Japanese  make  paper  ;  but  it  would 
be  very  difficult  to  discover  any  resemblance  between  a  mulberry- 
plant  and  the  shoot  of  a  young  bamboo.  Nor  would  its  fruit  be 
compared  to  a  pear,  which  it  does  not  at  all  resemble  in  form. 
At  the  period  in  question,  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century, 
Japan  was  governed  by  the  tyrant  Burets  Teno,  who,  according 
to  the  imperial  annals,  sent  some  thousands  of  soldiers  to  destroy 
a  rival.  Of  course,  it  could  not  be  said  of  such  a  people  :that 
"  they  had  neither  arms  nor  troops." 

The  northern  and  southern  prisons,  described  by  Hoei  Shin, 
find  no  confirmation  in  the  Japanese  annals.  There  is  no  evi 
dence  that  the  Japanese  reared  stags  instead  of  cattle  ;  they  were 
not  without  iron,  nor  did  they  esteem  gold  and  silver  of  no  ac 
count  Finally,  as  Klaproth  himself  acknowledges,  the  Buddhist 
religion  was  not  introduced  into  Japan  till  the  year  552,  when  it 
was  brought  in  from  Corea  ;  consequently,  the  priest  Hoei  Shin 
could  not  have  spoken  of  it  as  the  religion  of  the  country  in  the 
year  500. 

But  another  supposition  still  remains.  The  Han  were  a  peo 
ple,  rather  than  a  country  :  Ta-han,  the  Great  Han.  The  Hans 
were  among  the  oldest  of  the  Chinese  races  ;  they  occupied  the 
northern  part  of  the  empire,  overspread  Corea,  and  ultimately 
became  masters  of  Japan.  The  Japanese  historians  trace  back 


SHORTER  ESSAYS.  165 

their  line  of  emperors  to  Eu-kung,  king  of  Chou,  whose  great- 
grandson,  Wu-wang,  became  emperor  of  China,  1122  B.  c.  The 
kings  of  Chou  were  of  the  Han  race.  Gutzlaff  says  "  the  state  of 
Han  [424  to  230  B.  c.]  was  ruled  by  a  line  of  kings  who  traced 
their  descent  from  the  founders  of  the  Chou  dynasty."  ("  Chin. 
Hist.,"  p.  202.)  Klaproth  gives  us  the  testimony  of  Chinese 
writers  that  Wu  T'ai-pe,  elder  son  of  Ku-kung,  prince  of  Chou, 
founded  the  kingdom  of  WM,  where  his  descendants  reigned  659 
years.  Being  conquered  and  driven  out  by  the  king  of  Yue, 
they  sailed  for  Japan,  and  became  the  founders  of  that  empire  : 
"  The  children,  the  grandchildren,  and  the  relatives  of  the  last 
king  of  Wuy  put  to  sea,  and  became  the  Wo  or  Japanese."  In 
the  third  century  of  our  era,  these  Han  rulers  of  Japan  took 
possession  of  Corea,  which,  after  the  fall  of  the  Han  dynasty  in 
China,  appears  to  have  become  the  general  rendezvous  of  the 
Han  races.  The  country  was  known  as  that  of  the  San-han,  or 
San-kan,  the  " Three  Hans"  namely,  the  Ma-han,  composed  of 
fifty-four  tribes,  the  Shin-han,  twelve  tribes,  and  the  Pian-han, 
also  twelve  tribes.  It  is  highly  probable  that  Hoei  Shin,  in 
speaking  of  the  country  of  the  Great  Han,  meant  Japan,  in  dis 
tinction  from  Corea,  the  common  residence  of  the  three  principal 
Han  families. 

It  would  seem,  from  the  descriptions  by  other  writers,  of  coast 
wise  and  overland  journeys  to  the  Great  Han,  that  this  term  was 
also  used  for  a  more  northerly  region,  either  the  northern  part  of 
Japan  (including  Saghalien)  or  a  portion  of  the  continent.  With 
these  accounts  the  narrative  of  Hoei  Shin  has  no  necessary  con 
nection.  It  is  a  strong  argument  in  favour  of  a  Southern  Ta-han 
as  a  point  of  departure  for  America,  that  it  would  make  the 
deviation  from  an  eastern  course  far  less  than  by  the  northern 
route. 

We  must  wait  for  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  the  former 
flora  and  fauna  of  America  before  we  can  identify,  with  any  cer 
tainty,  the  plants  and  animals  mentioned  by  Hoei  Shin.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  maguey,  or  Mexican  aloe,  is  the  fu-sang ; 
but  we  think  a  more  substantial  tree  is  indicated.  In  many  re 
spects  the  description  would  agree  better  with  some  tree  of  the 
bread-fruit  family,  which  includes  the  artocarpus,  moms  or  mul 
berry,  maclura,  and  fig.  Of  the  bread-fruit  no  less  than  fifty 
varieties  are  enumerated  as  indigenous  to  the  South  Sea  Islands, 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  have  been  abundant 
in  the  tropical  regions  of  the  American  coast.*  Williams,  in  his 
"  Narrative  of  Missionary  Enterprises,"  gives  this  description  of 
the  most  common  variety  : 

"  Among  all  the  trees  that  adorn  the  islands  of  the  Pacific, 
the  bread-fruit  deserves  the  pre-eminence  for  its  beauty  and  value. 
It  frequently  grows  fifty  or  sixty  feet  high,  and  has  a  trunk  be 
tween  two  and  three  feet  in  diameter.  The  leaves  are  broad  and 
sinuated,  something  similar  in  form  to  those  of  the  fig-tree. 
They  are  frequently  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  of  a  dark- 
green  colour,  with  a  glossy  surface  resembling  that  of  the  richest 
evergreens.  The  fruit  is  oval,  about  six  inches  in  diameter,  and 
of  a  light  pea-green."  Ellis  adds  that  "it  subsequently  changes 
to  brown,  and  when  fully  ripe  assumes  a  rich  yellow  tinge." 

Williams  continues  :  "  The  value  of  this  wonderful  tree  ex 
ceeds  its  beauty.  It  is  everything  to  the  natives — their  house, 
their  food,  their  clothing.  The  trunk  furnishes  one  of  the  best 
kinds  of  timber  they  possess.  It  is  the  colour  of  mahogany,  ex 
ceedingly  durable,  and  is  used  by  the  natives  in  building  their 
canoes  and  houses,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  the  few  articles  of 
furniture  they  formerly  possessed.  From  the  bark  of  the 
branches  they  fabricate  their  clothing  ;  and,  when  the  tree  is 
punctured,  there  exudes  from  it  a  mucilaginous  fluid,  resembling 
thick  cream,  which  hardens  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  and,  when 
boiled,  answers  all  the  purposes  of  English  pitch.  The  fruit  is, 
to  the  South  Sea  Islander,  the  staff  of  life.  It  bears  two  crops 
every  season.  Besides  this,  there  are  several  varieties  which 
ripen  at  different  periods,  so  that  the  natives  have  a  supply 
of  this  palatable  and  nutritious  food  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  year." 

Our  conclusion  is  this  :  That  the  narrative  of  Iloei  Shin  is  en 
titled  to  full  credence  ;  that  before  the  Anglo-Saxons  invaded 
England  ,•  before  France  became  a  nation  ;  a  hundred  years  be 
fore  the  birth  of  Mohammed,  and  more  than  fourteen  hundred 

*  The  bread-fruit  tree,  like  its  congener,  the  jack-tree  of  India,  requires  care 
for  its  preservation,  and  its  non-cultivation  in  a  particular  country  at  the  present 
time  does  not  prove  its  non-existence  a  thousand  years  ago.  Mr.  Ellis  ("  Polynesian 
Researches,"  chap,  ii.)  says  the  tree  "  is  propagated  by  slips  from  the  root " ;  but 
he  expresses  his  fear  that  it  will  in  a  few  years  become  scarce,  as  the  indolent  na 
tives  "  are  generally  adverse  to  the  planting  of  bread-fruit  trees." 


SHORTER  ESSAYS.  167 

years  before  the  daring  Columbus  ventured  upon  unknown  waters 
in  search  of  a  new  world,  the  Orientals  were  passing  and  repassing 
the  broad  Pacific,  from  China  to  the  American  coast,  either  by 
the  shore  line,  where  the  current  would  aid  in  carrying  them 
around  and  down  the  Mexican  coast,  or  by  a  direct  route  over 
calmer  seas,  passing  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  falling  into  the 
Mexican  current  a  little  north  of  Peru  ;  that,  previous  to  the 
year  500,  there  was  an  empire  on  this  continent  which  must 
have  rivaled  China  in  civilization,  laws,  and  good  government ; 
that  its  ruler  was  so  powerful  as  to  maintain  his  authority  with 
out  the  use  of  armies  ;  that  the  people  had  a  written  language  ; 
that  they  used,  in  their  reckoning  of  time,  the  Chinese  cycle  of 
sixty  years  ;  that  they  had  domestic  animals,  and  used  wheel 
carriages  ;  that  among  the  chief  productions  of  the  country  was 
a  tree  resembling  or  identical  with  the  bread-fruit  tree  ;  that  the 
Buddhist  religion  had  been  recently  introduced,  but  had  not 
exterminated  the  more  ancient  idolatry,  which  consisted  in  the 
worship  of  images  representing  spirits.  These  general  facts  we 
consider  established  on  as  good  authority  as  we  could  ask  for — 
that  of  a  Buddhist  priest,  probably  himself  one  of  the  mission 
aries  to  whom  reference  is  made. 

Remarks  of  the  Abbe  J3rasseur  de  Bourbourg.™ 

Without  undertaking  to  defend  here  the  argument  of  M.  de 
Guignes  regarding  Fu-sang^  recently  revived  by  M.  Gustave 
d'Eichthal  by  the  article  in  which  he  ascribed  the  American 
civilization  to  a  Buddhist  origin,  an  argument  attacked  by  Klap- 
roth  and  more  lately  by  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  we  will, 
since  we  are  upon  known  ground,  digress  sufficiently  to  call  at 
tention  to  some  errors  in  the  article  of  the  latter  in  the  "  Anne*e 
Geographique."  We  shall  not  seek  to  prove  that  either  the/w- 
sang  tree  or  any  very  similar  tree  existed  in  America  ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  most  of  the  books  of  the  natives  that  have  been  pre 
served  to  our  times,  without  counting  those  of  the  collection  of  M. 
Aubin,  are  made  from  the  fibers  of  the  bark  of  a  tree  from  which 
the  Americans  made  a  true  paper.  (See  Gomara,  "  Conquista  de 
Mexico,"  t.  i,  p.  424  ;  Landa,  "  Relacion  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan," 
p.  44  ;  Humboldt,  «  Vues  des  Cordilleres,"  t.  ii,  pp.  269, 304.)  Such 
are,  among  others,  the  "Dresden  Manuscript,"  the  manuscript 
of  the  Imperial  Library,  called  "  Mexican  Manuscript,  No.  2,"  the 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"  Codex  Trdano,"  etc.,  which,  it  may  be  observed,  in  passing,  are 
written  in  alphabetical  characters.  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin 
in  his  article  says  that  writing,  properly  so  called,  or  alphabetical 
writing,  does  not  exist  in  America  ;  nevertheless,  it  was  well  known 
in  1865  that  alphabetical  writing  really  existed,  and  nothing  more 
is  necessary  to  prove  this  than  the  work  of  Landa,  which  the 
scholarly  geographer  cites,  two  pages  farther  on,  which,  if  not 
sufficient  to  satisfy  him  of  its  existence,  should  at  least  have  de 
terred  him  from  stating  the  contrary  in  a  manner  so  absolute. 

He  adds  that  "  it  has  never  been  stated  that  the  miserable 
savages  of  the  northwest  coast  had  a  method  of  writing  or  made 
paper."  There  may,  however,  have  been  other  nations  upon  these 
coasts  at  an  earlier  date  who  were  in  possession  of  these  two  arts  ; 
for  it  is  known,  says  M.  von  Humboldt  ("  Vues  des  Cordilleres," 
t.  ii,  p.  96),  that  in  the  last  century,  "  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Nutka,  the  Mexican  month  of  twenty  days  was  found  in  use," 
which  conveys  the  idea  of  a  state  of  civilization  passably  ad 
vanced.  The  remains  of  gigantic  edifices  have  also  been  found 
from  time  to  time  in  these  quarters,  certainly  the  works  of  a 
people  more  advanced  in  civilization  than  the  miserable  savages 
in  question. 

In  spite  of  Klaproth's  skillful  refutation  of  the  hypothesis 
of  de  Guignes,  it  has  been  reproduced  several  times,  says  Alex 
ander  von  Humboldt,  by  the  pens  of  a  number  of  estimable 
scholars,  who  think  that  they  have  found  in  the  Vinland  of 
Asiatic  explorers  more  than  one  characteristic  trait  of  America. 

It  is  now  unquestionably  established,  moreover,  from  the  ac 
counts  of  the  first  Spanish  explorers,  which  have  been  studied 
upon  the  spot  by  the  Americans  of  our  days,  that  the  countries 
situated  in  the  center  of  the  American  Continent,  and  upon  its 
western  coasts,  from  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Gila  to  the  copper 
mines  of  Lake  Superior,  were  formerly  inhabited  by  tribes  which 
were  scarcely  inferior  in  civilization  to  those  of  Mexico  proper. 
They  existed  only  in  a  state  of  decadence  at  the  time  of  the 
Spanish  conquest,  and  the  remains  of  this  civilization  are  found 
even  now  in  the  villages  of  houses  of  several  stories  in  New 
Mexico. 

As  to  Chinese  or  Japanese  voyages  to  the  northwestern 
coasts  :  from  time  to  time  their  traces  have  been  thought  to  be 
found  in  the  ports  of  California  (Bradford,  "  American  Antiq- 


SHORTER  ESSAYS.  169 

uities,"  p.  233)  ;  and  Gomara  states  that,  at  the  time  of  the  expe 
ditions  of  Cortez  and  Alarcon  in  these  regions,  "  they  heard  of 
boats  which  had  pelicans  of  gold  and  silver  at  the  prow,  which 
were  loaded  with  merchandise,  and  which  they  thought  to  come 
from  Cathay  and  China,  because  the  sailors  of  these  boats  caused 
it  to  be  understood  by  signs  that  their  voyage  had  taken  thirty 
days." 

There  also  exists  a  well-known  tradition,  among  the  inhabit 
ants  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  North  America,  that  men  of  distant 
nations  came  formerly  from  beyond  the  sea  to  trade  at  the  prin 
cipal  ports  of  the  coast  (Bustamante,  "  Supplement  to  Book  III  of 
the  Work  of  Sahagun  ").  It  is  also  known  that  the  northern  tribes 
were  much  more  peaceable  than  the  Mexicans,  and  that  in  their 
country  there  exist  "plains  covered  with  trees,  among  which 
there  are  vines,  mulberries,  and  rose-bushes."  (See,  in  the  collec 
tion  of  Ternaux-Compans,  Castaiieda's  "Relation  du  Voyage 
de  Cibola  en  1540,"  p.  126.) 

They  also  possessed  great  numbers  of  dogs,  which  carried 
their  effects,  and  perhaps  even  the  bison  may  have  been  used 
as  a  draught  animal  and  beast  of  burden  ;  and  it  is  certain,  at 
least,  that  the  chiefs  of  the  country  had  quite  large  herds  of  tame 
deer  and  domestic  bisons  (see  letter  written  by  the  Adelantado 
Soto,  etc.,  in  the  "  Collection  of  Narrations  regarding  Florida," 
edited  by  Ternaux-Compans,  p.  47,  and  in  the  "Relation  of 
Biedma,"  p.  101)  ;  and,  according  to  the  accounts  of  various 
authors,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  used  much  as  are  our 
domestic  animals. 

Gomara,  in  his  "Hist.  Gen.  de  las  Indias,"  in  several  places 
mentions  the  accounts  of  travelers  of  his  days,  and  those  of  the 
conquerors,  who  speak  of  numerous  herds  of  domestic  bisons  ex 
isting  among  the  northern  tribes,  and  which  furnished  them  with 
clothing,  food,  and  drink.  Humboldt  and  Prescott  remark  that 
the  drink  must  have  been  their  blood,  for  the  natives  of  these 
countries  appear  to  have  this,  in  common  with  those  of  China 
and  Cochin-China,  that  they  make  no  use  of  milk  ("  Tableau  de 
la  Nature,"  trad.  Galuski,  Paris,  1863,  p.  213).  It  is  known 
that  other  Indians  in  the  northern  part  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  Canada,  used  certain  large  deers  as  draught  animals  for 
their  sledges,  in  the  same  way  that,  at  the  present  day,  elks  are 
used  by  the  Indians  of  the  country  north  of  Canada. 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

M.  de  Saint-Martin  says  that,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Span 
iards,  neither  draught  animals  nor  beasts  of  burden  were  known 
in  America.  What  can  he  call  the  vicunas  and  llamas  of 
Peru,  which  are  used  as  beasts  of  burden  exactly  as  camels  are 
in  Asia  ?  (See  Cieya  de  Leon,  "  Cronica  del  Peru,"  cap.  ex  and  cxi ; 
and  as  for  North  America,  consult  Gomara,  who  was  the  chap 
lain  of  Cortez.)  "  There  are  also  great  dogs,  capable  of  fighting 
with  a  bull,  and  which  carry  two  arrobas  weight  (fifty  pounds) 
upon  a  sort  of  saddle  when  they  go  to  the  chase."  ("  Hist,  de 
las  Indias,"  p.  289  ;  see  also  Casteiiada,  "  Relation  de  Cibola," 
p.  190.) 

In  any  case,  before  pronouncing  so  positively  as  to  what  is 
known  or  not  known  regarding  the  Americans,  it  seems  to  us 
to  be  prudent  to  wait ;  for  every  day,  it  may  be  said,  throws 
some  new  light  upon  the  diverse  ancient  civilizations  of  the 
continent  discovered  by  Columbus.  The  "Old  Stories  Set 
Afloat "  are  not  always  as  improbable  as  may  be  thought,  and 
M.  Gustave  d'Eichthal  may  be  right  in  his  reply  to  the  scholarly 
editor  of  the  "  Annee  Geographique,"  that  "  old  stories  are  good 
things  to  revive  when  they  are  true  old  stories."  .  .  . 

94  The  Abbe  de  Bourbourg  says,  in  his  introduction  to  the 
"  Popol-Yuh  "  :  "  It  has  been  known  to  scholars  for  nearly  a  cen 
tury  that  the  Chinese  were  acquainted  with  the  American  Con 
tinent  in  the  fifth  century  of  our  era.  .  .  .  Readers,  who  may 
desire  to  make  comparisons  between  the  Japanese  description  of 
Fu-sang  and  some  country  in  America,  will  find  astonishing 
analogies  in  the  countries  described  by  Castaneda  and  Fra  Mar 
cos  de  Niza  in  the  province  of  Cibola."  ...  91  Speaking  of  the 
Mexican  religion,  he  is  constrained  to  say  :  "  Asia  appears  to 
have  been  the  cradle  of  this  religion,  and  of  the  social  institu 
tions  which  it  consecrated." 

The  book,  entitled  "  Fusang  ;  or,  the  Discovert/  of  America 
by  Chinese  Buddhist  Priests  in  the  Fifth  Century?  by  Charles 
G.  Leland  (l%mo,  London,  1875). 

This  work  opens  with  a  memoir  of  Carl  Friedrich  Neumann. 
This  is  followed  by  a  translation  of  Professor  Neumann's  argu 
ment  regarding  Fa-sang,  which  is  succeeded  by  a  chapter  of 
comments  and  suggestions  by  Mr.  Leland.  Then  follows  a  chap 
ter  regarding  the  navigation  of  the  North  Pacific,  and  embody- 


SHORTER  ESSAYS. 

ing  a  letter  from  Colonel  Barclay  Kennon,  setting  forth  the 
ease  with  which  a  voyage  may  be  made  from  Asia  to  America, 
by  way  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  even  in  an  open  canoe,  and 
calling  attention  to  the  frequency  with  which  this  voyage  is 
made  by  the  natives  of  those  regions.  Next  come  a  chapter  of 
remarks  upon  Colonel  Kennon's  letter  and  a  chapter  detailing 
the  venturesome  travels  of  other  Buddhist  priests.  The  affinities 
of  Asiatic  and  American  languages  are  next  considered,  the  pos 
sible  connection  of  the  Mound-builders  with  the  Mexicans  is 
then  discussed,  and  attention  is  called  to  the  wide  distribution 
of  images  of  Buddha,  The  arguments  of  de  Guignes,  Klaproth, 
and  d'Eichthal  are  next  reviewed.  Then  follow  two  letters  from 
Theos.  Simson  and  E.  Bretschneider  respectively,  with  comments 
by  Mr.  Leland.  An  appendix,  describing  the  Ainos,  and  discus 
sing  the  resemblance  between  the  American  Indians  and  the 
tribes  of  Northeastern  Asia,  closes  the  work. 

It  should  be  remarked  that  this  book  is  an  amplification  of 
an  article  written  by  Mr.  Leland,  which  appeared  in  the  "  Gen 
tleman's  Magazine  "  many  years  before,  and  Professor  Williams 
is,  therefore,  wrong  in  stating  that  Mr.  Bancroft's  digest  of  the 
arguments  upon  the  subject  preceded  Mr.  Leland's  argument. 

As  the  article  from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken 
was  credited  by  the  "  Chinese  Recorder  "  (from  which  it  is  here 
copied)  to  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine,"  it  is  probably  Mr.  Le 
land's  early  argument. 

Who  discovered  America?    Evidence  that  the  New  World  was 
knoicn  to  the  Chinese  fourteen  hundred  years  ago. 171 

.  .  .  There  are  among  the  Chinese  records,  not  merely  vague 
references  to  a  country  to  the  west  of  the  Atlantic,  but  there  is 
also  a  circumstantial  account  of  its  discovery  by  the  Chinese 
long  before  Columbus  was  born. 

A  competent  authority  on  such  matters,  J.  Hanlay,  the  Chi 
nese  interpreter  at  San  Francisco,  has  lately  written  an  essay  on 
this  subject,  from  which  we  gather  the  following  startling  state 
ments,  drawn  from  Chinese  historians  and  geographers. 

Fourteen  hundred  years  ago,  even,  America  had  been  discov 
ered  by  the  Chinese,  and  described  by  them.  They  stated  that 
land  to  be  about  twenty  thousand  Chinese  miles  distant  from 
China.  About  five  hundred  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ, 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Buddhist  priests  visited  there,  and  brought  back  the  news  that 
they  had  met  with  Buddhist  idols  and  religious  writings  in  the 
country.  Their  descriptions,  in  many  respects,  resemble  those 
of  the  Spaniards  a  thousand  years  later.  They  called  the  coun 
try  "Ifa-sang"  after  a  tree  that  grew  there,  whose  leaves  re 
semble  those  of  the  bamboo,  of  whose  bark  the  natives  made 
cloths  and  paper,  and  whose  fruit  they  ate.  These  particulars 
correspond  exactly  and  remarkably  with  those  given  by  the 
American  historian,  Prescott,  about  the  maguey-tree  in  Mexico. 
He  states  that  the  Aztecs  prepared  a  pulp  for  paper-making  out 
of  the  bark  of  this  tree.  Then,  even  its  leaves  were  used  for 
thatching ;  its  fibers  for  making  ropes ;  its  roots  yielded  a 
nourishing  food  ;  and  its  sap,  by  means  of  fermentation,  was 
made  into  an  intoxicating  drink.  The  accounts  given  by  the 
Chinese  and  Spaniards,  although  a  thousand  years  apart,  agree 
in  stating  that  the  natives  did  not  possess  any  iron,  but  only 
copper  ;  that  they  made  all  their  tools  for  working  in  stone  and 
metals  out  of  a  mixture  of  copper  and  tin  ;  and  that  they,  in 
comparison  with  the  nations  of  Europe  and  Asia,  thought  but 
little  of  the  worth  of  silver  and  gold.  The  religious  customs  and 
forms  of  worship  presented  the  same  characteristics  to  the  Chi 
nese  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  as  to  the  Spaniards  four  hun 
dred  years  ago. 

There  is,  moreover,  a  remarkable  resemblance  between  the 
religion  of  the  Aztecs  and  the  Buddhism  of  the  Chinese,  as  well 
as  between  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Aztecs  and  those  of 
the  people  of  China.  There  is  also  a  great  similarity  between 
the  features  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  Middle  and  South  America 
and  those  of  the  Chinese,  and,  as  Hanlay,  the  Chinese  interpreter 
of  whom  we  spoke  above,  states,  between  the  accent  and  most  of 
the  monosyllabic  words  of  the  Chinese  and  Indian  languages. 

The  writer  gives  a  list  of  words  which  point  to  a  close 
relationship,  and  infers  therefrom  that  there  must  have  been 
emigration  from  China  to  the  continent  at  a  most  early  period, 
as  the  official  accounts  of  the  Buddhist  priests  fourteen  hundred 
years  ago  notice  these  things  as  existing  even  at  that  time.  Per 
haps  now,  old  records  may  be  recovered  in  China,  which  may 
furnish  full  particulars  of  this  question. 

It  is,  at  any  rate,  remarkable,  and  confirmative  of  the  idea  of 
emigration  from  China  to  America  at  some  remote  period,  that 


SHORTER  ESSAYS.  173 

at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Spaniards,  the 
Indian  tribes  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  opposite  to  China,  for 
the  most  part  enjoyed  a  state  of  culture  of  ancient  growth,  while 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Atlantic  shore  were  found  by  the  Euro 
peans  in  a  state  of  original  barbarism.  .  .  . 

Letter  of  Theos.  Simson.™* 

" ( Buddhist  Priests  in  America.'  Under  this  heading,1719  a  quer 
ist  in  the  last  number  of  *  Notes  and  Queries  '  submits  to  inquiry 
a  statement  of  Professor  Carl  Neumann,  of  Munich,  respecting 
the  supposed  entry  of  Buddhist  priests  into  the  American  Con 
tinent  some  thirteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  their  passage  into 
the  land  of  the  Aztecs,  which  they  called  Fu-sang,  '  after  the 
Chinese  name  of  the  American  aloe.' 

"  Now,  in  the  first  place,  this  statement,  if  true,  inf erentially 
proves  much  more  than  it  asserts  ;  the  Mexican  aloe  is  a  native 
of  Mexico  only,  and  it  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  if  these  sup 
posed  Chinese  travelers  named  the  country  after  the  Chinese 
name  of  the  Mexican  aloe,  that  plant  must  have  been  well  known 
to  them  before  the  period  of  their  visit  to  its  native  country  ; 
hence,  we  are  carried  further  back,  to  a  time  when  the  Mexican 
aloe  must  have  been  known  in  China,  and  we  must  allow  a  con 
siderable  period  for  it  to  have  become  so  well  known  as  to  sug 
gest  to  the  travelers  a  name  for  a  newly  discovered — or,  as  it 
must  needs  have  been  in  this  view,  a  rediscovered — country.  This 
consideration  takes  us  back  into  the  question  of  the  original 
peopling  of  the  American  Continent,  to  the  age  of  stone  or 
bronze,  perhaps,  which  is  beyond  the  intended  scope  of  the 
querist's  quotation. 

"At  the  period  'when  the  land  of  Fu-sang  is  first  mentioned 
by  historians,'  China,  exclusive  of  the  neighbouring  *  barbarous 
tribes,'  over  whom  she  held  sway,  was  not  so  extensive  as  she  is 
at  present,  but  comprised  only  what  we  now  call  the  Northern 
and  Central  Provinces.  Does  the  Mexican  aloe  grow  in  that 
part  of  the  country  at  all  ?  I  am  inclined  to  think  not,  though 
I  can  not  speak  positively  upon  the  point.  In  Canton  it  is  said 
by  the  Chinese  to  have  been  introduced  from  the  Philippine  Isl 
ands,  and  is  called  Spanish  (or  Philippine)  hemp,  its  fibers  being 
sometimes  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  mosquito-nets. 

"But  the  fu-sang  (or,  more  correctly,  the  fu-sang  free),  as 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

described  in  Chinese  botanical  works,  appears  to  be  a  malvaceous 
plant ;  at  any  rate,  whatever  it  may  be,  it  certainly  is  not  the 
Mexican  aloe,  or  anything  similar  to  it. 

"The  land  of  Fu-sang  is  described  by  Chinese  authors  as  be 
ing  in  the  Eastern  Sea,  in  the  place  where  the  sun  rises.  Consid 
ering  the  geographical  limits  of  China  at  the  time  referred  to 
(some  thirteen  hundred  years  ago),  surely  we  need  not  look  far 
ther  than  Japan  for  a  very  probable  identification  of  the  Fu-sang 
country  according  with  this  description,  which  indeed  appears  to 
be  embodied  in  the  more  modern  name  Jih-pen-kicoh,  '  Japan,' 
which  is  translatable  as  the  '  Country  of  the  Rising  Sun.'  It  is 
a  matter  of  fact,  too,  that  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  that 
country  some  thirteen  hundred  years  ago  ;  and  this  by  no  means 
extraordinary  event  is  a  very  much  more  probable  version  of 
the  incident  referred  to  than  the  marvelous  story  given  by  Pro 
fessor  Neumann." 

"  Fa-sang  ;  or,  Who  Discovered  America" — ly  E.  Bretschnei- 
der,  M.  D.  714 

"  In  the  May  number  of  the  f  Chinese  Recorder '  there  is  an 
article,  reproduced  from  the  '  Gentleman's  Magazine,'  in  which 
it  is  sought  to  be  proved  that  the  Chinese  had  discovered  Ameri 
ca  as  early  as  500  A.  D.  .  .  .  I  have  not  read  the  dissertations  of 
M.  Paravey.  ...  I  am  also  equally  unacquainted  with  the  article 
of  Mr.  Neumann  ...  I  believe,  however,  that  the  Chinese  no 
tices  about  Fu-sang  are  all  derived  from  one  and  the  same  source, 
and  each  and  all  rest  upon  the  statements  of  a  lying  Buddhist 
priest,  Hui-shen,  who  asserts  that  he  was  in  Fu-sang.  .  .  . 

"In  later  times  the  Chinese  poets,  who  seem  to  be  gifted 
with  a  much  livelier  imagination  than  some  of  our  savants,  have 
developed  and  richly  embellished  the  reports  with  regard  to  the 
land  of  Fu-sang,  and  have  made  out  of  it  a  complete  land  of  fa 
bles,  where  mulberry-trees  grow  to  a  height  of  several  thousand 
feet,  and  where  silk-worms  are  found  more  than  six  feet  in 
length.  The  statements  about  Fu-sang  given  by  M.  Leon  de 
Rosny,  in  his  *  Yarietes  Orientales,'  from  a  Japanese  Encyclo 
paedia,  are  probably  borrowed  from  the  Chinese.  I  have  not, 
however, read  M.  Rosny's  work.  (Cf.  'Notes  and  Queries,'  vol. 
iv,  p.  19.) 

"  In  order  to  place  the  credibility  of  the  Buddhist  priest  Hid- 


SHORTER  ESSAYS. 


175 


sh$n  in  the  proper  light,  I  will  yet  mention  what  he  further  re 
lates  of  his  journeys.  He  asserts,  namely  (loco  citato),  that  there 
is  a  kingdom,  1,000  li  east  of  Fu-sang,  in  which  there  are  no  men, 
but  only  women,  whose  bodies  are  completely  covered  with  hair. 
When  they  wish  to  become  pregnant,  they  bathe  themselves  in 
a  certain  river.  The  women  have  no  mammae,  but  tufts  of  hair 
on  the  neck,  by  means  of  which  they  suckle  their  children. 

"  Upon  these  vague  and  incredible  traditions  of  a  Buddhist 
monk,  several  European  savants  have  based  the  hypothesis  that 
the  Chinese  had  discovered  America  1,300  years  ago.  Neverthe 
less,  it  appears  to  me  that  these  Sinologues  have  not  succeeded 
in  robbing  Columbus  of  the  honour  of  having  discovered  Amer 
ica.  They  might  have  spared  themselves  the  writing  of  such 
learned  treatises  on  this  subject.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  ver 
dict  passed  upon  the  value  of  the  information  of  the  Buddhist 
monk  Hui-shtn  by  Father  Hyacinth  is  the  most  correct.  This 
well-known  Sinologue  adds  the  following  words  merely,  after  the 
translation  of  the  article  '  Fu-sang  J  out  of  the  '  History  of  the 
Southern  Dynasties  '  :  '  Hui-shen  appears  to  have  been  a  consum 
mate  humbug.'  (Cf.  '  The  People  of  Central  Asia/  by  F.  Hya 
cinth.) 

"  I  cannot,  indeed,  understand  what  ground  we  have  for  be 
lieving  that  Fu-sang  is  America.  We  can  not  lay  great  stress 
upon  the  asserted  distance,  for  every  one  knows  how  liberal  the 
Chinese  are  with  numbers.  By  tamed  stags  we  can,  at  all  events, 
only  understand  reindeer.  But  these  are  found  as  frequently  in 
Asia  as  in  America.  Mention  is  also  made  of  horses  in  Fu-sang. 
This  does  not  at  all  agree  with  America,  for  it  is  well  known  that 
horses  were  first  brought  to  America  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Neumann  appears  to  base  his  hypothesis  on  the  assumption  that 
the  tree  fit-sang  is  synonymous  with  the  Mexican  aloe.  Mr. 
Sampson  has  already  refuted  this  error.  ('  Notes  and  Queries,' 
vol.  iii,  p.  78.) 

"According  to  the  descriptions  and  drawings  of  the  tree/w- 
sang,  given  by  the  Chinese,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  a  malvacea. 
In  Pekin,  the  Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis  is  designated  by  this  name, 
while  Hibiscus  Syriacus  is  here  called  mu-Jcin.  These  names  seem 
to  hold  good  for  the  whole  of  China.  The  description  which 
is  given  in  the  Pun-tsdo-Jcang-mu  of  both  plants  (xxxvi,  pp.  64  and 
65)  admits  of  no  doubt  that  by  the  tree  fu-sang,  chu-kin,  chi-kin, 


176  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ji-Jsij  is  to  be  understood  Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis.  It  is  also 
mentioned  that  this  tree  has  a  likeness  to  the  mu-kin  (Hibiscus 
Syriacus).  Its  leaves  resemble  the  mulberry-tree.  •  Very  good 
drawings  of  both  kinds  of  hibiscus  are  found  in  the  Chi-wu-ming- 
shi-tu-k'ao  (xxxv,  pp.  58  and  34).  The  Buddhist  priest  Hui-shen 
compares  the  tree  fu-sang  with  the  tree  fung.  Under  this 
name  the  Chinese  denote  different  large-leaved  trees.  In  the 
Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-tfao  (xxx,  p.  46),  the  tree  fung  is  represented 
with  broadly  ovate,  cordate,  entire,  great  leaves,  and  with  great 
ovoid,  acuminate  fruits.  Hoffman  and  Schultes  ('  Nonas  Indi 
genes  des  Plantes  du  Japon  et  de  la  Chine ')  have  set  down  the 
tree  Vung  as  Paulownia  imperialis.  This  agrees  quite  well  with 
the  Chinese  drawing. 

"  The  tree  tfung  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  yu-fung 
tree  (synonyma,  ying-teMung,  jZn-tfung),  from  whose  fruit  is 
furnished  the  well-known  and  very  poisonous  oil  Vung-yu,  which 
the  Chinese  employ  in  varnish  and  in  painting.  It  should  be  the 
Dryanda  cordata  /  according  to  others,  JZlceococca  verucosa.  I 
have  not  seen  the  tree,  but  it  is  known  to  occur  very  abundantly 
in  Central  China,  and  especially  on  the  Yang-tse-Jciang.  There1 
is  a  Chinese  description  in  the  Pun-fsao  (xxxv,  p.  26),  and  a  draw 
ing  of  it  in  the  Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-Jc'ao  (xxxv,  p.  26). 

"  There  is  also  a  tree  which  the  Chinese  call  wu-tfung  (syn- 
onyme,  chen).  This  tree  has  already  been  mentioned  by  Du 
Halde  (<  Description  de  1'Empire  Chinois ')  as  a  curiosity,  in  which 
the  seeds  are  found  on  the  edges  of  the  leaves.  This  phenomenon 
is  also  described  in  the  drawings  of  the  Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-Wao 
(xxxv,  p.  56).  Compare,  further,  the  description  in  ihePim-fsao 
(xxxv,  p.  25).  It  is  the  Sterculia  plantanifolia,  a  beautiful  tree 
with  large  -leaves,  lobed  so  as  to  resemble  a  hand,  which  is  culti 
vated  in  the  Buddhist  temples  near  Pekin.  The  Chinese  are 
quite  right  in  what  they  relate  about  the  seeds.  The  seed-folli 
cles  burst,  and  acquire  the  form  of  coriaceous  leaves,  bearing 
the  seeds  upon  their  margin. 

"  The  leaves  of  all  the  trees  just  now  mentioned  allow  them 
selves  to  be  compared,  as  is  done  by  the  Chinese,  with  those  of  the 
hibiscus,  or  other  plants  of  the  malvaceous  family,  but  have  not 
the  slightest  resemblance  with  the  Mexican  aloe,  or  maguey-tree 
(Agave  Americana),  which  has  massive,  spiny-toothed,  fleshy 
leaves.  Mr.  Hanlay  ('  Chinese  Recorder,'  vol.  ii,  p.  345),  of  San 


SHORTEPw  ESSAYS.  Iff 

Francisco,  can  not,  therefore,  succeed  in  proving  that  the  Bud 
dhist  priest  Hui-sMn  understood  by  fu-sang  the  Mexican  aloe. 

"  Finally,  I  have  to  mention  a  tree  which,  as  regards  its  ap 
pearance  and  usefulness,  corresponds  pretty  much  with  the  de 
scription  given  by  Hui-shtn  of  the  fu-sang  tree.  I  am  speaking 
of  the  useful  tree  Broussonetia  papyrifera,  which  grows  wild 
in  the  temperate  parts  of  Asia*  especially  in  China,  Japan,  Corea, 
Mantchooria,  etc.,  and  is,  besides,  found  on  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  ;  while,  as  far  as  I  know,  it  does  not  occur  in  America. 
The  leaves  of  this  tree  are  remarkable  for  their  varying  very 
much  in  shape.  The  same  tree  produces  at  once  very  large  and 
quite  small  leaves.  They  are  sometimes  entire,  sometimes  many- 
lobed.  The  fruit  is  round,  of  a  deep  scarlet  colour,  and  pulpy. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that,  in  the  parts  where  the  tree  grows, 
its  bark  is  used  for  the  making  of  paper  and  the  manufacturing 
of  clothing  material.  From  ancient  times  it  has  been  known  to 
the  Chinese  under  the  name  cttu  (synonyma,  kou,  kou-sang, 
Jcou-shu :  cf .  Pun-tfsao-kang-mu,  xxxvi,  p.  10).  An  excellent  en 
graving  of  the  tree  is  found  in  the  Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-k''ao 
(xxxiii,  p.  57).  Hui-shen,  in  his  botanical  diagnosis,  perhaps 
made  a  mistake  with  regard  to  thefu-sang  tree,  and  confounded 
broussonetia  with  hibiscus. 

"Just  as  little  as  the  Mexican  aloe,  does  the  non-existence  of 
iron  in  the  country  Fu-sang  prove  that  America  is  to  be  under 
stood,  for  there  were  many  countries  in  ancient  times  which 
possessed  copper,  but  where  the  art  of  working  iron  was  un 
known.  The  Chinese  report  also  that  the  natives  of  the  Loo- 
choo  Islands  did  not  possess  iron,  but  only  copper. 

"Mr.  Hanlay  (I.  c.)  appears  to  have  received  the  discovery 
of  America  by  the  Chinese  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Per 
haps  I  have  furnished  him,  by  means  of  the  above  notice  about 
'  the  Kingdom  of  Women,'  which  Hui-shtn  visited,  a  new  proof 
for  his  view  of  the  case.  Fu-sang  lies,  according  to  Hui-shen, 
directly  east  from  China,  more  than  20,000  li,  thus  about  the 
situation  of  San  Francisco  at  the  present  day.  The  celebrated 
Women's  Kingdom  lies  1,000  li  farther  toward  the  east,  thus 
about  the  country  of  Salt  Lake  City,  where,  at  the  present  day, 
the  Mormons  are,  which,  if  not  a  women's  country,  is  nevertheless 

*  Saghalien,  where  Mr.  Bretschneider  would  put  Fu-sang,  can  hardly  be  called 
temperate. — Note  by  C.  G.  Leland. 
12 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

a  country  of  many  women,  and  where — to  the  disgrace  of  the 
United  States — prostitution  is  carried  on  under  the  mask  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

"I  do  not  agree  with  Mr.  Sampson  ('Notes  and  Queries,' 
vol.  iii,  p.  79)  in  supposing  that  Fa-sang  must  be  identified  with 
japan —  g  ^  Ji-pen, '  the  Land  where  the  Sun  rises ';  for  Japan 
has  been  well  known  to  the  Chinese  since  several  centuries  before 
our  era,  under  another  name.  I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity 
to  add  a  few  words  about  the  earliest  accounts  which  the  Chinese 
have  of  Japan.  This  country  was  primitively  known  to  them 
under  the  name  Wo,  which  occurs  for  the  first  time  in  chapter 
cxv  of  the  '  History  of  the  Posterior  Han?  (A.  D.  25-221).  I 
can  not  afford  to  give  here  a  translation  of  the  whole  article,  and 
shall,  therefore,  only  touch  upon  some  of  the  most  important 
points.  The  kingdom  Wo,  it  is  said,  is  situated  on  a  group  of 
islands  in  the  Great  Sea,  southeast  of  Han  (in  the  southwestern 
part  of  Corea),  and  is  composed  of  about  a  hundred  principali 
ties.  Since  the  conquest  of  Chao-sien  (Corea)  by  the  Emperor 
Wu-ti,  108  B.  c.,  about  thirty  of  these  principalities  entered  into 
relations  with  China.  The  most  powerful  of  the  rulers  has  his 
capital  in  Ye-ma-fai.  It  is  mentioned  that  neither  tigers  and 
leopards,  nor  oxen,  horses,  sheep,  and  magpies  exist.  As  far  as  I 
know,  this  last  remark  is  not  true  at  present,  at  least  as  far  as 
horses  and  oxen  are  concerned  ;  it  is  true,  however,  that  sheep 
can  not  thrive  in  Japan,  and  the  attempts  of  the  Europeans  to 
acclimatize  them  have  been,  until  now,  unsuccessful. 

"  In  the  reign  of  J£uang-wu,  A.  D.  25-58,  envoys  came  from 
the  Wo-nu  with  presents  to  the  Chinese  court.  They  stated  that 
their  country  was  the  southernmost  of  the  kingdom.  .  .  . 

"  A  Nu-wang-kuo,  a  '  Country  of  Women,'  is  spoken  of  in  the 
southern  part  of  Japan.  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the 
Japanese  annals.  (Cf.  Klaproth,  'Annales  des  Empereurs  du 
Japon,'  p.  13.)  The  Japanese  call  this  country  Atsowma. 

"The  land  Ta-han  must  have  been  a  province  in  Siberia. 
Fa-sang  is  said  to  lie  to  the  east  of  Ta-han.  Supposing,  then, 
that  a  country,  Fu-sang,  really  existed,  and  was  not  an  invention 
of  a  Buddhist  monk,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  it  is  to 
be  sought  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  Let  me  here  observe 
that  this  monk  mentions  in  no  place  in  his  account  having  passed 
over  a  great  sea.  Klaproth,  in  assuming  that  Fu-sang  is  meant 


SHORTER  ESSAYS. 


179 


for  the  island  of  Saghalien,  is,  I  believe,  more  near  to  the  truth 
than  the  other  Sinologues. 

"In  « Notes  and  Queries'  (vol.  iv,  p.  19)  there  is  a  passage, 
cited  out  of  the  '  Liang-ssti-kung-kiJ  that  the  kingdom  of  Fu- 
sang  had  sent  envoys  to  China.  This  would,  of  course,  prove 
that  the  so-called  country  of  Fu-sang  had  political  intercourse 
with  China;  but  it  makes  it  more  unlikely  that  America  was  here 
meant.  We  will,  therefore,  in  the  mean  time,  still  consider  Fa- 
sang  as  a  terra  incognita  nee  non  dubia,  and  bestow  upon  Mr. 
Burlingame  the  double  honour  of  having  been  the  first  American 
embassador  at  the  Chinese  court,  and  the  first  Chinese  embas- 
sador  in  America. 

"  The  contradictory  fancies  about  China  that  originate  in  the 
brains  of  European  literati  are  truly  astonishing.  Some  main 
tain  that  the  Chinese  discovered  America  1,300  years  ago  ;  while 
a  well-known  Frenchman,  Count  Gobineau,  some  years  ago  as 
serted  that  the  Chinese  had  immigrated  from  America.  In  his 
'  Essay  upon  the  Inequality  of  Human  Races,'  vol.  ii,  p.  242, 
Count  Gobineau  says :  *  Whence  came  the  yellow  nations  ? 
From  the  great  Continent  of  America.  This  is  the  answer  both 
of  physiology  and  philology.' 

"  All  these  unfounded  hypotheses  have  much  the  same  value 
as  the  supposed  discovery  of  America  by  the  Chinese." 

This  letter,  and  that  of  Mr.  Simson,  are  copied,  by  permission, 
from  the  work  of  Mr.  Charles  G.  Leland,  entitled,  "  Fusang  ;  or, 
the  Discovery  of  America."  Mr.  Leland's  criticism  is  short,  but 
sharp  : 

i72i  «jn  krief?  j)r  Bretschneider  asserts  that  there  was  no 
Fu-sang — it  being  all  the  invention  of  a  lying  priest ;  but  that  it 
was  in  Siberia.  There  was  never  any  such  place  ;  but  still  Mr. 
Simson  is  wrong  in  placing  it  in  Japan,  and  Klaproth  is  right  in 
declaring  it  was  at  Saghalien.  There  was  no  fit-sang  tree  either  ; 
but  the  monk  who  saw  it  meant  the  kou-sang,  describing  more 
accurately,  however,  a  Mexican  plant.  Klaproth  refuted  de  Guig- 
nes,  and  exposed  his  errors  by  proving  that  Fu-sang  was  also  in 
Japan  ;  only,  in  Dr.  Bretschneider's  opinion,  it  was  elsewhere. 
And  it  is  certainly  curious  that  the  writers  who  utterly  discredit 
the  very  existence  of  Fii-sang,  and  all  that  is  said  of  it,  have  each 
a  theory  as  to  where  it  really  was." 


180  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

Extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Pere  Gaiibil  to  M.  de 
risle,}m  dated  Pekin,  August  28th,  1752: 

"  The  translation  made  by  M.  de  Guignes  from  the  Wen-Man- 
Vung-k'ao  concerning  the  nations  Wen-shin,  Ta-han,  etc.,  situ 
ated  a  great  distance  to  the  northeast  of  Japan,  may  have  led 
you  to  believe  that  in  the  times  of  the  Liang  dynasty  (or  even 
more  than  three  hundred  years  earlier)  the  Chinese  were  ac 
quainted  with  America. 

"  All  these  texts  prove  nothing,  however,  when  they  are  care 
fully  examined,  and  corrected  by  the  clearer  writings  of  earlier 
and  more  trustworthy  authors. 

"  From  similar  vague  accounts,  and  from  the  distances  indi 
cated  by  several  authors,  it  might  be  concluded  that  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  Christian  era,  or  even  earlier,  the  Chinese  were 
acquainted  with  Europe,  as,  for  instance,  Italy,  France,  etc. 
Now,,  this  is  certainly  not  the  case.  All  these  texts  should  be 
carefully  examined  ;  and  the  thing  is  not  at  all  difficult.  Before 
the  days  of  M.  de  Guignes,  a  number  of  missionaries  had  sent 
to  Europe  translations  of  texts  similar  to  those  of  his  ;  but  there 
were  numerous  mistakes  in  the  texts,  and  there  was  especially 
shown  in  them  a  lack  of  critical  judgment,  which  should  have 
been  sufficient  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  any  misunderstand 
ing  based  upon  them. 

"  I  can  not  admit  your  idea  that  America,  or  at  least  North 
America  along  the  coast  of  California,  may  have  been  peopled  by 
the  tribes  of  Northeastern  Chinese  Tartary. 

"  The  ancient  and  modern  Chinese  authorities  agree  in  the 
following  statements  : 

"First,  that  under  the  dynasty  Cheu,  before  the  Christian 
era,  Japan  was  peopled  by  the  Southern  Chinese  ;  and, 

"  Second,  that  the  last  emperor  of  the  Hia  dynasty,  after 
having  been  dethroned  by  Ching-tang,  his  son,  fled  to  Tartary 
with  a  great  number  of  Chinese,  and  founded  the  different  Tar 
tarian  powers  to  the  north  and  northeast  of  China. 

"  It  is  certain  that  at  the  time  that  the  Russians  concealed 
their  establishments  in  Kamtchatka,  the  court  of  Pekin  had  a 
knowledge  of  that  country;  and  it  also  seems  certain  that  long 
before  the  present  dynasty  the  Chinese  had  known  Jesso,  and,  in 
general,  the  countries  to  the  northeast,  including  Kamtchatka, 
but  not  fully  or  in  detail." 


SHORTER  ESSAYS.  181 

Humboldt  makes  the  following  observation  in  regard  to  this 
letter  : ltw7 

"According  to  the  learned  researches  of  Father  Gaubil  (found 
in  an  astronomical  MS.  of  the  Jesuits,  preserved  in  the  '  Bureau 
des  Longitudes'  at  Paris),  it  appears  doubtful  whether  the  Chi 
nese  ever  visited  the  western  coast  of  America  a  thousand  years 
before  that  period  (the  eighteenth  century),  as  was  advanced  by 
M.  de  Guignes,  the  justly  celebrated  historian." 

"Concerning  Fa-sang "— -from  the   "Magazine  of  American 
History"  for  April,  1883 *.2483 

The  question,  "Where  was  Fa-sang?"  has  long  excited 
interest,  and  some  have  supposed  that  Fu-sang  was  the  west 
ern  coast  of  America,  which  had  been  discovered  by  the  Japan 
ese.  The  literature  of  the  subject  is  extensive,  but  unsatis 
factory  in  the  extreme.  An  almost  unknown  book,  or  rather 
essay,  on  Fu-sang  was  put  out  somewhat  privately,  a  few  years 
ago,  by  the  Rev.  William  Brown,  D.  D.,  who  is  now  in  Japan 
translating  the  Bible  into  the  Japanese  tongue.  One  of  the 
later  efforts  in  connection  with  the  subject  is  Leland's  "Fu- 
sang  ;  or,  the  Discovery  of  America  by  Chinese  Buddhist  Priests 
in  the  Fifth  Century,"  London,  Triibner  &  Co.,  1875.  About 
all  that  concerns  the  bibliography  of  Fu-sang  may  be  traced 
in  this  work.  We  have  frequently  been  treated  to  pretended 
extracts  from  the  chronicles  containing  the  voyage  to  "Fu- 
sang"  wherever  it  may  have  been  ;  but,  having  a  desire  to  learn 
the  exact  facts  from  a  known  American  scholar,  we  addressed 
a  note  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Channing  M.  Williams,  Bishop  of  Japan, 
asking  for  information,  who,  in  reply,  kindly  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  It  is  only  within  a  day  or  two  that  I  have  been  able  to 
procure  the  information  that  you  wish.  The  Shan  Hai  Xing 
('Mountain  and  Sea  Classic' — which  the  Japanese  pronounce 
San  Gai  Hfio)  is  a  very  old  Chinese  work,  many  of  the  ac 
counts  of  which  are  entirely  fabulous.  It  treats  largely  of  drag 
ons  and  fanciful  beings  of  all  sorts  —  men  with  ten  heads  or 
one  eye,  creatures  with  bodies  of  animals,  birds,  snakes,  and  in 
sects,  and  heads  of  men,  etc. 

"  I  have,  however,  gotten  one  of  the  best  scholars  I  know  to 
examine  the  work  ;  and  he  has  found  three  places  in  which  refer 
ence  is  made  to  the  fu-sang  (Jap.,  fu-soo)  tree.  These  I  have 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

translated  quite  literally,  and  herewith  inclose.  The  Japanese 
think  the  reference  is  to  their  country,  and  one  of  the  names 
which  have  been  given  to  it  is  Fa-soo-Jcoku.  There  is  a  Japanese 
work  I  have  seen  which  speaks  of  the  fu-soo  (Chinese,  fu-sang) 
tree  in  the  island  of  Ki-shu,  which  was  9,700  feet  in  length,  and 
dark,  petrified  wood  is  said  to  be  now  dug  up  where  the  tree  is 
supposed  to  have  stood. 

"  The  subject  has,  I  see  by  the  Shanghai  papers,  been  brought 
before  the  North  China  branch  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  and  Dr. 
Macgowan  promised  to  read  a  paper  at  the  autumn  meeting 
proving  that  the  Chinese  did  not  go  to  America. 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"  C.  M.  WILLIAMS. 

"  Vol.  4.  '  To  the  south  the  water  goes  500  li  (three  Chinese 
li  make  a  mile),  the  flowing  sand  300  li  (when  you)  reach  the 
Wu-ko  Mountain.  To  the  south  (you)  see  the  Tu  Sea.  To  the 
east  (you)  see  the/^-tree — silsofu-sang.  No  trees  or  grass  (but) 
great  wind  (on)  this  mountain. 

"Vol.  9.  '  North  of  this*  is  Heh  Chi  KwoJc  (Black  Teeth 
Country).  The  people  of  Heh  Chi  Kwolc  are  black,  eat  rice,  use 
snakes,  colour  of  which  is  red.  Below  there  is  a  hot-water  valley. 
Above  the  hot-water  valley  is  the  fu-sang  (tree).  The  place 
where  the  ten  suns  bathe  is  to  the  north  of  the  Heh  Chi  IZwok. 
(They)  dwell  in  the  water.  Nine  suns  dwell  in  the  lower 
branches.  One  sun  dwells  in  the  upper  branches. 

"  Vol.  14.  *  Within  the  great  uncultivated  waste  is  a  mount 
ain  called  Nie  Tao  Kiun  Li.  On  it  is  the  /w-tree.  Its  height  is 
300  li.  The  leaves  are  like  mustard.  There  is  a  valley  called 
Warm  Spring  Valley.  Above  this  hot- water  valley  is  the  fu- 
tree.  Just  as  one  sun  reaches  (or  arrives)  another  sun  comes 
forth.  All  bear  (lit.,  cause  to  ride)  a  crow.' " 

"  P.  S. — Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  looked  at  Klaproth's 
introduction  to  '  Nipon  o  dai  itsi  ran,'  and  find  that  he  has  trans 
lated  a  little  freely  one  of  the  passages  from  the  '  Shan  Hai 
King?  The  longer  account  of  Fu-sang,  which  he  gives  in  a 
note,  is  translated  from  another  Chinese  work,  called  'Nan  Szu ' 
('  Histoire  du  Midi ')." 

*  A  place  which  can  not  be  identified. 


SHORTER  ESSAYS.  183 

Extract  from  the  Remarks  of  M.Leon  deRosny  upon  a  Note  of 
M.  Foucaux  "  Regarding  the  Relations  which  the  Buddhists 
of  Asia  and  the  Inhabitants  of  America  may  have  had  with 
Each  Other  at  the  Commencement  of  our  Era" 21S1 
"  It  is  true  that  the  passage  from  Asia  to  America,  by  the  way 
of  Behring's  Straits,  does  not  offer  any  difficulty  ;  that  the  fleets 
of  the  Esquimaux  resort  annually  from  Kamtchatka  to  the  coun 
try  known  until  recently  as  Russian  America.     But  it  should  be 
remarked  that  the  tribes  which  go  from  the  deserts  of  Asia  to 
the  deserts  of  America  belong  to  a  race  that  is  purely  boreal, 
which  lives  only  in  a  certain  circle,  which  neither  in  Asia  nor  in 
America  extends  its  excursions  to  the  south.     Between  China, 
Japan,  and  civilized  Asia,  on  the  one  side,  and  Kamtchatka,  on 
the  other,  there  are  immense   distances  to  be  passed.     Great 
distances  also  separate  the  peninsula  of  Alaska  from  the  warm 
regions  in  which  were  located  the  ancient  civilized  states  of  Cen 
tral  America. 

"  How  can  we  suppose  that  the  Esquimaux,  who  always  shun 
precisely  these  warm  regions,  can  have  served  as  the  medium  of 
connection  between  China  and  Mexico,  Japan  and  Peru  ?  And 
what  kind  of  people  are  these  Esquimaux  ?  The  most  miserable 
of  all  races.  Living  in  their  inhospitable  climate,  in  the  lowest 
stage  of  civilization,  they  are  contented  with  the  poorest  shelter, 
and  with  food  that  is  gross  and  repugnant.  Buried  for  whole 
months  under  the  snow,  and  having  only  the  most  elementary 
rudiments  of  human  culture,  how  can  we  suppose  that  these 
guzzlers  of  the  oil  of  cetaceans  can  have  been  the  creators  of 
the  high  civilizations  of  Mexico,  of  Yucatan,  and  of  Peru ; 
the  authors  of  the  colossal  monuments  of  Uxmal  or  of  Pa- 
lenque?"* 

The  accompanying  newspaper  article  is  given  as  having  a 
possible  connection  (although  I  can  not  say  that  I  have  much 

*  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  in  reply  to  M.  de  Rosny,  that  he  is  combating  a  man 
of  straw.  The  theory  is,  not  that  the  Esquimaux  made  the  journey  to  Mexico, 
but  that  the  Buddhist  priests  went  from  Asia  to  Mexico  via  the  home  of  the  Es 
quimaux;  and  that,  as  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  journey,  the  trip  from  Asia  to 
America,  by  way  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  is  not  too  difficult  a  voyage  for  the 
Esquimaux,  the  difficulty  of  the  route  can  not  be  fairly  claimed  to  be  so  great  aa 
to  make  the  theory  of  such  a  voyage  by  the  five  Buddhist  priests  incredible  or 
improbable.— E.  P.  V. 


184  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

confidence  in  the  truth  of  the  story)  with  some  visit  in  ancient 
times  from  Asia  to  America  : 

("  The  Weekly  Colonist,"  Victoria,  E.  C.,  Wednesday,  October  25tli,  1882.) 

"  THE  OLDEST  INHABITANTS. — WERE  THE  CHINESE  HERE  3,000 
YEARS  AGO  ? 

"  What  if  antiquarians  are  able  to  prove  that  the  Chinese  were 
the  earliest  settlers  of  this  continent  ?  That  from  the  loins  of  the 
children  of  the  '  Flowery  Kingdom '  are  descended  the  native 
tribes  whom  the  white  pioneers  found  possessing  the  land  ?  This 
theory  has  been  often  advanced.  A  few  weeks  ago  a  party  of 
miners,  who  were  running  a  drift  in  the  bank  on  one  of  the 
creeks  in  the  mining  district  of  Cassiar,  made  a  remarkable  find. 
At  a  depth  of  several  feet  the  shovel  of  one  of  the  party  raised 
about  thirty  of  the  brass  coins  which  have  passed  current  in  China 
for  many  centuries.  They  were  strung  on  what  appeared  to  be 
an  iron  wire.  This  wire  went  to  dust  a  few  minutes  after  being 
exposed  ;  but  the  coins  appeared  as  bright  and  new  as  when  they 
first  left  the  Celestial  mint.  They  have  been  brought  to  Vic 
toria,  and  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  intelligent  Chinamen, 
who  unite  in  pronouncing  them  to  be  upward  of  three  thousand 
years  old.  They  bear  a  date  about  twelve  hundred  years  ante 
rior  to  the  birth  of  Christ.  And  now  the  question  arises,  how 
the  coins  got  to  the  place  where  they  were  found.  The  miners 
say  there  was  no  evidence  of  the  ground  having  been  disturbed 
by  man  before  their  picks  and  shovels  penetrated  it ;  and  the  fact 
that  the  coins  are  little  worn  goes  to  show  that  they  were  not 
long  in  circulation  before  being  hidden  or  lost  at  Cassiar. 
Whether  they  were  the  property  of  Chinese  mariners  who  were 
wrecked  on  the  north  coast,  about  three  thousand  years  ago,  and 
remained  to  people  the  continent ;  or  whether  the  Chinese  min 
ers  who  went  to  Cassiar  seven  or  eight  years  ago  deposited  the 
collection  where  it  was  found,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
for  their  nation  a  prior  claim  to  the  land — may  never  be  known. 
But  the  native  tribes  of  this  coast  resemble  the  Mongolian  race 
so  closely,  that  one  would  not  be  surprised  at  any  time  to  hear 
of  the  discovery  of  yet  more  startling  evidences  of  the  presence 
of  Chinese  on  this  coast  before  the  coming  of  the  whites." 


CHAPTER  XL 

REMARKS     OF   MM.  VIVIEN   DE     SAINT-MARTIN   AND   LUCIEN   ADAM. 

"An  Old  Story  Set  Afloat" — The  route  to  Fu-sang — Identity  of  the  Amos  with 
the  Wen-shin — To-Aawnear  the  mouths  of  the  Amoor  River — Route  of  Buddh 
ist  missionaries  to  the  Amoor — Civilization  of  Buddhist  origin — Pillars  with 
Buddhist  inscriptions — Necessity  of  accurate  translation — Twenty  thousand 
li  signify  only  a  very  great  distance — The  fu-sang  tree — Warlike  habits — 
Lack  of  draught  animals — Civilization  of  Mexico — Difficulty  of  the  voyage — 
Conclusion — Remarks  of  M.  Adam — Chinese  acquainted  with  America — Ease 
of  the  journey — Travels  of  Buddhist  monks — Points  characteristic  of  Ameri 
can  civilization — Ten-year  cycle — The  fu-sang  tree — The  f'ung  tree — The 
hibiscus— The  Dryanda  cordata — The  maguey,  or  agave— Zoological  objec 
tions — Punishments — Slave  children — Absurdities — Legend  of  Quetzalcoatl 
— He  came  from  the  East — The  legend  a  myth — Colleges  of  priests — Prac 
tice  of  confession — The  alleged  figure  of  Buddha — The  elephant's  head— Lack 
of  tusks — America  for  the  Americans — Theory  that  Hwui  Sh&n  repeated  the 
stories  of  Chinese  sailors — Remarks  of  M.  de  Hellwald  and  Professor  Joly. 

"An  Old  Story  Set  Afloat"— by  M.  Vivien  de  /Saint-Martin.'466 

CONDENSED    TRANSLATION. 

IT  was  the  scholarly  and  industrious  de  Guignes,  the  justly 
renowned  author  of  that  monument  of  Oriental  erudition  enti 
tled  "  The  History  of  the  Huns,"  who  was  the  first  to  make  the 
name  of  Fu-sang  known  in  Europe.  .  .  .  An  erroneous  opinion 
on  this  subject  does  not  diminish  the  merit  of  his  great  works, 
any  more  than  it  is  affected  by  his  other  idea,  equally  strange, 
of  the  Egyptian  origin  of  the  Chinese.  .  .  . 

As  the  route  from  Leao-tong  to  Fa-sang  passes  by  way  of 
Japan,  Wen-shin,  and  Ta-han,  the  precise  situation  of  the  coun 
try  of  Ta-han  becomes  of  interest  in  considering  the  true  loca 
tion  of  Fu-sang.  This  can  not  be  determined  with  certainty 
from  the  statements  of  the  historian.  The  point  in  Japan  which 
is  touched  en  route  is  not  specified,  the  directions  are  but  vaguely 


130  Atf  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

noted,  and,  worse  than  all,  the  distances  that  are  indicated  can 
not  be  relied  upon,  for  we  are  not  only  ignorant  as  to  the  length 
of  the  U  (an  extremely  variable  measure)  which  is  referred  to  in 
the  account,  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Chinese  sail 
ors  can  have  had  but  very  imperfect  means  of  measuring  the 
distances,  and  their  figures  can  therefore  be  taken  as  nothing 
more  than  rough  approximations. 

Hence,  we  can  be  guided  only  by  the  general  indications. 
Fortunately,  there  are  several  which  prevent  us  from  straying 
far  from  the  true  course.  The  Hairy  Men  among  the  mountains 
of  Northern  Japan,  and  the  Wen-shin,  or  Painted  (or  Tattooed) 
Men,  are  clearly  the  Ainos ;  from  which  it  follows  that  the  coun 
try  of  the  Wen-shin  must  be  looked  for  along  the  shores  of  the 
Sea  of  Japan  (lying  between  the  Japanese  Archipelago  and  the 
coast  of  Tartary),  either  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  great 
island  of  Niphon,  or  in  the  island  of  Jesso  (which  is  also  called 
Matsmai),  or,  finally,  upon  some  point  of  the  Asiatic  Continent 
(Mantchooria)  which  borders  the  Japanese  Sea  on  the  west. 

From  the  land  of  the  Wen-shin,  a  maritime  route  conducts 
us  to  the  country  designated  by  the  name  of  Ta-han.  Neither 
the  distance  (five  thousand  U)  nor  the  direction  (toward  the 
east)  can  be  of  much  service  to  us  in  looking  for  this  last  point. 
Fortunately,  there  is  another  document,  which  furnishes  us  with 
indications  so  precise  as  to  remove  all  doubts,  which  are  not 
scattered  by  the  account  of  the  Chinese  coasting  voyage.  The 
result,  as  will  be  seen,  is  to  place  Ta-han  near  the  mouths  of  the 
Amoor,  perhaps  in  the  great  island  of  Saghalien  (or  Tarakai), 
which  lies  opposite  them,  but  more  probably  upon  the  Asiatic 
Continent. 

This  document  is  a  description  of  the  journey,  written  by 
Buddhist  missionaries  of  the  time  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  (618  to 
907  A.  D.),  who  went  to  preach  their  doctrine  among  the  barbar 
ous  hordes  and  half-savage  tribes  of  Central  and  Eastern  Asia. 
It  is  to  this  dissemination  of  the  Buddhist  religion,  dating  at  least 
as  far  back  as  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century  of  our  era,  that 
the  shamanism  of  the  nomadic  tribes  of  Central  Asia  is  due. 
The  Buddhist  missionaries  of  China,  who  undertook  this  voy 
age,  set  forth  from  the  great  bend  which  the  Hoang-ho  makes 
west  of  Pekin,  and  crossed  the  desert  of  Gobi,  thus  gaining  the 
principal  encampment  of  the  Turkish  Hoei-khe,  from  which  they 


REMARKS  OF  M.  VIVIEN  DE  SAINT-MARTIN.        187 

afterward  reached  the  celebrated  Mongolian  city  of  Caracorum, 
of  which  the  ruins  may  still  be  seen,  not  far  from  the  sources  of 
the  Orkhon,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  to  the  south  of 
Lake  Baikal.  From  that  point  the  route  continued  to  this  lake, 
and,  turning  to  the  east,  they,  after  having  visited  a  number  of 
Turkish  and  Mongolian  tribes  of  the  Daourian  region,  and  of 
the  high  valleys  of  the  Amoor,  reached  the  country  of  the  Yu- 
che,  a  people  whom  the  Mantchoos  (who  pronounce  their  name 
"Djourdje")  regard  as  the  parent  tribe  of  their  nation.  This 
country  lies  about  half  way  down  the  Amoor  River. 

Here  we  are  upon  known  ground.  During  the  ten  years  that 
the  Russians  have  had  possession  of  this  vast  basin  of  the 
Amoor,  it  has  been  thoroughly  explored,  maps  and  descriptions 
of  the  country  have  been  published,  and  the  land  and  its  people 
have  become  familiar  to  us.  The  indigenes  are  miserable  tribes 
of  semi-savages,  living  by  the  chase  and  by  fisheries.  They  be 
long  to  the  nation  of  the  Tunguses,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  race 
of  the  Mantchoos.  There  are  some  tribes,  however  (the  Ghiliaks), 
spread  along  the  sea-shore,  which  belong  to  the  insular  race,  and 
differ  but  slightly  from  the  Ainos,  whose  long  beards,  and  the 
singular  development  of  whose  hairy  system,  not  less  than  their 
physical  appearance  and  the  combination  of  their  physiognomi 
cal  traits,  distinguish  them  broadly  from  the  beardless  Tartarian 
races  which  are  confined  to  the  continent. 

The  few  germs  of  rudimentary  civilization,  of  which  the 
trace  is  found  among  the  tribes  of  the  Amoor,  are  of  Buddhist 
origin  ;  they  undoubtedly  appertain  to  several  different  epochs  ; 
but  the  oldest  are  connected  with  the  missions  of  the  sixth  cent 
ury  and  the  three  following  centuries,  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  texts  which  de  Guignes  was  the  first  to  describe.  This  is  a 
real  service,  among  many  others,  which  the  scholarly  author  of 
the  "History  of  the  Huns"  has  rendered  to  science,  and  of  which 
his  error  as  to  the  location  of  Ta-han  does  not  at  all  diminish 
the  merit.  A  very  curious  discovery,  made  some  ten  years  ago, 
upon  the  banks  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  Amoor  River,  by  one 
of  the  first  Russian  explorers,  confirms  the  accuracy  of  the  old 
accounts  collected  by  the  Chinese  historians.  Near  the  Ghiliak 
"  Village  of  the  Tower,"  the  remains  of  pillars  were  found,  hav 
ing  Chinese  and  Mongolian  inscriptions,  containing  Buddhist 
formulas.  The  pillars  are  delineated,  and  the  inscriptions  copied, 


188  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

in  the  interesting  volume  published  at  Paris  in  1861  by  M.  de 
Sabin  (from  recent  Russian  material)  under  the  title,  "The  Amoor 
River;  its  History,  Geography,  and  Ethnography."  One  of  the 
inscriptions,  if  the  translation  is  exact,  is  of  the  time  of  the  Yuan 
(Mongolian)  dynasty,  which  reigned  in  China  from  1260  to  1338 
A.  D.  ;  but  there  were  older  establishments  there,  for  the  inscrip 
tion  itself  speaks  of  a  re-established  convent.*  We  therefore 
now  have  direct  proof  that  the  missionaries  of  the  religion  of 
Buddha  (or  of  Fo,  as  the  Chinese  write  his  name)  not  only  intro 
duced  shamanism  throughout  all  Central  Asia,  but  pushed  to 
the  east  and  descended  the  valley  of  the  Amoor  to  the  shores  of 
the  Eastern  Sea ;  while  other  propagators  of  this  worship,  so 
distinguished  for  its  proselyting  spirit,  overspread  (by  the  mari 
time  route)  all  the  shores  of  that  sea  enclosed  between  the  Japa 
nese  Archipelago  and  Mantchooria,  which  our  maps  designate 
by  the  name  of  the  Sea  of  Japan.  The  country  of  Ta-han,  at 
which  the  two  parties  of  missionaries  arrived,  one  from  the  west 
by  land,  and  the  other  from  the  south  by  sea,  and  which  was, 
for  both,  the  extreme  limit  of  their  journeys,  can  be  found  no 
where  else  than  near  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor.  The  maritime 
voyage  carries  us  in  this  direction,  and  the  terrestrial  route  can 
lead  us  nowhere  else.  It  is,  in  fact,  said  of  the  Yu-che  (the  Tun- 
guses  of  the  valley  of  the  Amoor,  near  the  middle  of  its  course) 
that  by  a  ten  days'  journey  to  the  north  the  country  of  Ta-han 
may  be  reached.  .  .  . 

Arrived  at  Ta-han,  we  are,  as  it  were  (in  spite  of  the  dis 
tance),  upon  the  threshold  of  Fu-sang,  the  final  point  of  our 
search  ;  for  the  single  Buddhist  traveler,  who  made  the  name  of 
the  mysterious  country  of  Fu-sang  known  to  the  Chinese,  set 
forth  from  Ta-han,  and  no  intermediate  country  is  mentioned. 

But,  in  this  controverted  question,  it  is  a  matter  of  the  first 
importance  to  have  a  translation  free  from  suspicion.  Although 
we  do  not  wish  to  cast  any  doubt  upon  the  general  accuracy  of 
de  Guignes's  translation,  which  has,  in  addition,  been  criticised 
by  Klaproth,  nevertheless,  in  order  to  have  all  possible  assur 
ance  of  freedom  from  error,  we  have  had  recourse  to  the  inex 
haustible  kindness  of  M.  Stanislas  Julien,  and  give  the  literal 
version  with  which  this  scholar  kindly  favoured  us.  It  may  be 
depended  upon  that  he  has  given  a  scrupulously  faithful  tran- 

*  Sabin,  p.  158. 


REMARKS  OF  M.  VIVIEN  DE  SAINT-MARTIN.        189 

script  of  the  Chinese  text.  (This  translation  is  given  in  Chapter 
XVI.) 

A  few  short  remarks  will  suffice  to  show  that  it  is  quite  im 
possible  that  the  country  of  Fu-sang  could  have  been  located  in 
America.  To  the  reasons,  sufficiently  decisive,  which  were  given 
by  Klaproth,  it  is  now  possible  to  add  others  more  direct  and 
more  convincing. 

First,  as  to  the  distance.  We  have  already  seen  how  dan 
gerous  it  is  to  rely  upon  statements  of  this  nature  contained  in 
Chinese  books,  especially  when  they  relate  to  great  distances  in 
countries  that  are  known  but  little  or  not  at  all ;  and,  when  they 
are  given  by  men  who  are  generally  ignorant,  they  are  without 
any  guarantee  whatever  of  even  approximate  accuracy.  As 
suredly  this  is  the  case  as  to  the  account  which  we  are  now  con 
sidering.  It  is  evident  that,  in  the  mouth  of  the  Buddhist  mis 
sionary  to  whom  the  Chinese  are  indebted  for  their  only  knowl 
edge  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  twenty  thousand  li  signify 
nothing  more  than  a  very  great  distance.  Nevertheless,  if  we 
adhere  to  the  letter  of  his  account  and  to  the  direction,  "  to  the 
east,"  where  are  we  conducted  ?  Leaving  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  lower  Amoor,  turning  past  the  island  of  Saghalien,  passing 
by  the  way  of  the  Kurile  Islands  and  along  the  long  chain  of 
the  Aleutian  Islands  (i.  e.,  following  the  line  the  most  favour 
able  to  the  American  hypothesis),  we  scarcely  reach  beyond  the 
peninsula  of  Alaska,  and  are  placed  in  the  midst  of  a  region 
having  a  climate  that  is  almost  polar,  and  of  which  the  miser 
able  indigenous  population  does  not  correspond  in  any  way  with 
the  statements  of  the  text. 

For  those  who  have  thought  that  Fu-sang  might  be  sought 
for  as  far  as  Mexico,  we  would  simply  observe  that  the  part  of 
the  American  coast  to  which  the  twenty  thousand  li  conduct  us 
is  distant  more  than  fifty  degrees,  or  at  least  twelve  hundred 
leagues,  from  the  Mexican  coast.* 

This  first  argument  would  seem  sufficient ;  but  other  impossi 
bilities  are  revealed  by  merely  reading  the  text. 

The  description  of  the  fu-sang  tree,  and  of  its  uses,  is  abso 
lutely  foreign  to  America,  either  to  Mexico,  or  to  the  northwest 
coast.  Klaproth  very  justly  remarked  that  the  description,  by 

*  This  argument  falls  to  the  ground,  if  Ta-han  is  located  either  in  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands  or  in  Alaska. — E.  P.  V. 


190  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

confusion,  or  from  some  other  cause,  appears  to  apply  to  the 
Morus  papyri/era,  although  the  tree  commonly  known  in  China 
by  the  name  oifu-sang  must  be  the  Rose  of  China,  the  Hibiscus 
rosa  Chinensis. 

It  has  never  been  said  that  the  miserable  savages  of  the 
northwestern  coast  of  America  had  a  method  of  writing,  or  that 
they  made  paper;  and  it  could  not  be  said  of  the  more  southerly 
tribes,  or  of  the  nations  of  Mexico,  whose  whole  life  was  always 
a  combat,  "that  they  did  not  make  war." 

The  cattle  (if  this  term  is  applied  to  the  bisons)  have  never 
been  employed  as  draught  animals  by  any  of  the  indigenous 
tribes  of  America.  The  aboriginal  Americans  have  never  had 
carts  drawn  by  horses,  cattle,  or  deer,  for  two  excellent  reasons  : 
first,  because  the  Americans,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards, 
had  no  horses ;  and,  second,  because  they  knew  no  more  of  draught 
animals  than  of  beasts  of  burden.  The  tribes  of  America  had  no 
idea  of  raising  animals  for  their  milk  ;  they  knew  nothing  either 
of  milk  or  of  the  articles  made  from  it,  and  therefore  made  no 
cheese. 

It  seems  useless  to  insist  further  on  these  radical  points  of 
difference  between  Fa-sang  and  America.  Those  who  seek  for 
Fu-sang  in  Mexico  should  reflect  that,  at  the  time  of  the  old 
Toltec  monarchy  (according  to  the  historic  traditions,  which  are 
our  only  guides),  it  then  had,  in  its  local  civilization,  religious 
monuments,  palaces,  and  numerous  cities,  of  which  it  is  surpris 
ing  that  the  Buddhist  account  says  not  a  word.  So  that,  on  one 
side,  no  part  of  the  story  is  applicable  to  any  country  or  tribe 
whatever  of  America,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  account  says 
not  a  single  word  of  the  only  things  which  would  most  strike  a 
stranger  coming  into  Western  America  in  the  times  of  the  Tol 
tec  monarchy.* 

We  have  said  nothing  of  the  difficulties,  or  rather  the  mate 
rial  impossibilities,  of  a  navigation,  going  and  returning,  between 
the  Sea  of  Japan  and  America,  at  the  time  spoken  of  in  the  Bud 
dhist  account ;  as  contradictions  and  radical  impossibilities  have 
accumulated,  it  would  appear  too  fastidious  to  insist  upon  f ur- 

*  M.  Vivien  overlooks  the  fact  that  the  Toltec  civilization  may  have  been 
founded  mainly  upon  the  teachings  of  the  Buddhist  monks,  and  that,  therefore, 
the  religious  monuments,  palaces,  etc.,  may  not  have  existed  until  after  the  date 
of  their  arrival.— E.  P.  V. 


REMARKS  OF  M.   VIVIEN  DE  SAINT-MARTIN. 

ther  details.  It  should  be  noted  that  reference  is  made,  not  to 
an  accidental  voyage,  but  to  a  communication,  regular,  and,  as 
it  seems,  habitual.*  That  de  Guignes  may  have  believed  in  the 
possibility  of  such  a  communication,  in  the  state  in  which  the 
ideas  of  Europe  then  were  in  regard  to  the  northwestern  coast 
of  the  American  Continent  above  California,  can  be  conceived. 
In  order  to  see  how  far  the  general  notions  prevailing  a  hundred 
years  ago  were  from  the  truth,  it  is  only  necessary  to  cast  our 
eyes  upon  the  map  made  by  Philippe  Buache  to  accompany  the 
memoir  of  de  Guignes.  This  map,  it  is  true,  would  make  d'An- 
ville  smile  ;  but  Buache  was  not  a  d'Anville,  and  it  is  not  neces 
sary  to  go  back  a  hundred  years  to  see  how  frequently  it  is  the 
case  that  men,  otherwise  sagacious,  have  but  a  vague  idea  of  the 
important  part  which  the  study  of  positive  geography  should 
have  in  the  solution  of  scientific  questions. 

It  would  remain  to  seek  the  true  situation  of  Fu-sang,  if  this 
question  had  the  least  importance  ;  but  its  sole  interest  lies  in  its 
having  been  attached  to  the  complicated  question  of  the  origin 
of  the  Americans;  which  has  given  rise  to  as  many  vain  hypothe 
ses  as  useless  and  false  speculations.  Like  all  problems  in  which 
the  effort  is  to  penetrate  the  depths  of  the  centuries  in  order  to 
find  the  half-obliterated  traces  of  events  anterior  to  history,  this 
question  presents  a  powerful  attraction  ;  but  such  researches  have 
their  conditions  and  their  limits,  to  which  scarcely  any  attention 
has  been  paid  in  the  investigations  regarding  America.  Fu-sang 
has  nothing  to  do  with  American  questions.  From  that  which 
the  Buddhist  priest  tells  us,  it  is  evident  that  he  speaks  of  a 
country  in  which  there  existed  a  certain  degree  of  civilization 
— which  excludes  all  the  savage  countries  of  Asia  to  the  north 
of  Ta-han  (Eastern  Siberia  and  Kamtchatka).  It  is  therefore 
necessary  to  look  in  some  other  direction.  The  disposition  of 
the  insular  countries  of  Eastern  Asia  leaves  only  one :  that  to  the 
southeast  or  the  south.  Klaproth  thought  that  Fu-sang  might 
be  a  part  of  Niphon,  the  largest  island  of  the  archipelago  ;  and 
this  supposition  is,  as  has  been  said,  the  most  probable.  It  be 
comes  a  certainty,  if,  as  Klaproth  affirms,  Fu-sang  is  in  fact  one 
of  the  names  which  Japan  has  borne. 

I  will  add  only  a  word  on  the  subject  of  the  memoir  of  M. 
Gustave  d'Eichthal.  The  essay  of  this  scholarly  author  is  an  at- 
*  I  can  find  no  authority  for  this  statement. — E.  P.  V. 


192  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

tempt  to  prove  that  the  Mexican  civilization  not  only  comes 
from  Asia,  but  that  it  has  a  Buddhistic  origin.  It  is  for  this  rea 
son,  evidently,  that  he  has  warmly  taken  in  hand  the  defense  of 
the  ideas  of  de  Guignes,  which,  in  fact,  if  they  could  be  sus 
tained,  would  furnish  a  direct  explanation  of  the  analogies  which, 
as  some  believe,  have  been  discovered  between  certain  delinea 
tions  figured  upon  the  Aztec  monuments  and  some  of  the  monu 
ments  of  India. 

Whether  well  founded  or  not,  these  analogies  have  no  neces 
sary  connection  with  the  question  of  Fu-sang.  This  question  is 
entirely  one  of  geography,  and  it  is  only  from  this  stand-point 
that  I  have  regarded  it.  The  other  question  has  an  archaeologi 
cal  side,  of  which  the  examination  should  be  conducted  by  those 
more  competent  than  myself. 

Condensed  Translation  of  an  Article  read  by  M.  Lucien 
Adam  before  the  International  Congress  of  Americanists, 
at  Nancy,  1875. 1T 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  fully  go  over  the  discussion  regard 
ing  the  Chinese  account  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang  (dating  from 
the  fifth  century),  which  discussion  has  been  going  on  from  1761 
to  the  present  time  ;  but  it  is  plain  that  the  advantage  remains 
with  de  Guignes,  at  least  as  far  as  regards  the  geographical  de 
termination  of  the  location  of  this  country. 

The  elements  of  this  first  part  of  the  problem  are  in  substance 
as  follows  : 

Li-yen,  a  Chinese  historian  who  lived  during  the  first  part 
of  the  seventh  century,  speaks  of  a  country  called  Fu-sang,  dis 
tant  more  than  twenty  thousand  li  from  China,  toward  the  east. 
He  said  that,  in  order  to  reach  that  country,  it  was  necessary  to 
set  forth  from  the  coast  of  the  province  of  Leao-tong,  situated 
to  the  north  of  Pe-kin;  that,  after  traveling  twelve  thousand 
li,  Japan,  properly  so  called — that  is  to  say,  Niphon — was  reached; 
that  from  there,  after  a  voyage  of  seven  thousand  li  to  the 
northeast,  the  country  of  the  Wen-shin  was  reached;  and  that  five 
thousand  li  from  this  last-named  country,  toward  the  east,  the 
country  of  Ta-han  was  found,  from  which  the  country  of  Fu- 
sang  could  be  reached,  which  lay  twenty  thousand  li  farther 
east.  The  total  distance  from  Leao-tong  to  Fa-sang,  touching 


REMAKES  OF  M.  LUCIEN  ADAM.  193 

successively  at  Niphon,  Wen-shin,  and  Ta-han,  was  therefore 
forty-four  thousand  li. 

Of  these  five  terms  two  are  known,  Leao-tong  and  Niphon. 
De  Guignes  and  Klaproth  agree  in  placing  the  third  in  the  island 
of  Jesso.  But  while  de  Guignes  identifies  Ta-han  with  Kam- 
tchatka  and  Fu-sang  with  California,  Klaproth  thinks  that  the 
fourth  country  named  must  be  the  island  of  Krafto,  and  the 
fifth  the  southeastern  coast  of  Niphon. 

I  agree  with  Messrs.  Neumann,  de  Paravey,  Perez,  d'Eich- 
thal,  Godron,  and  Leland,  that  upon  these  two  points  de  Guignes 
has  the  best  of  the  argument  as  against  Klaproth,  and  that  in 
fact  the  Chinese  have  known,  at  least  from  the  sixth  century, 
of  the  existence  of  the  New  World;  since  discovered  in  the  year 
1000  by  the  Icelander  Leif  Erikson,  in  1488  by  Jean  Cousin 
of  Dieppe,  and  in  1492  by  Christopher  Columbus. 

I  think  it  important  to  add  the  fact  mentioned  by  Com 
mander  Maury  and  Colonel  Kennon,*  an  old  officer  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  that  it  is  possible  to  go  from  China  to  America  by 
way  of  the  islands  of  Japan,  the  Kurile  Islands,  the  coast  of 
Kamtchatka,  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  Alaska,  without  ever  los 
ing  sight  of  land  for  more  than  a  few  hours,  and  that  the  dis 
covery  of  America  would  not  present  any  very  serious  difficulty 
to  Chinese  sailors. 

After  having  established  the  fact  of  this  discovery,  by  the 
geographical  article  of  the  historian  Li-yen,  de  Guignes  pub 
lished  a  description  of  Fu-sang,  borrowed  by  him  from  Ma 
Twan-lin,  which  was  published  for  the  first  time  in  a  portion 
of  the  "  Great  Annals  of  China,"  entitled  Nan  Szu. 

The  story  of  the  Buddhist  monk  is  rendered  the  more  proba 
ble  from  the  established  fact  that  in  the  fifth  century  of  the 
Christian  era  numerous  Buddhist  monks,  actuated  entirely  by 
religious  motives,  accomplished  voyages  nearly  as  long  as,  and 
certainly  more  dangerous  than,  that  from  Leao-tong  to  the  coast 
of  California.  Again,  at  the  time  when  the  predecessors  of 
Hoei  Shin  visited  Fu-sang,  Samarcand,  situated  almost  in  the 
center  of  Asia,  was  incontestably  one  of  the  principal  centers  of 
Buddhist  propagandism. 

*  Mr.  Leland  has,  in  his  book  entitled  "  Fusang,"  inserted  a  letter  from  Colo 
nel  Kennon,  who,  during  the  years  1853-'56,  was  connected  with  the  expedition 
sent  out  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  the  shores  of  Behring's  Strait. 
13 


AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

From  this  double  point  of  view,  it  is  far  from  being  improba 
ble  that,  coming  into  the  country  lying  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Amoor  River,  the  monks  of  Samarcand  should  have  heard  a 
country  mentioned  as  lying  far  to  the  east,  and  that  these  apos 
tles  should  have  sailed  in  the  direction  of  the  rising  sun,  coast 
ing  along  by  the  way  of  the  islands  which  connect  the  Old 
World  with  the  New. 

For  the  rest,  it  is  necessary  to  determine  whether  the  de 
scription  of  Fu-sang  given  by  Hoei  Shin  is  applicable  to  any 
particular  portion  of  the  American  Continent  with  a  precision 
such  that  we  will  be  compelled  to  consider  the  Chinese  monk  as 
an  eye-witness. 

To  this  question  I  answer,  without  hesitation,  that  a  very 
small  number  of  the  details  reported  by  Hoei  Shin  present  a 
character  that  is  truly  American  ;  that  the  remainder  are  purely 
fanciful  and  absurd,  and  that  the  story  as  a  whole  can  not  be 
considered  as  testimony  worthy  of  credit. 

The  lack  of  iron,  the  paper  made  from  bark,  and  the  absence 
of  metallic  money,  are  indeed  points  that  are  characteristic  of 
America ;  but  it  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  same 
facts  were  found  in  the  history  of  several  other  countries  situ 
ated  to  the  east  of  China,  notably  in  the  Loo  Choo  Islands. 

The  cycle  of  ten  years  is  used  in  Peru  ;  but  Fu-sang  can  not 
be  placed  in  South  America,  and  Mr.  Leland,  who  does  not  wish 
to  lose  the  benefit  of  the  decennial  cycle,  supposes  that  in  the 
fifth  century  Mexico  may  have  been  inhabited  by  the  ancestors 
of  the  present  Peruvians  ! 

Except  these  four  statements — of  which  the  first  three  are 
not  exclusively  American,  and  the  last  is  not  applicable  to  the 
civilization  of  North  America — I  can  not  see  anything  worthy  of 
credit  in  the  account  of  Hoei  Shin. 

In  the  first  place,  the  fu-sang  tree  described  by  this  monk 
can  not  be  the  maguey,  or  great  American  aloe.  "I  do  not 
know,"  said  Dr.  Godron,  speaking  in  1868,  "to  what  botanical 
species  the  tree  mentioned  by  the  Chinese  narrator  can  be  re 
ferred."  The  scholarly  botanist  has  not  changed  his  opinion, 
and  has  kindly  written  me  a  note  which  settles  the  question 
definitely  : 

"  The  Buddhist  monk,  Hoe i  Shin,  describes,  as  existing  in 
the  country  of  Fu-sang,  a  tree  of  which  the  fruit  is  red  and  pear- 


REMARKS  OF  M.  LUCIEN  ADAM.  195 

shaped,  and  which  produces  this  fruit  all  the  year  round ;  its 
leaves  being  similar  to  those  of  the  tree  t'ung,  and  its  sprouts 
to  those  of  the  bamboo.  Some  have  believed  that  in  this  plant 
they  recognized  the  Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis  or  the  Hibiscus 
Syriacus.  The  second  is  out  of  the  question,  since  it  is  a  native 
of  no  other  country  than  Syria.  It  is  cultivated  as  an  ornamental 
tree  in  our  gardens.  The  first  grows  spontaneously  in  China,  as 
well  as  in  Cochin-China,  according  to  Laureiro  ;  it  is  cultivated 
in  all  the  gardens  of  the  two  peninsulas  of  India,  and  may  also 
be  seen  in  our  orangeries.  These  two  species  of  hibiscus  do  not 
have  red  or  pear-shaped  fruit.  Their  fruit  is  surrounded  by 
large  bracts,  which  envelop  it ;  it  is  capsular,  and  opens  at  ma 
turity. 

"  It  has  also  been  said  that  the  fu-sang  tree  is  the  Dryanda 
cordata.  This  plant,  of  the  family  of  the  Euphorbiaces,  is  a 
tree  of  little  height,  which  grows  wild  in  Japan.  The  fruit  is  a 
globular  and  woody  capsule  of  the  size  of  a  walnut  with  its  husk  ; 
it  contains  several  kernels,  from  which  a  very  acrid  poisonous  oil 
is  extracted,  which  is  much  used  as  an  oil  for  lamps,  and  which 
in  China  bears  the  name  of  Mu-yeu.  The  leaves  are  large, 
and  disposed  in  tufts  at  the  ends  of  the  branches ;  they  have  a 
leaf-stalk,  are  heart-shaped,  and  do  not  in  any  way  resemble 
(any  more  than  those  of  the  Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis  and  Sy~ 
riacus)  the  leaves  of  the  bamboo,  which  are  shaped  like 
those  of  the  grasses.  The  bamboos  appertain  to  an  entirely 
different  grand  division  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  from  the 
Malvaces  and  the  Euphorbiaces.  But  Hoei  Shin  was  no  bot 
anist. 

"The  maguey,  or  Agave  Americana,  answers  still  less  to  the 
description  of  the  Buddhist  monk  ;  its  fruit  is  neither  red  nor 
pear-shaped,  but  is  a  hexagonal  capsule,  and  its  extremely  large 
leaves  form  a  rosette  about  the  roots. 

"  Of  the  plants  to  which  that  mentioned  by  the  Buddhist 
monk  has  been  compared,  none  are  American,  with  the  exception 
of  the  agave,  and,  moreover,  it  seems  as  impossible  to  reconcile 
any  plant  of  China  or  Japan  with  the  description,  as  any  plant 
of  the  New  World.  The  question  seems  to  us,  up  to  the  pres 
ent  time,  to  be  insoluble." 

I  remark,  upon  the  subject  of  the  fu-sang  tree,  that  Hoei  Shin 
does  not  mention  the  long  thorns  which  characterize  the  maguey, 


196  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  does  not  say  anything  of  the  alcoholic  liquor  which  is  ex 
tracted  in  Mexico  from  the  heart  of  the  plant. 

The  zoology  of  the  Buddhist  monk  is  no  more  correct  than 
his  botany,  for  horses  were  brought  to  America  from  Europe  in 
the  sixteenth  century  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  at  the  time  of 
the  conquest  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  had  neither 
beasts  of  burden  nor  draught  animals.  The  pretended  herds  of 
deer  of  Fu-sang  are  evidently  herds  of  reindeer  ;  and  as  to  the 
cattle,  or  bisons,  they  have  been  found  domesticated,  not  upon 
the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  where  we  would  naturally  look  for  Fit- 
sang,  but  rather  in  the  ancient  country  of  Cibola — that  is  to  say, 
in  the  region  now  known  as  New  Mexico,  where  the  houses  are 
constructed  of  unburned  bricks,  and  where  the  Indians,  called 
Pueblo  Indians,  live  in  fortified  towns,  in  order  to  defend  them 
selves  against  the  incursions  of  the  red-skins. 

Messrs.  d'Eichthal  and  Leland  have  ingeniously  sought  to 
explain  this  part  of  the  account  of  Hoei  Sfdn  by  substituting, 
for  horses,  animals  of  a  great  height,  and  with  branching  horns, 
which  the  Spaniards  call  "  horse-deer,"  and  by  transporting  Fu- 
sang  into  the  interior  of  the  continent,  because  of  the  bisons 
found  in  Cibola.  But  the  details  given  by  the  monk,  relative  to 
the  construction  of  the  houses,  to  the  cities,  and  to  the  military 
weapons,  absolutely  exclude  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Califor 
nia  itself. 

M.  d'Eichthal  has  endeavoured  to  explain  the  idle  tale  of  the 
two  prisons,  by  the  dogmas  as  to  future  punishment  held  by  the 
Mandans  :  the  prison  of  the  north  being  understood  as  hell,  and 
that  of  the  south  as  paradise.  What,  then,  becomes  of  the  mar 
riages  contracted  by  the  prisoners,  and  the  children  sold  as 
slaves,  the  boys  at  the  age  of  eight  years  and  the  girls  at  that 
of  nine  ?  Evidently  Hoei  Shin  speaks  of  temporal  punishment 
and  of  prisons  in  the  present  life. 

Of  the  ceremonies  of  marriage,  the  punishments  inflicted 
on  criminals  of  the  different  classes  of  society,  and  of  the  coun 
try  inhabited  by  white  women,  I  can  see  nothing  to  say,  except 
that  it  is  all  imaginary,  and  stamped  with  the  imprint  of  mani 
fest  absurdity. 

I  now  hasten  to  discuss  the  most  important  question  raised 
by  the  account.  Is  it  certain,  or  even  credible,  that  Hoei  Shin 
found  Fu-sang- America  converted  to  Buddhism,  as  he  expressly 


REMARKS   OF  M.  LUCIEN  ADAM.  197 

declared?  If  the  apostles,  who  came  from  Samarcand,  spread 
abroad  the  worship  of  Buddha,  and  with  it  the  sacred  books  and 
holy  images  of  that  religion,  we  should  expect  to  find  some 
thing  of  all  this  in  their  traditionary  history  (since  writing  was 
unknown),  and  in  their  monuments. 

History,  properly  so  called,  is  absolutely  mute  concerning  any 
religious  revolution  of  the  fifth  century.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  this  silence  might  be  explained  by  claiming  that  the  natives 
formerly  had  books,  which  have  been  destroyed.  Let  us,  there 
fore,  examine  their  traditions,  and  see  whether,  as  has  been 
thought  by  some,  Quetzalcoatl,  the  god  of  the  city  of  Cholula, 
may  not  have  been  one  of  the  five  monks  of  Samarcand. 

According  to  Motolinia,  Quetzalcoatl  was  a  white  man,  of 
good  height,  having  a  large  forehead,  and  great  eyes  ;  his  hair 
was  long  and  black  ;  he  wore  a  large  beard,  trimmed  to  a  round 
shape.  He  was  chaste  and  peaceable,  and  very  moderate  in  all 
things.  So  far  was  he  from  asking  that  the  blood  of  men,  or 
even  of  animals,  should  be  shed  in  sacrifice,  that  he  held  no  of 
ferings  as  agreeable  except  those  of  bread,  flowers,  or  perfume  ; 
he  prohibited  all  acts  of  violence,  and  detested  war.  Finally,  he 
lacerated  his  body  with  the  thorns  of  the  agave,  and  recom 
mended  the  practice  of  the  most  severe  penances. 

I  admit  that  the  resemblance  is  specious  ;  but  if  there  is  one 
point  upon  which  the  legend  is  particularly  plain,  it  is  that  Que 
tzalcoatl  came  from  a  country  situated  to  the  east  of  America, 
and  that,  when  he  took  leave  of  his  disciples  on  the  eastern 
coast,  he  told  them  that  white  men,  bearded  like  himself,  would 
come  by  sea  from  the  east  and  subdue  the  entire  country.  It  is 
said  that  the  cause  of  Montezuma's  ruin  was  his  blind  faith  in 
this  prophecy.  To  this  first  reason  for  doubting  that  Quetzal 
coatl  can  have  been  a  Buddhist  priest,  there  may  be  added  a 
second,  which  I  think  decisive.  Quetzalcoatl,  who,  according  to 
the  legend,  came  from  Tula  to  Cholula— that  is  to  say,  from  one 
Toltec  capital  to  another — appeared  as  the  ideal  representative  of 
the  Toltec  race  ;  but  before  he  was  invested  with  this  marvelous 
form,  under  which  there  was  poorly  concealed  an  energetic  pro 
test  of  the  vanquished  nation  against  the  belligerent  disposition 
and  sanguinary  tastes  of  the  Aztecs,  Quetzalcoatl  had  been  a  god 
similar  in  appearance  to  all  the  rest.  At  Tula  his  visage  was 
hideous.  At  Cholula  his  body  was  that  of  a  man,  and  his  head 


198  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

that  of  a  bird  with  a  red  beak.  Finally,  at  a  much  older  period, 
Quetzalcoatl  had  been,  in  the  north,  purely  and  simply  a  bird, 
representing  the  hieroglyphical  sign  of  the  air  ;  and,  in  the  south, 
sometimes  an  aerolite,  and  sometimes  a  serpent. 

The  Quetzalcoatl  of  the  legend  is,  therefore,  a  personage  not 
less  fabulous  than  the  Saturn  of  the  Latins,  than  Bochica,  the 
legendary  white  man  of  the  Musca  Indians,  or  Manco  Capac,  the 
legislator  of  the  Incas.* 

In  America,  as  in  Europe,  the  golden  age,  or  age  of  peace,  has 
been  a  popular  fancy,  and  it  may  be  affirmed  that  during  the 
fifth  century  the  New  World  was  the  theatre  of  incessant  wars, 
which  is,  moreover,  attested  by  the  immense  defensive  works 
discovered  in  the  valleys  of  the  Gila,  the  Colorado,  the  Ohio, 
and  the  Mississippi.  As  to  the  colour  of  the  personage  in  whom 
the  ideal  of  the  golden  age  is  incarnated,  it  should  be  remarked 
that  Quetzalcoatl  has  often  been  represented  with  a  red  visage, 
and  that  among  all  nations,  not  belonging  to  the  Caucasian  race, 
whiteness  of  the  skin  has  been  considered  a  sort  of  blessing,  im 
plying  a  divine  mission  or  a  superior  nature. 

The  existence  in  Mexico  of  religious  orders  or  of  colleges  of 
priests,  of  which  the  members  took  vows  of  asceticism,  of  poverty, 
and  of  mortification  of  the  body,  does  not  necessarily  imply  the 
preaching  either  of  Buddhism  or  of  Christianity,  for  America  is 
not  the  only  country  in  which  men  who  were  not  connected 
with  either  of  these  two  great  religions  have  united  themselves 
to  practice  frightful  austerities  in  common.  As  for  the  volun 
tary  tortures  esteemed  as  honourable  by  the  Mandan  Indians, 
some  of  them  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  the  tortures  which  the 
fanatics  of  East  India  inflict  upon  themselves  ;  but,  as  has  been 
very  judiciously  remarked  by  M.  Foucaux,  these  practices  point 
us  to  Brahmanism  rather  than  to  Buddhism.  Finally,  it  is  no 
torious  that  the  races  of  the  New  World  have,  in  their  life  as 
hunters,  and  in  their  perpetual  wars,  acquired  an  incredible 
power  of  supporting  suffering  stoically,  and  that  most  of  them 
systematically  submit  their  young  warriors  to  the  most  cruel 
trials  of  their  endurance. 

The  practice  of  auricular  confession  by  the  natives  of  Mexico 

*  The  same  course  of  reasoning  in  regard  to  the  myths  that  in  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona  have  gathered  about  the  name  of  Montezuma,  would  prove,  quite  as 
conclusively,  that  no  such  chieftain  ever  lived.— E.  P.  Y. 


REMARKS  OF  M.  LUCIEN  ADAM.  199 

would  be  an  argument  more  conclusive  than  the  preceding,  if  it 
had  not  been  superabundantly  established  that  the  avowal  of 
faults  is  a  custom  that  is  almost  universal. 

For  the  rest,  the  traditions  and  beliefs  of  the  ancient  races  of 
America  constitute  a  field  in  which  all  investigators  find  almost 
everything  that  they  desire  ;  and  I  can  oppose  to  the  opinion  of 
M.  d'Eichthal,  where  he  recognizes  Buddhist  influences,  the  opin 
ions  of  others  who  think  that  they  see  Christian  influences of 

which  the  agents  were  the  apostles  Saint  Bartholomew  and  Saint 
Thorn afc — or  the  colonists  of  Great  Ireland  or  those  of  Ilvitra- 
mannaland. 

It  remains,  therefore,  to  verify  the  uncertain  data  of  tradi 
tion  by  the  examination  of  monuments  and  antiquities. 

In  the  belief  of  M.  G.  d'Eichthal,  the  results  of  the  Buddhist 
preaching  of  the  fifth  century  are  visible  upon  the  walls  of  the 
Palace  of  Palenque,  and  the  House  of  the  Nuns  at  Uxmal. 

It  may  be  objected  to  the  view  of  d'Eichthal  that  the  bas- 
relief  described  by  him  is  identical  with  others  found  in  Bud 
dhist  temples  ;  that,  according  to  Dupaix,  Lenoir,  Catlin,  de  Wai- 
deck,  and  M.  Viollet-le-Duc,  Palenque  was  built  much  later  than 
the  fifth  century  of  our  era.  But  this  is  a  question  that  is  still 
undecided,  and  I  must  recognize  the  fact  that,  in  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Hubert  H.  Bancroft,  the  date  of  the  construction  of  Pa 
lenque  can  only  be  uncertainly  fixed  as  some  time  between  the 
first  and  the  eighth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

It  should  be  observed,  moreover,  that  Stephens,  who  copied 
the  bas-relief,  saw  no  trace  of  Buddhism  in  it.  M.  Lenoir  has 
confined  himself  to  saying  that  there  is  an  analogy  between  the 
attitude  of  the  principal  figure  and  the  usual  pose  of  Buddha. 
M.  d'Eichthal,  however,  does  not  hesitate  to  raise  a  simple  an 
alogy  in  the  position  into  a  complete  identity,  doing  this  with 
out  paying  any  attention  to  the  statements  of  Stephens  :  that 
the  character  of  the  principal  personage  is  the  same  as  that  of 
personages  represented  elsewhere  in  the  palace  ;  that  the  pre 
tended  worshiper  is  sitting  cross-legged,  and  not  upon  his 
knees  ;  that  the  offering  does  not  consist  of  a  flower,  either  of 
the  lotus  or  of  the  cacao-tree,  but  of  a  bunch  of  plumes,  an 
ornament  essentially  American,  which  is  lacking  in  the  head 
dress  of  the  principal  personage ;  that  similar  plumes  are  asso 
ciated  with  the  figures  of  other  divinities  of  Palenque  ;  and, 


200  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

finally,  that  the  ruins  of  this  stone-built  city  are  situated  in  the 
Atlantic  state  of  Chiapas,  and  not  in  the  kingdom  of  Cibola,  or 
upon  the  western  coast.  M.  Lenoir,  when  he  spoke  of  analogy, 
had  nothing  else  in  mind  than  the  pose  of  the  principal  per 
sonage,  sitting  with  legs  crossed.  Now,  there  exists  at  Copan  a 
bas-relief  in  which  four  personages,  incontestably  American,  are 
represented  in  this  same  attitude. 

Of  the  figure  seated  in  the  niche  of  the  wall  of  the  House  of 
Monks  at  Uxmal,  Mr.  Hubert  H.  Bancroft  assures  us  that  it  is 
not  certainly  known  whether  this  figure,  which  has  now  disap 
peared,  was  copied  from  nature  or  drawn  from  the  more  or  less 
uncertain  descriptions  of  the  Indians.  In  any  case,  it  is  true 
that  M.  de  Waldeck,  who  was  looking  for  Buddhist  resem 
blances,  did  not  himself  recognize  the  figure  as  that  of  Buddha, 
and  this  is  a  very  important  fact. 

Mr.  Leland  does  not  share  in  what  I  may  be  permitted  to  call 
the  Buddhistic  illusions  of  M.  Gustave  d'Eichthal.  "  Images  re 
sembling  the  ordinary  Buddha  have  been  found,"  says  he,  "  in 
Mexico  and  Central  America,  but  they  can  not  be  proved  to 
be  identical  with  it."  This  is  the  truth.  The  ancient  monu 
ments  of  America  sometimes  present,  in  certain  details,  analo 
gies  with  the  principle  of  Grecian  art,  Assyrian  art,  Egyptian 
art,  and  Hindoo  art ;  but  these  points  of  resemblance  are  purely 
accidental,  and  are  owing  to  the  unity  of  the  human  mind,  and, 
from  the  mere  fact  that  the  conclusions  drawn  from  them  are 
contradictory  between  themselves,  it  is  evident  that  no  impor 
tant  historical  point  can  be  determined  by  their  means. 

Mr.  Francis  A.  Allen,  who  also  admits  the  authenticity  of 
the  tale  of  Hoei  Shin,  believes  that  he  has  found  upon  the  walls 
of  the  temples  of  Central  America  an  ornament  that  is  very  com 
mon  in  Buddhist  countries.  I  mean  the  head  and  trunk  of  the 
elephant,  an  animal  unknown  in  the  New  World  since  the  last 
glacial  period.  This1  time  the  argument  appears  to  be  without 
reply.  The  following  is  a  short  extract  on  this  subject,  from 
the  recent  work  of  Mr.  Hubert  H.  Bancroft,  on  "The  Native 
Races  of  the  Pacific  States  "  : 

"At  Uxmal,  above  one  of  the  doors  of  the  'House  of  the 
Governor, Uhere  is  a  sculptured  decoration,  the  central  portion 
of  which  is  a  curved  projection,  supposed  by  more  than  one 
traveler  to  be  modeled  after  the  trunk  of  an  elephant.  It  pro- 


REMARKS  OF  M.  LUCIEN  ADAM. 


201 


jects  nineteen  inches  from  the  surface  of  the  wall.  This  pro 
truding  curve  occurs  more  frequently  on  this  and  other  buildings 
at  Uxmal  than  any  other  decoration,  and  usually  with  the  same 
or  similar  accompaniments  which  may  be  fancied  to  represent 
the  features  of  a  monster  of  which  this  forms  the  nose.  It  oc 
curs  especially  on  the  ornamented  and  rounded  corners,  being 
sometimes  reversed  in  its  position.  The  same  ornament  is  found 
in  the  ruins  of  Zayi,  at  the  angle  of  the  fa9ade  of  the  Casa 
Grande,  and  at  Labna  at  the  corner  of  a  palace,  where  the  sup 
posed  trunk  is  superposed  upon  the  mouth  of  an  alligator  inclos 
ing  a  human  head.  .  .  .  Finally,  the  head-dress  of  one  of  the 
personages  represented  upon  a  bas-relief  of  the  Palace  at  Pa- 
lenque  presents  a  somewhat  striking  resemblance  to  an  elephant's 
trunk." 

The  projection  described  by  Mr.  Bancroft  reproduces,  to  a 
certain  extent,  the  curve  of  the  trunk  of  the  elephant ;  but  it 
should  be  noted  that  the  tusks  of  the  animal  are  lacking.  In 
the  absence  of  this  characteristic  part,  it  may  be  legitimately 
supposed  that,  if  the  artist  attempted  to  copy  the  nasal  append 
age  of  any  animal  (which  is  not  at  all  evident),  his  model  may 
have  been  the  American  tapir.* 

That  which  I  said  above  regarding  the  traditions  of  the  an 
cient  Americans  is  equally  applicable  to  their  monuments.  Every 
one  interprets  them  in  the  sense  that  serves  his  theories  the  best, 
and  I  dare  say  that  too  often  the  archaeology  of  the  New  World 
is  studied  to  find  an  argument  for  the  defense  of  preconceived 
theories,  or  to  extend  and  systematize  analogies  that  are  entirely 
accidental. 

While  I  lived  in  the  United  States,  I  often  heard  the  claim 
that  America  was  made  for  the  Americans  ;  which  I  am  far  from 
wishing  to  contradict.  It  is  to  be  desired  that  this  formula 
should  be  introduced  into  the  study  of  American  antiquities,  to 
serve  as  a  fundamental  rule,  and  that,  for  the  future,  we  should 
not  seek  in  America  for  India,  Egypt,  Assyria,  or  Greece,  but 
for  America  itself. 

Returning  to  Fa-sang:  I  think  that  the  Chinese  had  a 
knowledge  of  America,  at  least  in  the  seventh  century,  but  I 

*  But  the  proboscis  of  the  tapir  is  hardly  noticeable,  and  it  never  takes  the 
curve  characteristic  of  the  elephant's  trunk,  shown  in  these  Central  American 
decorations. — E.  P  V. 


202  AN"  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

reject  absolutely  the  tale  of  Hoei  Shin.  I  understand  thereby 
that  this  missionary  had  collected  fables,  mixed  with  a  very 
little  truth,  from  the  mouths  of  the  Chinese  sailors  ;  that  he 
played  upon  his  compatriots  by  boasting  that  he  had  visited 
this  American  Fa-sang;  and  that  he  was  induced  to  tell  this 
falsehood  by  the  pious  desire  to  aggrandize  the  kingdom  of 
Buddha  in  their  eyes. 

M.  FREDERICK  DE  HELLWALD  said  that  the  question  of  Fu- 
sang  recurs  periodically,  and  is  obstinately  reproduced  from  time 
to  time,  just  as  certain  journals  occasionally  repeat  the  differ 
ent  tales  regarding  the  apparition  of  the  sea-serpent  :  and  as  it 
is  a  fact  that  no  one  has  been  given  an  opportunity  to  study  this 
monstrous  animal  zoologically,  just  so  no  one  has  ever  given 
scientific  proof  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Chinese.  In 
1871  the  "  Athenaeum,"  of  London,  related  this  account  of  the 
discovery  of  America  by  the  yellow  men  as  a  thing  entirely  new. 
Dr.  Bretschneider  at  that  time  amply  refuted  this  fable  ;  but  this 
has  not  prevented  an  English  book  from  taking  the  subject  up 
again  recently.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  refutation  of  Messrs, 
de  Rosny  and  Lucien  Adam  will  not  prevent  a  re-appearance 
of  the  monster.  The  Congress  of  Americanists  will  render  a 
true  service  to  science  by  declaring  that  it  holds  Fu-sang  as  a 
scientific  sea-serpent,  and  by  prohibiting  it  from  infesting  the 
regions  of  American  studies. 

Professor  JOLT,  of  Toulouse,  could  understand  this  impatience 
for  a  solution  of  the  problem,  but  did  not  share  in  it.  Before 
rejecting  the  Asiatic  hypothesis,  should  not  the  proofs  bearing 
upon  the  subject  which  can  be  furnished  by  the  auxiliary  sciences 
be  exhausted  ?  Do  we  know  enough  of  American  archaeology, 
zoology,  anthropology,  and  craniology  to  be  able  to  decide  au 
thoritatively  ?  Is  it  too  much  to  ask  that  the  attempt  to  solve 
the  question  be  postponed,  at  least  until  a  later  sitting  of  the 
Congress  ? 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  the  herds  of  tame  cattle  and  of 
deer,  mentioned  by  Hoei  Shin,  M.  Joly  asked  whether  these  so- 
called  cattle  might  not  be  understood  to  be  the  largest  of  the 
domestic  quadrupeds  of  Central  America,  the  llama,  which  is 
used  as  a  pack  animal  and  to  draw  loads  of  goods. 

M.  LUCIEN  ADAM  observed   that  •  the   llama  inhabits   only 


REMARKS  OF  PROFESSOR  JOLY.  203 

South  America,  particularly  Peru.  Fu-sang  is  at  one  time  sup 
posed  to  be  Mexico  ;  presently  it  is  moved  to  Arizona,  in  order 
to  find  the  bison  there  ;  and  then  to  Russian  America,  in  order  to 
find  the  reindeer  :  now  we  descend  to  Peru,  in  order  that  we 
may  find  a  sufficiently  imperfect  representative  of  cattle  in  the 
llamas  of  that  country. 

M.  JOLT  thought  that  paleontology  might  furnish  a  better 
solution  of  the  question  of  the  communication  between  America 
and  Eastern  Asia.  Could  not  the  representations  of  the  elephant 
upon  the  walls  of  Palenque  be  explained  by  a  knowledge,  on 
the  part  of  the  natives,  not  of  a  contemporaneous  elephant,  but 
of  some  one  of  the  primitive  elephants — the  mammoth  or  the 
mastodon  ?  Might  not  the  Mexicans  have  discovered  some 
skulls  of  the  Eleplias primogenius  which  existed  in  America  dur 
ing  the  glacial  period?  Might  not  the  figure  of  this  animal 
have  been  preserved  in  some  prehistoric  design,  as  in  France  the 
image  of  the  reindeer  or  the  cave-bear  has  been  preserved  graven 
upon  fragments  of  deer-horns?  It  is  denied  that  Hoei  Shin 
could  have  found  horses  in  America.  Undoubtedly  the  horse 
was  imported  by  the  conquering  Spaniards  ;  but  may  not  an  in 
digenous  equine  race  have  existed  in  America  ? 

Have  not  beds  of  the  bones  of  horses  been  found  in  the  Bad 
Lands  ?  Until  the  soil  of  America  has  been  more  thoroughly 
examined,  and  more  fully  studied,  so  that  it  shall  have  deliv 
ered  up  its  paleontological  secrets,  M.  Joly  asked  that  c-aution 
should  be  exercised  regarding  this  Asiatic  hypothesis. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

D'HERVEY'S  NOTES. 

Bibliography — The  name  of  the  priest — The  city  of  King-cheu — Ta-han — Lieu- 
kuei,  a  peninsula — Earlier  knowledge  of  Fu-sang — The  construction  of  the 
dwellings — The  lack  of  arms  and  armour — The  punishment  of  criminals — The 
titles  of  the  nobles — The  title  Tui-lu  found  in  Corea — The  colours  of  the  king's 
garments — The  cycle  of  ten  years — Peruvian  history — The  long  cattle-horns — 
The  food  prepared  from  milk — The  red  pears — Grapes — The  worship  of 
images  of  spirits  of  the  dead — Its  existence  in  China — Cophene — The  "  King 
dom  of  Women" — The  legumes  used  as  food — Wen-shin — The  punishment  of 
criminals — The  name  Ta-han — The  country  identified  with  Kamtchatka — Two 
countries  of  that  name — One  lying  north  of  China,  and  one  lying  east — Un- 
warlike  nature  of  the  people. 

Notes  of  the  Marquis  d^Hervey  de  Saint-Deny s  on  Ma  Twan- 
lin's  Account  of  Fa-sang,  Wen-shin,  Ta-han,  and  the  "King 
dom  of  Women:''  1547 

MA  TWAN-LIN'S  account  of  Fa-sang  is  of  exceptional  inter 
est,  for  it  has  raised  the  important  question  as  to  whether  the 
Chinese  knew  of  America,  not  only  in  the  fifth  century  of  our 
era,  as  is  indicated  by  the  account  of  Hoei  Shin,  but  back  to 
the  most  remote  antiquity,  as  I  propose  to  demonstrate  a  little 
farther  on.  The  Oriental  scholar  de  Guignes  was  the  first  to 
find  in  the  works  of  Ma  Twan-lin  (which  had  never  been  inves 
tigated  before  by  any  European  student)  the  mention  of  the 
country  of  Fa-sang;  which  he  recognized  as  belonging  to 
North  America,  and  which  he  thought  might  be  identified  with 
California  ;  being  led  to  this  conclusion  by  studying  the  route 
followed  by  the  Chinese  vessels,  which  the  currents  had  borne 
to  the  shores  of  that  country.  He  set  forth  this  opinion  in  a 
very  justly  celebrated  memoir;  the  assertions  contained  in  which 
were  opposed  by  a  critic  who  was  very  much  disposed  to  deny 
everything  that  he  had  not  discovered  himself.  But  the  feeble- 


D'HERVEY'S  NOTES.  205 

ness  of  his  refutation  became  a  powerful  argument  in  support 
of  the  opinion  advanced  by  de  Guignes,  for  no  one  was  better 
able  than  Klaproth  to  expose  errors  of  the  kind  which  he  ac 
cused  de  Guignes  of  having  committed;  and  when  the  poverty  of 
his  contradictory  pleas  is  exposed,  as  well  as  the  manifest  inac 
curacy  of  the  statements  that  he  makes,  the  conclusion  is  natural 
that  the  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Huns  "  has  the  best  of 
the  argument.  D'Eichthal,  the  Chevalier  de  Paravey,  Professor 
Neumann,  and  M.  Perez  have  in  turn  defended  de  Guignes's 
memoir  with  much  force,  by  adding  numerous  new  proofs  in 
support  of  those  which  had  been  given  by  that  scholar.  Finally, 
in  a  volume  full  of  facts,  entitled  "  Fusang,  or  the  Discovery  of 
America,"  an  American  author,  Mr.  Charles  G.  Leland,  has  very 
recently  devoted  himself  to  the  confirmation  of  the  identification 
of  Fu-sang  with  California  or  Mexico,  by  means  of  more  recent 
documents  borrowed  from  the  latest  researches  concerning  the 
navigation  of  the  Pacific  and  the  ethnography  of  the  American 
tribes.  Dr.  Bretschneider  alone  declares  his  confidence  in  the 
judgment  of  Klaproth  ;  undoubtedly  from  the  robust  faith  with 
which  there  is  proof  that  he  was  inspired,  since  he  very  fairly 
admits  that  he  has  read  nothing  that  has  been  written  in  opposi 
tion  to  his  views.  Lack  of  space  prevents  any  analysis  of  the 
works  which  I  have  cited,  and  which  it  appears  sufficient  to  point 
out  to  the  reader.  I  shall  take  pains  to  call  attention  success 
ively  to  the  passages  of  this  notice  which  have  been  the  subject 
of  controversy,  and  to  several  expressions  which  have  been  in 
terpreted  in  very  different  ways  by  de  Guignes,  Klaproth,  Neu 
mann,  and  Bretschneider.  I  have  endeavoured  to  make  my  ver 
sion  as  literal  as  possible,  so  that  specialists  who  are  not  Sino 
logues  may  easily  obtain  an  accurate  idea  of  the  original  text. 
The  same  desire  to  aid  in  clearing  up  the  question  as  to  Fu-sang 
induces  me  to  place  in  an  appendix  several  documents  from 
Chinese  sources  which  relate  to  it,  and  which  I  believe  have 
never  before  been  published  in  any  European  language. 

The  name  of  the  Buddhist  priest,  i|  ^,  Neumann  writes 
Hoei  Shin,  and  Dr.  Bretschneider,  Hui-shen.  This  appellation 
signifies  " very  sagacious,"  or  "very  intelligent"  (not  "universal 
compassion,"  as  Neumann  has  translated  it ;  I  can  not  imagine 
why),  and  is  a  religious  name,  from  which  no  indication  can  be 
drawn  as  to  the  true  nationality  of  the  bonze  who  bore  it.  Mr. 


206  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Leland  writes  :  "  Klaproth  says, '  a  native  of  the  country,'  and  by 
'the  country  '  he  means  Fa-sang ;  but  in  the  German  version  of 
the  same  passage,  given  by  Neumann,  *  the  [or  this]  country '  re 
fers  to  China."  If  Neumann,  whose  German  version  I  have  not 
seen,  otherwise  than  in  the  English  translation  which  Mr.  Leland 
has  made  (adding  that  it  has  been  revised  by  Neumann  himself), 
gives  it  to  be  clearly  understood  that  Hoei  Shin  was  a  native  of 
China,  he  is  surely  in  error.  The  characters  of  the  Chinese  text, 
ji  |U,  "  of  that  kingdom  "  (otherwise,  "  of  this  country  "),  relate 
to  Fa-sang,  and  not  to  China.  It  is  true  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  Chinese  text  to  indicate  whether  Hoei  Shin  had  become  a 
bonze  in  Fu-sang,  or  whether  he  was  a  native  of  that  country. 
This  question  it  is  necessary  to  reserve,  and  my  version  is  abso 
lutely  literal. 

To  arrive  at  the  city  of  IZing-clieu,  which  was  situated  in  what 
is  now  called  Hu-kuang,  and  upon  the  banks  of  the  Yang-tse- 
kiang,  Hoei  Shin  would  be  compelled  to  ascend  the  river,  pass 
ing  Kien-kang,  or  Nan+king,  which  was  the  capital  of  the  empire 
of  the  Tsi  dynasty. 

De  Guignes  believed  that  he  was  able  to  identify  the  country 
of  Ta-lian  with  Kamtchatka,  and  also  with  the  place  of  exile 
called  Lieu-kuei  by  the  Chinese.  Klaproth  thinks  that  Ta-han, 
which  he  also  recognizes  as  the  same  country  as  Lieu-kuei,  must 
be  the  island  of  Saghalien,  otherwise  called  Tarakai,  or  Karafto. 
He  adopts  this  hypothesis  arbitrarily,  without  making  any  allow 
ance  for  the  fact  that  Ma  Twan-lin  says  that  Ta-Jian  lies  more 
than  5,000  li  to  the  east  of  Wen-shin,  and  this  in  turn  more  than 
7,000  li  northeasterly  (not  northerly)  from  Japan,  and  without 
making  any  attempt  to  reconcile  his  opinion  with  that  statement, 
or  with  the  geographical  treatise  Long-wei-pi-shu,  which  says 
that  Lieu-kuei  could  be  reached  by  land,  and  that  the  sea  sur 
rounded  this  country  on  three  sides  only.  ("Lieu-kuei  is  to 
the  north  of  the  Northern  Sea,  and  is  surrounded  by  the  sea  on 
three  sides.")  Dr.  Bretschneider  places  the  country  of  Ta-han 
in  Siberia,  •  abandoning  Klaproth's  opinion  on  this  point ;  and 
Professor  Neumann,  with  whom  Mr.  Leland  agrees,  affirms  that 
he  believes  the  American  peninsula  of  Alaska  to  have  been  in 
tended  by  this  designation.  The  kingdom  of  Ta-han  is  the  ob 
ject  of  special  mention,  a  little  farther  on,  and  I  therefore  defer, 
for  discussion  in  that  connection,  several  documents  which  I 


D'HERVEY'S  NOTES. 


207 


would  be  obliged  to  repeat  if  they  were  inserted  here,  merely 
remarking  for  the  present  that  Ma  Twan-lin,  and  other  Chinese 
writers,  treat  separately  the  countries  described  by  them  under 
the  name  of  Lieu-kuei  and  Ta-han,  and  class  the  first  among  the 
regions  of  the  north,  and  the  second  among  the  regions  of  the 
east.  In  any  case,  whatever  may  be  the  exact  and  definite  iden 
tification  of  Fu-sang,  it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  when  the 
bonze  Hoei  Shin,  who  arrived  in  the  empire  of  the  Tsi  (the 
dynasty  then  ruling  a  large  portion  of  China)  by  way  of  the 
Great  Itiang,  described  Fu-sang  as  being  at  the  same  time  to  the 
east  of  Ta-han  and  of  China,  he  should  be  understood  as  speak 
ing,  not  of  a  land  of  limited  extent,  but  of  a  true  continent. 

I  can  not  allow  the  phrase  of  the  account  of  Hoei  Shin — read 
ing,  "It  [the  country  of  Fu-sang]  contains  many  fu-sang  trees, 
and  it  is  from  this  fact  that  its  name  is  derived  " — to  pass,  without 
repeating  an  observation  which  I  made  some  years  ago  (in  the  pref 
ace  of  my  translation  of  the  Li-sao],  and  without  demonstrating 
that  if  the  bonze  Hoei  Shin  is  the  first  who  made  the  manners  of 
the  people  of  Fu-sang  known  to  the  Chinese,  there  was  a  knowl 
edge  among  the  Chinese,  centuries  before  him,  of  the  existence 
of  such  a  country.  Even  during  the  life-time  of  Kiu-yuen,  the 
author  of  the  poem  entitled  the  Li-sao — that  is  to  say,  in  the 
third  century  before  our  era — the  name  of  Fu-sang  was  em 
ployed  by  the  poets  to  designate  the  countries  to  the  extreme 
east.  Now,  the  fact  that  this  denomination  of  Fu-sang  was 
not  an  imaginary  one,  but  a  name  drawn  from  a  peculiar  product 
of  a  particular  country,  necessarily  implies  a  real  knowledge, 
previously  acquired,  of  the  existence  of  the  country  so  designated. 

The  passage  relating  to  the  construction  of  their  dwellings 
Klaproth  translates  :  "  The  planks  of  the  wood  [of  i\iQ  fu-sang] 
are  used  in  the  construction  of  their  houses  "  ;  and  Neumann,  ac 
cording  to  Mr.  Leland's  English  version,  "  The  houses  are  built 
of  wooden  beams."  This  last  translation  is  the  most  exact,  since 
the  Chinese  text  does  not  expressly  indicate  that  the  planks  which 
were  used  in  the  construction  of  the  houses  were  made  from  the 
wood  of  the  fu-sang  tree. 

Klaproth  has  translated  another  passage  :  "They  have  neither 
arms  nor  troops  "  ;  Neumann,  "  The  people  have  no  weapons  ";  and 
Bretschneider,  "  Arms  and  war  are  unknown."  No  one  of  these 
three  versions  is  strictly  exact ;  for  the  expression  "  kia-ping  "  con- 


208  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

veys  the  idea  of  soldiers  and  their  military  armament,  but  with 
out  excluding  them  from  the  bow  and  arrow  for  hunting  (which 
would  be  included  in  the  collective  term  "  arms  ")  and  of  which 
it  is  not  said  that  the  inhabitants  of  Fit-sang  were  destitute. 

The  statement  is  made  that,  "  when  a  crime  is  committed  by 
a  person  of  elevated  rank,  the  people  of  the  kingdom  assemble  in 
great  numbers,  place  the  criminal  in  an  excavation,  celebrate  a 
banquet  in  his  presence,  and  take  leave  of  him  as  of  a  dying  man, 
when  he  is  surrounded  with  ashes."  This  is  not  clear,  and  leaves 
much  in  doubt  as  to  the  exact  punishment  of  the  criminal,  of 
which  this  ceremony  appears  to  be  merely  a  preliminary,  in 
tended  to  give  it  more  solemnity.  It  has  been  supposed  that  he 
was  then  sent  to  either  the  northern  or  the  southern  prison.  Neu 
mann  says,  "  He  is  covered  with  ashes,"  which  appears  to  sig 
nify  that  he  was  buried  alive,  as  de  Guignes  also  understood  this 
passage  ;  but  the  meaning  of  the  character  |£|  is  " to  surround" 
and  never " to  cover" 

The  passage  relating  to  the  degrees  of  crime  and  their  pun 
ishments,  Mr.  Leland  translates,  following  Neumann  :  "If  the 
offender  was  one  of  the  lower  class,  he  alone  was  punished  ; 
but,  when  of  rank,  the  degradation  was  extended  to  his  chil 
dren  and  grandchildren.  With  those  of  the  highest  rank,  it  at 
tained  to  the  seventh  generation."  This  interpretation  is  abso 
lutely  inadmissible.  The  word  of  the  Chinese  text,  Iff,  which 
should  be  understood  of  the  gravity,  literally  of  the  weighty  of  a 
crime,  can  not  be  used  in  the  sense  of  the  rank,  more  or  less  ele 
vated,  of  the  criminal.  Klaproth  did  not  commit  this  error. 

In  the  following  sentence  in  regard  to  the  designations  of  the 
king  and  the  nobility,  the  title  of  the  nobles  of  the  first  class  is 
given  as  gj  ]J,  Tui-lu.  In  the  great  collection,  entitled  Ku-Jcin- 
tu-shu-tsi-ching,  the  text  of  the  "  History  of  the  Liang  Dynasty," 
from  which  this  account  is  borrowed,  is  reproduced,  and  this  pas 
sage  reads,  ^  ^  ^  Ta  Tui-lu  (Great  Tui-lu),  in  opposition  to 
>J\  §f  ]J,  Siao  Tui-lu  (Petty  Tui-lu,  or  Tui-lu  of  the  Second  Rank), 
an  honourary  title,  which  is  mentioned  immediately  below.  It  is 
therefore  probable  that  the  character,  ^,  ta,  has  been  inadvertent 
ly  suppressed  in  my  editions  of  the  Wen-hien-tong-kao ;  and  this 
was  the  opinion  of  de  Guignes,  who  translated  this  passage, 
"  Great  and  Petty  Tui-lu."  This  detail  is  of  little  importance,  but 
it  is  deserving  of  attention  (inasmuch  as  the  remark  must  be  new, 


D'HERVEY'S  NOTES. 

since  the  notice  of  Ma  Twan-lin  regarding  Corea  has  not  been 
translated  into  any  European  language  before)  that  the  title 
given  to  the  highest  dignitaries  of  Fu-sang  is  precisely  the  same 
as  that  borne  by  the  first  dignitaries  of  Kao-kiu-li  (Corea).1546 
"The  mandarins  of  Kao-li  are  called  ^  fj  Jjj,  Ta  Tui-lu." 
Eleven  other  titles,  by  which  lower  ranks  are  called,  are  also 
given.  "  The  care  of  the  management  of  the  internal  and  exter 
nal  affairs  of  state  is  divided  among  these  twelve  ranks  of  func 
tionaries.  The  mandarins,  called  Ta  Tui-lu,  are  elected  and  de 
posed  by  the  members  of  this  rank,  by  their  own  authority, 
without  consultation  either  with  the  king  or  his  ministers." 

In  regard  to  the  colour  of  the  king's  garments,  it  should  be 
noted  that  the  Chinese  often  confound  blue  and  green.  The 
character  ^ ,  employed  here,  designates  equally  the  azure  of  the 
sky  and  the  light  green  of  plants  commencing  to  sprout. 

In  this  connection,  reference  is  made  to  a  cycle  of  ten  years, 
represented  by  the  cyclic  characters  ^  kia,  £  y,  pj  ping,  ~J~ 
ting,  tic  ou->  tl  biy  JjE  fceng,  -^  sin,  ££  jin,  and  2£  kouei,  which 
the  Chinese  use  in  the  formation  of  their  cycle  of  sixty  years, 
associating  additional  characters  with  them.  Neumann,  who 
found  a  great  affinity  between  the  Mongolian  Tartars  and  Mant- 
choos  and  the  Indians  of  North  America,  cites  in  this  connec 
tion  the  remark  of  Pere  Gaubil :  "  I  do  not  know  where  the 
Mantchoo  Tartars  learned  to  express  the  ten  Jean  [or  years  of  the 
decennary  cycle]  by  words  which  signify  colours  "  ;  and  he  gives 
this  curious  information  of  his  own  ;  "  The  two  first  years  of  the 
decennary  cycle  are  called  by  the  Tartars  green  and  greenish,  the 
two  following  years  red  and  reddish,  and  the  other  years,  in  their 
order  successively,  yellow  and  yellowish,  white  and  whitish,  and 
black  and  blackish"  Finally,  Mr.  Leland  establishes  a  very  close 
analogy  between  the  institutions  of  Peru  at  the  time  of  the  Span 
ish  conquest  and  the  picture  of  the  manners  of  Fu-sang  sketched 
by  Hoei  Shin,  and  thinks  that  the  same  civilization  formerly 
reigned  in  the  two  Americas.  He  treats  this  subject  with  much 
interest  (pages  49-59),  and  makes  the  following  observations  re 
garding  the  passage  to  which  this  note  refers  : 

"  The  change  of  the  colour  of  the  garments  of  the  king,  ac 
cording  to  the  astronomical  cycle,  is,  however,  more  thoroughly 
in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  institutions  of  the  Children 
of  the  Sun  than  anything  which  we  have  met  in  the  whole  of 
14 


210  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

this  strange  and  obsolete  record  ;  and  it  is  indeed  remarkable  that 
Professor  Neumann,  who  had  already  indicated  the  southern 
course  of  Aztec,  or  of  Mexican,  civilization,  and  who  manifested, 
as  the  reader  may  have  observed,  so  much  shrewdness  in  adducing 
testimony  for  the  old  monk's  narrative,  did  not  search  more 
closely  into  Peruvian  history  for  that  confirmation  which  a  slight 
inquiry  seems  to  indicate  is  by  no  means  wanting  in  it.  Thus, 
with  regard  to  the  observations  of  the  seasons,  Prescott  tells  us 
that  the  '  ritual  of  the  Incas  involved  a  routine  of  observances 
as  complex  and  elaborate  as  ever  distinguished  that  of  any  na 
tion,  whether  pagan  or  Christian.  Each  month  had  its  appro 
priate  festival,  or  rather  festivals.  The  four  principal  had  refer 
ence  to  the  sun,  and  commemorated  the  great  periods  of  his 
annual  progress,  the  solstices,  and  equinoxes.  Garments  of  a 
peculiar  wool,  and  feathers  of  a  peculiar  colour,  were  reserved  to 
the  Inca.'  I  can  not  identify  the  blue,  red,  yellow,  and  black 
(curiously  reminding  one  of  the  alchemical  elementary  colours, 
still  preserved,  by  a  strange  feeling  for  antiquity,  or  custom,  in 
chemists'  windows)  ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  rainbow 
was  the  Inca's  special  attribute  or  scutcheon,  and  that  his  whole 
life  was  passed  in  accordance  with  the  requisitions  of  astronomi 
cal  festivals  ;  and  the  fact  that  different  colours  were  reserved  to 
him,  and  identified  with  him,  is  very  curious,  and  establishes  a 
strange  analogy  with  the  narrative  of  Hoei  Shin." 

The  translation  by  Klaproth  of  the  sentence,  which  he  gives 
as,  "  The  cattle  have  long  horns,  upon  which  burdens  are  loaded 
which  weigh  as  much  sometimes  as  twenty  Ao,"  is  absolutely  in 
admissible.  The  reference  is,  not  to  cattle  upon  the  heads  of 
which  burdens  are  loaded,  but  to  the  hollow  horns  of  the  cattle, 
which  serve  as  receptacles.  The  ho  is  a  measure  of  capacity, 
containing  ten  teu,  or  Chinese  bushels,  and  the  capacity  of  the 
Chinese  bushel  has,  it  is  said,  varied  from  one  litre  thirty-five  to 
one  litre  fifty-four  centilitres.  We  might  be  in  doubt  of  the 
existence  of  horns  so  extraordinary,  but  we  read,  in  "L'Histoire 
de  la  Conquete  du  Mexique  par  les  Espagnols,"  that  Montezuma 
showed  them,  as  a  curiosity,  cattle-horns  of  enormous  dimen 
sions  ;  and,  in  his  "  Tableaux  de  la  Nature,"  A.  von  Humboldt 
says  that,  in  making  excavations  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
Mexico,  ancient  ruins  were  found,  and  cattle-horns  were  discov 
ered  which  were  truly  monstrous. 


D'HERVEY'S  NOTES.  211 

I  have  not  translated  literally  the  phrase  which  refers  to  the 
food  which  the  people  make  from  milk,  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  determining  the  exact  meaning  of  the  character  gg}  lo,  which 
is  used  to  designate  the  alimentary  preparation  of  'which  the 
hind's  milk  furnished  the  base.  The  true  meaning  of  the  charac 
ter  is  curdled  milk,  and  also  cream.  It  also  indicates  a  sort  of 
liquor  which  the  Tartars  make  from  fermented  mare's  milk. 
This  last  sense  is  adopted  by  Dr.  Bretschneider  ;  de  Guignes  has 
translated  it  butter,  and  Neumann  has  imitated  him.  Klaproth 
thinks  that  cheese  should  be  understood  ;  and  M.  de  Rosny,  who 
has  translated  from  the  Japanese  an  abridged  reproduction  of 
this  notice  regarding  Fu-sang,  says  that  the  inhabitants  made 
creamy  dishes  from  the  milk  of  their  domesticated  hinds.  I 
have  preferred  to  leave  the  expression  somewhat  vague,  since  it 
can  not  be  determined  just  what  was  meant  by  the  character 
used  in  the  original. 

The  version  of  the  Encyclopaedia,  Ku-Jcin-tu-shu-tsi-ching, 
cited  above,  offers  the  variation,  "  They  have  the  pears  of  the 
fu-sang  tree,"  etc.,  instead  of  the  reading  in  our  text,  "  They 
gather  the  red  pears,  which  are  preserved  for  an  entire  year." 

In  the  sentence,  reading,  "  They  also  have  to  pu-tao  "  (many 
grapes),  de  Guignes  translates  the  characters  2£  fff  |fl»,  tojm-tao, 
"  a  great  quantity  of  iris-plants  and  peaches,"  by  giving  their 
isolated  value  to  the  characters  pu  and  tao,  and  by  giving  to 
the  first  (pu,  reeds)  a  signification  which  is  exceptional,  to  say 
the  least.  He  could  not  have  been  ignorant  that  the  compound 
pu-tao  signified  (/rapes  ;  but  he  also  knew  that  the  word,  in  re 
cent  times  at  least,  demands  a  different  orthography.  Klaproth 
has  asserted  that  the  two  characters  of  the  expression  pu-tao, 
employed  by  Ma  Twan-lin,  following  the  "  History  of  the  Liang 
Dynasty,"  are  nothing  but  the  old  form  of  the  orthography  more 
recently  adopted.  It  has,  moreover,  been  established  that  these 
characters  are  merely  used  to  render  phonetically  in  Chinese  a 
word  of  foreign  origin  ;  and  this  makes  the  ideography  of  their 
composition  of  less  importance  than  it  would  otherwise  be.  I 
have  felt  myself  compelled  to  adopt  this  view;  but  it  is  indeed 
surprising  to  see  Klaproth  seek,  in  the  existence  of  the  vine  in 
Fu-sang,  to  find  an  argument  for  affirming  that  that  country 
could  not  be  America  ;  as  if  the  Scandinavians  had  not  given  to 
just  this  land  of  North  America,  where  they  landed,  a  name 


212  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

which  was  suggested  by  the 'abundance  of  wild  vines  which  they 
found.  Neumann  has  preferred  to  follow  the  opinion  of  de  Guig- 
nes  in  regard  to  translating  the  characters  pu-tao  separately, 
instead  of  as  a  compound.  He  renders  the  phrase,  "  apples  and 
rushes  from  which  the  inhabitants  make  mats"  This  last  state 
ment  is  in  all  respects  a  more-than-free  translation,  since  the 
phrase  in  italics  does  not  occur  in  the  text,  and  the  word  tao 
should  not  have  the  meaning  of  apple — the  fruit  of  which  the 
Latin  name  is  malum  (persicum). 

The  version  of  I£u-kin-tu-shu-tsi-ching  offers  quite  an  impo'r- 
tant  variation  in  the  phrase  relating  to  the  image  that  is  set  up 
on  the  death  of  a  member  of  the  family.  In  place  of  f£  $£  W$  ffl, 
"  the  image  of  a  spirit  is  set  up"  that  version  reads,  J&  ft  ffi 
jpljl  |Jk  that  is  to  say,  "  the  image  of  the  spirit  which  represents 
the  soul  of  the  deceased  is  set  up  "  or  exposed.  It  is  remarkable 
that  this  custom  has  existed  among  the  Chinese  from  a  great 
antiquity,  as  may  be  read  in  the  chapter  Ou-tse-chi-ko  of  the 
Shu-Icing.  Klaproth  made  the  translation  from  the  version  of 
Ma  Twan-lin,  and  Neumann  from  that  of  the  Ku-Jcin-tu-shu- 
tsi-ching,  which  accounts  for  their  difference  in  the  rendering  of 
this  passage.  But  neither  of  these  two  scholars  appears  to  me  to 
have  correctly  expressed  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Chinese  text 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  complementary  member  of  the 
phrase,  which  immediately  follows:  j|J]  fy  ffi  -ll>  literally,  "Morn 
ing  and  night,  prostrations  are  made  and  oblations  offered." 
Klaproth  says,  "  Prayers  are  addressed  (to  the  images  of  the 
spirits)  morning  and  night"  ;  and  Neumann,  "  They  (the  relatives 
of  the  deceased)  remain  from  morning  to  night  absorbed  in 
prayer  before  the  image  of  the  spirit  of  the  dead."  ^f,  pal  (to 
salute,  to  prostrate  one's  self),  and  j|,  tien  (to  offer  oblations  or 
libations  to  spirits),  are  expressions  which  do  not  convey,  other 
wise  than  indirectly,  the  idea  of  addressing  prayers,  and  the 
meaning  of  the  author  may  be  altered,  in  an  account  of  this  na 
ture,  by  modifying  thus  the  expressions  which  he  uses. 

As  to  the  country  from  which  the  Buddhist  priests  came,  IR- 
pin>  St  fC>  Klaproth  writes,  in  parenthesis,  Cophene.  The  author 
of  the  Japanese  Encyclopaedia,  San-sai-dzou-ye,  from  which  M.  de 
Rosny  extracted  and  translated  an  abridgment  of  Hoei  Shin's 
account,  adds  in  a  note,  after  the  word  Ki-pin,  "  Ki-pin  is  one 
of  the  western  countries  (Si-yu)  ;  it  is  San-ma-ceU-kan  (Samar- 


D'HERVEY'S  NOTES. 


213 


cand)."  Mr.  Leland  says,  "The  land  of  Ki-pin,  the  ancient 
Kophen,  is  now  called  Bokhara,  the  country  of  Samarcand. 
Samarcand,  at  the  times  of  which  we  are  speaking,  was  one  of 
the  great  strongholds  of  Buddhism." 

The  nature  of  the  facts  reported  in  regard  to  the  "  Kingdom 
of  Women  "  has  served  for  an  argument  to  impeach  the  veracity 
of  Hoei  Shin  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  fail  to  distinguish  between 
the  account  of  this  bonze  concerning  Fu-sang,  a  country  in  which 
he  had  resided,  and  his  story  about  a  Kingdom  of  Women,  of 
which  he  knew  nothing  himself  but  the  marvelous  tales  which  he 
had  heard  related.  It  may  be  remarked  that  all  the  ancient 
nations  have  had  some  tradition  of  Amazons,  or  kingdoms  of 
women;  and  M.  d'Eichthal  has  made  the  curious  fact  known  that 
entire  tribes  of  North  America  have  borne  the  name  of  "  women  " 
as  a  national  name.  It  may  also  be  noted  that  the  Chinese  au 
thors  mention  several  kingdoms  of  women,  entirely  distinct  from 
each  other,  which  fact  arose,  without  doubt,  because  the  Chinese, 
among  whom  the  women  lived  retired  in  the  inner  apartments, 
without  playing  any  active  part  in  public  life,  would  naturally 
give  the  appellation  of  Kingdom  of  Women  to  those  countries  of 
which  the  manners  contrasted  with  those  of  the  "  Middle  King 
dom  "  in  this  respect.  Those  which  have  been  mentioned  above 
are  situated  to  the  west  of  China.  The  Long-wei-pi-shu  speaks 
of  as  many  as  ten,  and  in  the  notice  which  we  translate  here  the 
Wen-hien-tong-Jcao  mentions  two  which  should  not  be  confounded. 
Finally,  under  the  name  of  ^C  A  S>  Niu-jin-leoue,  an  insignifi 
cant  variation,  the  Encyclopaedia  San-tsai-tu-hoei,  published  in 
the  Ming  dynasty,  speaks  also  of  an  island  in  the  South  Sea 
where  the  women  showed  themselves  in  force  and  made  prison 
ers  of  almost  all  the  sailors  of  a  Chinese  vessel  which  winds 
and  tempests  had  driven  upon  that  distant  shore. 

The  expression  which  I  render,  "  These  islanders  fed  upon 
small  legumes,"  is  very  difficult  to  translate  by  an  exact  equiva 
lent,  for  the  botanical  classifications  of  the  Chinese  are  very  dif 
ferent  from  ours.  The  Chinese  give  the  name  of  j£,  teu>  to  a^ 
vegetables  having  distinct  grains  enveloped  in  a  pod,  shell,  or 
husk.  De  Guignes,  while  translating  this  phrase  "  little  beans," 
thought  it  possible  that  maize  might  be  meant. 

The  short  notice  which  follows,  regarding  the  country  of 
Wen-shin,  or  of  "  Tattooed  Bodies,"  155°  does  not  vary,  except  by 


214:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

a  few  different  readings,  from  the  account  contained  in  the  por 
tion  of  the  Nan-sse,  or  "  Annals  of  the  South,"  inserted  in  my 
article  on  Japan.1552  Ma  Twan-lin  has,  however,  suppressed  here 
the  closing  sentence  concerning  the  punishment  of  criminals, 
and  the  trials  to  which  they  were  subjected.  De  Guignes  and 
Klaproth  have  thought  that  this  country  of  Wen-shin  might  be 
the  island  of  Jesso.  Neumann,  who  places  the  kingdom  of  Ta- 
han  in  the  peninsula  of  Alaska,  thinks  that  the  Wen-shin  inhab 
ited  the  Aleutian  Islands.  This  last  opinion  appears  very  diffi 
cult  to  reconcile  with  the  account,  that  is  given  farther  on,  of  the 
abundance  of  provisions  among  the  Wen-shin,  and  of  the  sumpt 
uous  palace  of  their  king.  In  the  "  Chinese  Recorder  "  "4  Dr. 
Bretschneider  wrote  :  "  Wen-shen,  the  country  in  which  the  peo 
ple  tattoo  themselves,  lies  7,000  li  northeast  from  Japan.  The 
inhabitants  make  large  lines  upon  their  bodies,  and  especially 
upon  their  faces.  By  a  stretch  of  the  imagination  we  might 
suppose  North  American  Red  Indians  to  be  here  meant.  It  is 
known,  however,  that  the  Japanese  have  also  the  habit  of  tattoo 
ing  themselves."  Without  daring  to  attempt  to  decide  the  ques 
tion  of  the  identification  of  the  country  of  Wen-shin,  I  will  call 
attention  to  the  following  paragraph  regarding  Ta-han,  or  rather 
regarding  the  two  different  countries  of  that  name.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  manners  of  the  people  of  Ta-han  of  tJie  East  were 
similar  to  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wen-shin,  and  that  there 
were  also  affinities  between  the  people  of  this  land  and  those  of 
Fu-sang,  which  therefore  seem  to  show  a  relationship  between 
the  three  nations. 

The  name  of  the  country  of  Ta-han  is  too  extraordinary  in 
itself  not  to  excite  attention.  Ta-han  (ft.  SI)  signifies  literally 
"  Great  Chinese  "  (han,  Chinese,  vir  fortis),  and  Ta-han-kwoh, 
"  Kingdom  of  the  Great  Chinese,"  or  "  Great  Chinese  Kingdom," 
which  de  Guignes  attempted  to  explain  as  follows  :  "  That  part 
of  Siberia  called  Kamtchatka  is  the  region  which  the  Japanese 
call  Oku-yeso,  or  '  Upper  Jesso.'  They  place  it  upon  their  maps 
to  the  north  of  Jesso,  and  represent  it  as  being  twice  as  large  as 
China,  and  extending  much  farther  to  the  east  than  the  eastern 
shore  of  Japan.  This  is  the  country  which  the  Chinese  have 
named  Ta-han,  which  may  signify  '  as  large  as  China,'  a  name 
which  corresponds  with  the  extent  of  the  country,  and  to  the 
idea  which  the  Japanese  have  given  us  of  it."  Neumann,  on  the 


D'HERVEY'S  NOTES.  215 

contrary,  who  locates  Ta-han  in  the  peninsula  of  Alaska,  sup 
poses  that  the  Chinese  have  called  this  country  Great  China,  or 
a  great  country  comparable  to  China,  because  they  had  knowl 
edge  of  the  vast  continent  which  exists  beyond  it.  These  two 
explanations  are  ingenious,  without  doubt ;  but  we  find  another, 
much  simpler,  in  the  Chinese  Encyclopaedia  Yuen-kien-lui-han, 
regarding  at  least  one  of  the  two  countries  called  Ta-han  of 
which  that  work  makes  mention.  The  Yuen-Jcien-lui~han  de 
serves  to  be  carefully  examined,  since  it  may  give  proof  of  the 
correctness  of  Dr.  Neumann  as  to  the  identification  of  the  coun 
try  of  Ta-han  situated  on  the  route  to  Fu-sang,  and  at  the 
same  time  confirm  the  assertion  of  de  Guignes  as  to  the  kingdom 
of  Ta-han  situated  in  Kamtchatka  or  somewhere  else  in  Eastern 
Siberia,  as  MM.  Perez  and  Bretschneider  have  thought.  Neu 
mann  has,  in  support  of  his  opinion,  the  express  statement  of 
Li-yen  and  of  Ma  Twan-lin,  that  the  Ta-han  at  which  vessels 
touched  on  the  way  to  Fu-sang  was  an  Oriental  country,  situated 
to  the  east,  and  not  to  the  north,  of  Wen-shin.  De  Guignes,  on 
his  side,  produces  a  very  precise  account  of  the  route  which  Chi 
nese  travelers  followed  when  they  went  by  land  to  the  country 
of  Ta-han,  an  itinerary  which  can  not  be  disputed.  Here  is  what 
we  read  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Yuen-kien-lui-han — First :  Kiuen 
231,  fol.  46  :  "  TAHAN  OF  THE  EAST. — This  kingdom  is  to  the  east 
of  that  of  the  Wen-shin  more  than  5,000  li.  Its  people  have  no 
arms  and  do  not  wage  war.  Their  manners  are  the  same  as 
those  of  the  Wen-shin,  but  their  language  is  different "  (exactly 
the  same  notice  as  that  which  the  Wen-hien-tong-Jcao  gives  us). 
Second  :  Kiuen  241,  fol.  10  :  "  TAHAN  OF  THE  NORTH. — We  read 
in  the  Sing-tang-shu  ('  Supplement  to  the  History  of  the  Tang  Dy 
nasty  ' — a  work  published  in  the  eleventh  century  of  our  era  by 
imperial  order)  :  The  Ta-han  (of  the  north)  live  to  the  north  of 
the  kingdom  of  Kio,  or  Kiai.  They  raise  many  sheep  and  horses. 
The  men  of  this  kingdom  are  robust  and  of  a  great  height,  from 
which  fact  the  name  Ta-han  (( Great  Chinese,'  or,  in  common 
language,  '  Tall  Fellows ')  is  derived.  They  are  neighbours  of 
the  Ke-Jcia-sse  (natives  who  live  upon  the  shore  of  the  lake  Pe- 
hai,  or  Baikal).  In  former  times  they  had  no  relations  with  the 
empire  (of  China),  but  in  the  years  ching-Jcuan  and  yong-hoei 
(627-655)  embassadors  from  their  nation  came  once  or  twice 
offering  horses  and  martens'  furs  as  tribute."  The  kingdom  of 


216  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


A70,  or  JTiai,  is  situated  500  li  to  the  northeast  of  the  territory 
of  the  Pa-ye-Jcu,  one  of  the  most  easterly  tribes  of  the  great 
nation  of  the  Hoei-he  (Ouigours),  which  extends  as  far  as  the 
country  of  the  Shi-wei,  or  She-goei,  occupying  the  northeast 
ern  part  of  Siberia.  These  last  natives  of  Ta-han  (whom  Ma 
Twan-lin  calls  Ta-mo,  and  whom  he  also  classed  among  the 
nations  of  the  north)  are  those  whom  de  Guignes  thought  to 
be  located  in  Kamtchatka  ;  but  the  immediate  consequence  of 
this  verification  is  to  make  it  impossible  to  find  a  place  in 
Asia  for  the  "  Ta-han  of  the  East"  in  which  we  are  solely  in 
terested.  None  of  the  scholars  who  have  studied  this  ques 
tion  have  suspected  the  existence  of  two  countries  called  Ta- 
han  ;  and  this  fact  has  compelled  them  to  make  great  efforts 
to  bring  into  agreement  the  accounts  of  the  two  routes  to  Ta- 
han,  one  by  land  and  the  other  by  water,  which  led,  in  fact,  to 
two  different  countries.  Neumann,  whose  judgment  seems  the 
least  reliable,  has  therefore  very  probably  been  the  most  in 
spired.  Although  the  notice  of  Tahan  of  the  East  is  very  short, 
it  contains  the  proof  of  a  characteristic  and  very  extraordinary 
fact,  of  which  the  importance  should  not  be  overlooked.  The 
people  of  Ta-han,  we  are  told,  have  no  arms  and  know  nothing 
of  war.  This  fact  would  be  inexplicable  regarding  a  tribe  of 
upper  Asia,  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  ferocious  and  belliger 
ent  nations  whom  they  had  upon  their  frontiers,  and  it  reveals 
a  civilization  analogous  to  that  of  the  people  of  Fu-sang,  to 
whom  the  same  peculiarity  is  attributed. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX. 

Difference  between  Hod  Shin's  story  and  other  Chinese  accounts — An  earlier 
knowledge  of  Fu-sang— The  poem  named  the  Li-sao— The  Shan-hai-king— 
The  account  of  Tong-fang-so — The  immense  size  of  the  country — The  burn 
ing  of  books  in  China — The  origin  of  the  Chinese — The  writer  Kuan-met — 
The  arrival  of  Hod  Shin  in  499— The  civil  war  then  raging— The  delay  in 
obtaining  an  imperial  audience — The  "  History  of  the  Four  Lords  of  the  Liang 
Dynasty  "—An  envoy  from  Fu-sang— The  presents  offered  by  him— Yellow  silk 
— A  semi-transparent  mirror — This  envoy  was  Hod  Shin — The  stories  told 
by  Yu-kie — The  silk  found  upon  the  fu-sang  tree — The  palace  of  the  king — 
The  Kingdom  of  Women — Serpent-husbands — The  Smoking  Mountain — The 
Black  Valley — The  animals  of  the  country — The  amusement  of  the  courtiers 
— The  poem  Tong-king-fu — The  route  to  Fu-sang — Fu-sang  east  of  Japan — 
Lieii-kud — The  direction  of  the  route. 

Appendix  to  the  Account  regarding  Fu-sang — by  the  Marquis 
d^Hervey  de  Saint-DenysS™ 

THE  relation  of  the  bonze  ffoei  Shin  has,  for  more  than  a 
century,  served  as  the  foundation  for  all  that  has  been  written 
for  the  purpose  of  attempting  to  decide  the  question  whether 
Fu-sang  was  America  or  not.  This  account,  so  clear  and  pre 
cise,  possessed,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese,  a  character  of  authen 
ticity  which  distinguished  it  from  quite  a  large  number  of  other 
documents  relating  to  Fu-sang^  which  were  furnished  by  authors 
with  more  or  less  inclination  for  the  marvelous.  Ma  Twan-lin 
contented  himself,  for  this  reason,  with  merely  repeating  it  with 
out  adding  anything  to  it.  Ma  Twan-lin  never  undertook  to 
unite  in  his  accounts  all  that  the  Chinese  authors  had  related 
regarding  the  subject  of  his  work,  but  confined  himself  to  men 
tioning  only  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  most  worthy  of 
credit.  The  merit  of  his  compilation,  taken  as  a  whole,  results 
mainly  from  this  work  of  elimination,  accomplished  by  judicious 


218  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

criticism.  But  if  it  is  attempted  to  clear  up  an  obscure  point  by 
means  of  the  comparison  of  different  accounts  and  by  investiga 
tions  of  all  kinds,  the  most  fabulous  stories,  and  little  points,  ap 
parently  the  most  trivial,  sometimes  contain  the  clew  to  the 
wished-for  knowledge.  Hence  it  appears  that,  in  an  effort  to 
decide  as  to  the  true  location  of  Fu-sang^  the  contrary  method 
should  be  followed  and  no  means  of  information  should  be  neg 
lected.  I  have,  therefore,  grouped  here  all  the  documents  which 
I  have  been  able  to  collect  relating  to  this  interesting  question  ; 
some  much  anterior  to  Hoei  Shin's  account,  and  others  forming, 
to  a  certain  extent,  the  corollary  of  the  declarations  of  this 
priest. 

The  first  show  that,  if  we  admit  it  to  be  a  fact  that  Buddhist 
missionaries  of  the  fifth  century  visited  America,  this  is  far  from 
proving  that  they  were  the  first  who  discovered  the  country  ; 
the  second  permit  us  to  detect  the  origin  of  the  introduction  of 
supernatural  elements  into  the  authentic  account  of  the  bonze 
Hoei  Shin,  and  justify  Ma  Twan-lin  in  adhering  to  the  strict 
letter  of  Hoei  Shin's  account,  and  in  declining  to  leave  it  for  a 
comparison  of  the  different  statements,  by  means  of  which  the 
true  elements  of  these  accounts  might,  some  day,  be  separated 
from  the  false. 

It  is  proved  that  the  idea  of  the  existence  of  a  great  country, 
covered  with  vast  forests  made  up  of  a  particular  species  of  trees 
called  fu-sang  trees,  and  situated  beyond  the  eastern  seas,  was 
an  old  tradition,  even  to  the  Chinese  authors  of  the  third  century 
before  our  era,  this  fact  being  attested  by  the  Li-sao.  Kiu- 
yuen,  the  author  of  this  celebrated  poem,  traveled  in  thought  to 
the  four  extremities  of  the  universe.  In  the  north  he  perceived 
the  land  of  long  days  and  long  nights  ;  in  the  south  the  bound 
less  sea  attracted  his  attention  ;  in  the  west  he  perceived  the  sun 
descend  and  sink  in  a  lake,  which  has  been  supposed  to  be  Lake 
Tingry,  or  the  Caspian  Sea  ;  and,  finally,  in  the  east — in  spite  of 
the  immensity  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and,  in  spite  of  the  thought, 
which  would  naturally  occur  to  him,  that  the  sun  also  rose  from 
the  midst  of  the  waters — he  caught  a  glimpse  of  distant  shores 
receiving  the  first  gleams  of  the  dawn.  It  is  in  a  valley  in  a 
land  shaded  by  the  fu-sang  tree  that  he  places  the  limits  of  the 
extreme  east.  The  Shan-hai-Tcing,  a  work  of  uncertain  date,  but 
of  incontestable  antiquity,  contains  an  analogous  reference  to 


D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  219 

this  land.  An  author,  almost  contemporaneous  with  Kiu-yuen, 
Tong-fang-so  (whose  text  is  supposed  to  have  suffered  some  al 
terations,  but  at  an  epoch  much  anterior  to  that  of  Hoei  Shin), 
expresses  himself  thus  :  "  At  the  east  of  the  Eastern  Sea,  the 
shores  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang  are  found.  If,  after  landing 
upon  these  shores,  the  journey  is  continued  by  land  toward  the 
east  for  a  distance  often  thousand  li,  a  sea  of  a  blue  colour  (pi- 
hai)  is  reached,  vast,  immense,  and  boundless.  The  country  of 
Fu-sang  extends  ten  thousand  li  upon  each  of  its  sides.  It  con 
tains  the  palace  of  Tai-chin-tong-wang-fu  (the  God  who  Presides 
over  the  East).  Great  forests  are  found,  filled  with  trees  of 
which  the  leaves  are  similar  to  those  of  the  mulberry,  while  the 
general  appearance  of  the  trees  is  similar  to  that  of  those  which 
are  called  chin  (certain  coniferous  trees).  They  attain  a  height 
of  several  times  ten  thousand  cubits,  and  it  takes  two  thousand 
people  to  reach  their  arms  around  one  of  them.  These  trees 
grow  two  and  two  from  common  roots,  and  mutually  sustain 
each  other  ;  hence  their  name  ot  fu-sang  (sese  sustinentes  mori — 
mulberry-trees  which  sustain  each  other).  Although  they  grow 
tall  and  straight,  like  the  conifers,  their  leaves  and  their  fruit 
are  similar  to  those  of  the  mulberry  of  China.  The  fruit,  of 
exquisite  flavour  and  of  reddish  colour,  appears  but  very  rarely, 
the  tree  which  produces  it  bearing  it  but  once  in  nine  thousand 
years.  The  anchorites  who  eat  the  fruit  become  of  the  colour  of 
gold,  and  acquire  the  power  of  hovering  in  celestial  space." 

The  exaggeration  of  the  proportions  of  the  fu-sang  tree  is 
evidently  nothing  but  hyperbole  ;  but  it  may  be  remarked  that 
this  tree  is  described  as  resembling  the  mulberry  or  the  tong  tree 
in  its  leaves,  and  the  chin  tree  in  its  form  ;  this  last  being  a  spe 
cies  of  conifer  of  which  the  wood  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
arrows.  This  description,  although  not  having  great  botanical 
precision,  reminds  one  involuntarily  of  the  gigantic  Wellingtonia 
of  California,  which  may  be  the  last  remains  of  an  immense 
forest.* 

*  The  Mexicans  noticed  a  resemblance  between  the  century-plant,  or  agave  (the 
plant  which  Hwul  Slian  called  the  fu-sang  tree),  and  the  conifers ;  for  they  called 
the  fir-tree  62°  "oya-metl,"  1915  a  term  meaning  the  fake  or  counterfeit  agave;  and, 
in  fact,  the  flowering-stalk  of  the  century-plant — often  forty  feet  in  height  and 
eight  inches  in  diameter  at  the  base — with  its  numerous  branches  of  flowers, 
springing  out,  almost  horizontally,  from  its  upper  half,  is  very  similar  in  form 
and  general  appearance  to  a  fir  or  pine  tree. — E.  P.  V. 


220  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  indication  of  a  breadth  of  ten  thousand  li  for  the  country 
of  Fu-sang  shows  that  it  was  a  true  continent ;  and,  if  we  do 
not  believe  that  this  curious  account  of  another  ocean,  found  to 
the  east,  beyond  the  vast  territory,  should  be  applied  to  the  At 
lantic,  it  still  may  be  thought  that  America  was  better  known  to 
the  Chinese  before  the  Christian  era  than  it  could  be  even  from 
the  narration  of  Hoei  Shin  himself.  In  any  case,  the  Buddhist 
missionaries  who  again  found  the  route  to  Fu-sang  were  certainly 
guided  in  their  voyage  by  the  light  of  old  traditions. 

I  ventured  the  following  observations  when  publishing  my 
translation  of  the  Li-sao,  some  years  ago  : 

"  The  general  'burning  of  books,  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
years  before  our  era,  was  far  from  being  as  destructive  as  has 
been  imagined  ;  but  still  it  caused  a  sensible  diminution  of  the 
sum  of  acquired  knowledge.  A  great  number  of  texts  were 
preserved  in  the  memory  of  scholars  or  by  the  secretion  of  manu 
scripts,  and  were  thus  finally  restored,  but  many  others  were  lost 
or  altered.  Moreover,  the  Chinese  people,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  raised  the  great  wall,  isolated  themselves  in  other  ways,  in 
order  to  preserve  their  unity.  No  surprise  should  therefore  be 
felt  at  finding  that  the  Chinese  in  very  ancient  times  were  pos 
sessed  of  ideas  more  just  and  extensive,  regarding  a  multitude 
of  subjects,  than  the  Chinese  of  the  following  centuries;  BO  that, 
to  reach  reliable  accounts,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  as  far  as 
possible  into  that  antiquity  which,  perhaps,  there  is  good  reason 
for  vaunting  so  highly. 

"  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  a  great  mystery  might  be 
concealed  in  the  origin  of  the  old  Chinese  with  black  hair,  who 
arrived  from  the  north  (it  is  not  known  from  what  country)  at 
the  banks  of  the  Yellow  River — not  as  primitive  men,  but  as  the 
representatives  of  a  ripened  civilization — who  avoided  any  inter 
mixture  with  the  native  population,  and  who  always  turned 
themselves  toward  their  father-land  to  seek  for  light.  If  it 
should  be  unquestionably  proved  that  Fu-sang  is  indeed  Ameri 
ca,  and  if  the  first  ideas  which  the  Chinese  had  of  that  region 
should  appear  lost  in  the  most  remote  antiquity,  would  not  a 
strange  enigma  be  presented  to  us  for  solution  ?  " 

Mr.  Leland's  book  has  shown  me  that  the  thought  which  dic 
tated  these  lines  has  also  presented  itself  to  several  scholars 
who  have  made  a  specialty  of  the  study  of  subjects  relating  to 


D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  221 

America  ;  and  the  Long-wei-pi-shu  cites  an  opinion  of  the  Bud 
dhist  writer  Kuan-mei,  which  demonstrates  to  what  great  an 
tiquity  some  idea  of  the  existence  of  Fu-sang  went  back  among 
the  Chinese,  if  their  statements  on  the  subject  are  to  be  believed: 
"  It  is  in  Fu-sang  that  Hwang-tVs  astronomers  resided  (who  were 
charged  with  the  observation  of  the  rising  sun)  ",  says  Kuan-mei. 
"  In  the  first  year  yong-yuen,  of  the  Tsi  dynasty,  there  was  a 
bonze  named  Hoei  Shin,  who  arrived  from  that  country,  and 
who  made  it  known"  (literally,  by  whose  narration  it  commenced 
to  be  known — k.,  I,  fol.  10),  an  expression  which  should  be  un 
derstood  here  merely  as  referring  to  a  knowledge  renewed  after 
the  lapse  of  centuries.  Hwang-ti  is  the  first  sovereign  of  the 
times  reputed  historical,  and  the  first  cycle  of  the  Chinese  com 
menced  in  his  reign,  in  the  twenty-seventh  century  before  our 
era.  We  may  assuredly  entertain  a  doubt  as  to  whether  the 
astronomers  of  this  celebrated  emperor,  to  whom  the  Chinese 
attribute  the  invention  of  the  astronomical  globe  and  the  insti 
tution  of  their  cycle,  established  an  observatory  in  Fu-sang. 
Nevertheless,  I  believe  the  fact  to  be  established  that  there  was 
some  account  of  Fa-sang  current  among  the  Chinese  long  before 
the  time  of  Hoei  Shin,  and  this  is  what  I  first  proposed  to  make 
evident. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  circumstances  under  which  Hoei 
Shin's  report  was  made,  and  attempt  to  decide  what  connection 
there  was  between  this  bonze  and  the  five  Buddhist  priests  who 
went  to  Fu-sang  in  458  ;  why  Hoei  Shin  ascended  the  Grand 
Kiang  to  King-cheu,  instead  of  stopping  at  Nan-king,  then  the 
capital  of  the  empire  ;  and,  finally,  consider  what  should  be 
thought  of  an  embassy  from  Fu-sang,  which,  according  to  the 
work  entitled  Liang-sse-kong-ki  ("  Memoirs  of  the  Four  Lords 
of  the  Liang  Dynasty  " ),  came  to  visit  the  Chinese  court  in  the 
years  tien-kien,  which  commenced  in  the  year  502,  that  is  to  say, 
at  an  epoch  very  near  to  that  of  the  arrival  of  Hoei  Shin — a  co 
incidence  which  should  not  be  overlooked.  We  will  finally  con 
sider  the  account  of  the  route  to  Fu-sang  as  given  by  the  histo 
rian  Li-yen,  and  the  light  furnished  in  this  respect  by  several 
passages  of  Ma  Twan-lin,  hitherto  inedited. 

We  read  in  the  JZu-kin-tu-shu-tsi-ching :  "  In  the  time  of 
Tong-hoen-heu,  the  first  year  yong-yuen  (499),  the  bonze  of  the 
kingdom  of  Fa-sang,  named  Hoei  Shin,  came  to  China.  Never- 


222  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

theless,  the  official  annals  of  the  Tsi  dynasty  make  no  mention  of 
him,  and  it  is  the  books  of  the  Liang  dynasty  which  contain  the 
account  of  Hoei  Shin  regarding  Fu-sang,  in  a  section  devoted  to 
the  eastern  countries." 

The  year  499,  designated  as  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  Hoei 
Shin  upon  the  banks  of  the  Kiang,  was  a  year  of  civil  war,  which 
preceded  the  downfall  of  the  Tsi  dynasty,  and  during  which  that 
shadow  of  an  emperor,  called  Tong-hoen-heu  ("  Prince  of  the  Dis 
orders  of  the  East "),  remained  a  prisoner  in  his  palace,  besieged 
by  his  own  brother.  This  brother  was  declared  "  Protector  of  the 
Empire,"  and  he  resided  at  the  same  city  of  J^ing-cheu,  to  which 
we  see  that  Hoei  Shin  repaired.  This  brother  soon  mounted  the 
throne,  and  Was  almost  immediately  deposed  by  the  founder  of 
the  Liang  dynasty,  known  by  the  name  of  Liang  Wu-ti,  in  the 
first  month  of  the  year  502.  Now,  if  we  suppose  that  Hoei  Shin 
came  from  Fu-sang  and  intended  to  visit  the  emperor  of 
China — a  favour  which  could  never  be  obtained  except  after  long 
entreaties — these  circumstances  explain  why  it  was  that  he  was 
compelled  to  remain  at  King-cheu,  until  the  complete  overthrow 
of  the  Tsi  dynasty,  without  being  able  to  obtain  an  imperial 
audience.  The  accession  of  Liang  Wu-ti,  a  prince  who  was  a 
believer  in  the  Buddhist  religion,  must,  on  the  contrary,  have 
insured  him  a  favourable  reception  by  the  new  ruler  of  the  empire. 

I  now  come  to  the  statements  of  the  Liang -sse-lcong -lei,  and 
am  convinced  that  others,  like  myself,  will  be  struck  by  the  vivid 
light  which  they  throw  upon  the  story.  The  four  princes,  or 
feudal  lords,  of  whom  the  book  contains  the  memoirs,  were 
named  Ho-tchin*  Yu-Tcie,  Sho-tuan,  and  Chang-ki.  Nothing  is 
said  as  to  how  they  were  connected  with  one  another  ;  but  their 
memoirs  tell  us  that  in  the  years  tien-Men,  that  is  to  say,  in  the 
first  years  of  the  reign  of  Liang  Wu-ti,  an  envoy  from  the 
kingdom  of  Fu-sang  presented  himself,  and,  having  offered  to 
the  emperor  divers  objects  of  his  country,  the  emperor  charged 
Yu-lcie  to  interrogate  him  regarding  the  customs  and  the  produc 
tions  of  Fu,-sang,  the  history  of  the  kingdom,  its  cities,  its  riv 
ers,  its  mountains,  etc.,  as  was  the  custom  in  similar  cases  when 
ever  a  foreign  embassador  visited  the  court. 

*  In  the  "  Ethnography,"  edited  by  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  this 
name  is  written  Hoei-tchin  ;  while  in  the  same  author's  "  Memoir  "  it  is  given  as 
Ho-tchin.  The  Marquis  d'Hervey  states  that  this  last  form  is  correct. — E.  P.  V. 


D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  223 

"  The  envoy  from  Fu-sang  wept,  and  responded  with  respect 
ful  ardour,"  says  the  text — a  singular  phrase,  which  appears  to 
give  the  idea  of  an  old  man  affected  at  finding  himself  again  in 
his  native  land  after  long  years  of  absence.  "The  offering 
which  he  presented  consisted  principally  of  three  hundred  pounds 
of  yellow  silk,  spun  by  the  silk- worm  of  ihefu-sav.g  tree,  and  of 
an  extraordinary  strength.  The  emperor  had  an  incense-burner 
of  massive  gold,  of  a  weight  of  fifty  kin.  [The  kin  weighs  a 
little  more  than  600  grammes.]  This  could  be  lifted  and  held 
suspended  by  six  of  these  threads  without  breaking  them.  There 
was  also  among  the  presents  offered  to  the  emperor  a  sort  of 
semi-transparent  precious  stone,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  mirror,  and 
of  the  circumference  of  more  than  a  foot.  In  observing  the  sun 
by  reflection  by  means  of  this  stone,  the  palace  which  the  sun 
contains  appeared  very  distinctly."  (Mention  of  these  mirrors 
has  been  made  in  the  "  Notes  and  Queries,"  and  Mr.  Leland  pre 
sents  some  very  remarkable  observations  upon  this  subject. 
"Discovery  of  America,"  p.  184.) 

There  is  but  little  probability  that  Hoei  Shin  was  a  native  of 
Fu-sang,  although  all  the  texts  agree  in  calling  him  "  a  bonze  of 
that  country."  It  may  be  suspected  that  he  had  left  China, 
when  very  young,  in  company  with  the  five  priests  of  Ki-pin. 
This  can  not  be  considered  as  anything  more  than  a  conjecture  ; 
but  that  which  appears  to  me  to  be  beyond  doubt  is,  that  Hoei 
Shin  and  the  envoy  from  Fu-sang,  the  bearer  of  the  presents 
offered  to  the  emperor  Wu-ti,  were  one  and  the  same  person. 
To  the  presumption  which  is  raised  by  the  agreement  of  the 
dates,  and  the  circumstances,  as  mentioned  above,  should  be 
added  the  convincing  fact  that  the  prince  Yu-Jcie,  when  speaking 
at  length  of  Mi-sang  and  other  regions  of  the  extreme  east,  as  is 
recorded  in  the  Liang-sse-kong-ki,  sometimes,  as  we  shall  see, 
based  his  declarations  upon  the  statements  of  the  envoy  whom 
he  had  had  the  charge  of  interrogating,  and  sometimes  upon  the 
relation  given  by  Hoei  Shin,  without  indicating  that  there  was 
any  difference  between  the  two  sources  of  his  information.  It  is 
here,  moreover,  that  we  find  the  source  of  all  the  extravagancies 
which  have  been  mixed  with  Hoei  Shin's  narration,  and  which 
have  resulted  in  casting  suspicion  upon  even  his  simplest  state 
ments. 

The  account  quoted  by  Ma  Twan-lin  was  probably  the  official 


224:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

record  of  the  statements  made  by  Hoei  Shin,  in  his  quality  of 
envoy  of  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang,  in  answer  to  the  questions  of 
Yu-kiey  who  was  delegated  for  the  purpose  by  the  emperor. 
The  compilation  of  this  account  is  similar  to  that  of  a  great  num 
ber  of  analogous  documents  contained  in  the  notices  of  the  Wen- 
hien-tong-kao.  Nothing  is  found  which  approaches  the  domain  of 
fable,  any  more  than  there  is  in  the  description  of  the  presents 
offered  to  the  emperor,  and  the  precision  of  the  details  gives  to 
the  whole  an  appearance  of  truth  which  can  not  be  mistaken;  but 
the  lord  Yu-kie  wished  to  amuse  the  court  in  regard  to  his  con 
ferences  with  a  person  who  had  excited  such  general  curiosity. 

Let  us  return  to  the  study  of  the  Liang-sse-kong-ki.  The 
truth  will  thus  be  established. 

"  One  day,  when  the  attendants  at  court  were  amusing  them 
selves  with  stories  of  foreign  countries,  the  lord  Yu-kie  took  up 
the  subject,  and  spoke  in  the  following  terms  :  *  At  the  extreme 
east  is  Fu-sang.  Silk-worms  are  found  there  which  are  seven 
feet  long  and  as  much  as  seven  inches  in  circumference.  Their 
colour  is  golden.  It  takes  a  year  to  raise  them.  On  the  eighth 
day  of  the  fifth  month  they  spin  yellow  silk,  which  is  extended 
upon  the  branches  of  the  fu-sang  tree,  for  they  make  no  cocoons. 
This  silk  is  naturally  very  weak  ;  but  it  is  cooked  in  lye  prepared 
from  the  ashes  of  the  wood  of  the  fu-sang,  and  thus  acquires  such 
strength  that  four  threads  twisted  together  are  sufficient  to  raise 
a  weight  of  thirty  Chinese  pounds.  The  eggs  of  these  silk 
worms  are  as  large  as  swallow's  eggs.  Some  were  taken  to  Kao- 
kiu-li  (Corea)  ;  but  the  voyage  injured  them,  so  that  nothing 
issued  from  them  but  silk-worms  as  small  as  those  of  China. 

c  The  palace  of  the  king  is  surrounded  by  walls  of  crystal, 
which  appear  clearly  before  daylight ;  but  the  walls  become 
quite  invisible  during  an  eclipse  of  the  moon.' 

"  The  lord  Yu-kie  said  besides  :  *  At  the  northwest,  about  ten 
thousand  li,  there  exists  a  Kingdom  of  Women,  who  take  serpents 
for  husbands.  Moreover,  these  reptiles  are  inoffensive.  They 
live  in  holes,  while  their  wives  or  concubines  live  in  houses 
and  palaces,  and  exercise  all  the  cares  of  state.  In  this  king 
dom  there  are  no  books,  and  they  know  nothing  of  the  art 
of  writing.  They  believe  firmly  in  the  efficacy  of  certain  forms 
of  prayers  or  maledictions.  The  women  who  act  uprightly  pro 
long  their  lives,  and  those  who  swerve  from  the  right  are  imme- 


D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  225 

diately  cut  off.  The  worship  of  spirits  imposes  laws  that  none 
dare  to  violate.  To  the  south  of  Ho-cheu  (the  Island  of  Fire) 
[probably  ^,  hwo,  "fire,"  and  >)\\,cheu, "  an  islander  district"], 
situated  to  the  south  of  this  country,  is  the  mountain  Yen-kuen 
(Burning  Mountain)  [probably  £0,  yen,  "smoke,"  and  J|,  kwun, 
"  a  peak,  a  high  mountain  "],  the  inhabitants  of  which  eat  locusts, 
crabs,  and  hairy  serpents,  to  preserve  themselves  from  the  heat. 
In  this  land  of  Ho-cheu,  the  ho-mu  (trees  of  fire)  [probably 
>j£,  hwo,  "  fire,"  and  /f;,  muh,  "  wood,  a  tree  "]  grow  ;  their  bark 
furnishes  a  solid  tissue.  Upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain  Yen- 
kuen  there  live  fire  rats  (ho-shu)  [probably  jfc,  hwo,  "fire," 
and  J3,,  shu,  "  a  rat,  mouse,  weasel,  squirrel,  or  similar  animal "], 
the  hair  of  which  serves  also  for  the  fabrication  of  an  incombus 
tible  stuff,  which  is  cleansed  by  fire  instead  of  by  water.  To  the 
north  of  this  Kingdom,  of  Women  is  the  Black  Valley  (He-ko) 
[probably  Jl|,  hoh,  "  black,"  and  kuh,  § ,  "  a  ravine,  gully,  gorge, 
canon  "],  and  north  of  the  Black  Valley  are  mountains  so  high 
that  they  reach  to  the  heavens.  Snow  covers  them  all  the  year. 
The  sun  does  not  show  itself  there  at  all.  It  is  there,  it  is  said, 
that  the  dragon  Cho-long  (the  Luminous  Dragon)  resides.  [Prob 
ably  Q,  chuh,  "  an  illumination,  a  torch,  to  illumine,"  and  ||, 
lung,  "  a  dragon."]  At  the  west  is  a  fountain  that  inebriates, 
and  has  the  taste  of  wine.  In  these  regions  there  is  also  found 
a  sea  of  varnish,  of  which  the  waves  dye  black  the  feathers  and 
furs  that  are  dipped  in  them,  and  another  sea  of  the  colour  of 
milk.  The  territory  surrounded  by  these  natural  marvels  is  of 
great  extent  and  extremely  fertile.  Dogs,  ducks,  and  horses  of 
a  great  height  live  in  it,  and,  finally,  birds  which  produce  human 
beings.  The  males  born  of  these  birds  do  not  live.  The  daugh 
ters  only  are  raised  with  care  by  their  fathers,  who  carry  them 
with  their  beaks  or  upon  their  wings.  As  soon  as  they  commence 
to  walk,  they  become  mistresses  of  themselves.  They  are  all  of 
remarkable  beauty  and  very  hospitable,  but  they  die  before 
reaching  the  age  of  thirty  years. 

"'The  rabbits  of  this  country  are  white  and  as  large  as 
horses,  their  hair  being  a  foot  long.  The  sables  are  as  large  as 
wolves.  Their  hair  is  black  and  of  extraordinary  thickness.' 

"  The  attendants  of  the  court  were  much  amused  at  these 
stories.  They  all  laughed  and  dapped  their  hands,  and  said 
that  letter  stories  had  never  been  told. 

15 


220  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"A  minister  of  the  emperor,  named  Wang-yun,  interrupted 
Yu-kie  with  this  bantering  objection  :  *  If  we  believe  the  official 
accounts  which  have  been  collected  regarding  the  Kingdom  of 
Women,  situated  to  the  west  of  the  country  of  Tsan-yai  and  to 
the  south  of  the  Kingdom  of  Dogs  (Keu-kwoh),  it  is  merely  in 
habited  by  barbarians  of  the  race  of  the  Kiang-jong,  who  have 
a  woman  as  their  sovereign  ;  but  there  has  never  been  any  ques 
tion  of  serpents  filling  the  office  of  husbands.  How  do  you  ac 
count  for  that  ? '  Yu-kie  responded  with  pleasantry  with  a  new 
explosion  of  extravagancies,  in  the  midst  of  which  there  appeared 
here  and  there  a  true  idea,  burlesqued  for  diversion." 

This  curious  fragment  shows  that  the  Chinese  of  the  sixth 
century  were  not  as  credulous  as  might  be  believed  ;  that  they 
knew  how  to  distinguish  between  the  true  and  improbable,  and 
that  the  extravagancies  of  their  story-tellers,  at  which  they  were 
the  first  to  laugh,  does  not  diminish  the  merit  of  the  writers  that 
they  respected. 

The  Ku-ldn-tu-shu-tsi-cliing  is  very  explicit  in  this  respect ; 
citing  several  poets  who  in  their  works  make  allusions  to  Fu- 
sang,  it  makes  the  following  statement :  "  We  read  in  the  poem 
entitled  Tong-king-fu%  f  I  ascended  to  the  source  of  day  and  thus 
arrived  at  Fu-sang.^  ffwai-nan-tse  has  written,  ( The  sun  issues 
from  the  valley  Yang-Jco  (the  Luminous  Valley)  [probably  It§, 
yang,  "the  rising  sun,"  and  ^J,  huh,  "a  ravine,  valley,  gully"],* 
and  rises  in  the  midst  of  the  fu-sang  trees.'  Yang-Hang  says, 
'Beyond  the  great  sea  is  Fu-sang?  2ii\&  Li-tai-pe  writes,  f  At  the 
extreme  west  is  the  jo-mo  tree  ;  at  the  extreme  east,  the  fu-sang 
tree.'"  "From  all  this,"  continues  the  book  from  which  we 
cite,  "  it  follows  that  Fit-sang  lies  to  the  east  of  China.  Some 
understand  that  the  sun  really  comes  out  of  this  country,  or  that 
Fu-sang  is  the  sun  itself ;  but  this  is  mere  ignorance  on  their 
part.  When  it  is  said  that  the  sun  comes  forth  from  Fu-sang, 
it  simply  means  that  the  sun  rises  in  the  extreme  east." 

I  will  conclude  with  some  remarks  regarding  the  description 
of  the  route  from  China  to  Fit-sang,  given  by  the  historian  Li- 
yen,  who  lived  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  of  our 
era,  and  regarding  the  conjectures  to  which  this  itinerary  has 

*  Williams's  "Chinese  Dictionary,"  p.  1071,  defines  "Yang-kuh,"  "the  valley 
of  sunrise  in  the  extreme  east,  probably  in  Corea,,  where  Yao  worshiped  the  sun 
at  the  Ternal  equinox.'* 


D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  22T 

given  rise.  According  to  Li-yen,  the  route  sets  out  from  the 
coast  of  Leao-tong,  skirts  along  Japan,  touches  at  the  country  of 
the  Wen-shin,  and  then  reaches  the  kingdom  of  Ta-han,  from 
which  the  route  to  Fu-sang  is  quite  direct,  the  distance  being 
almost  equal  to  the  entire  distance  already  traveled.  The  total 
length  of  the  journey  is  about  44,000  li,  and  each  of  the  interme 
diate  distances  is  specified.  The  length  of  the  li  can  not  serve  as 
the  basis  for  any  certain  calculation  as  to  the  exact  distance,  be 
cause  of  the  variations  which  it  has  suffered.  The  inductive 
labours  of  the  scholars,  who  have  attempted  to  determine  the  situ 
ation  of  Fu-sang  from  the  statements  of  Li-yen,  have  heretofore 
consisted  in  proceeding  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  by  at 
tempting  to  determine  the  length  of  the  li  from  its  value  in  the 
distance  between  Leao-tong  and  Japan,  so  as  to  obtain  a  propor 
tionate  measure  which  would  furnish  the  means  for  the  identifi 
cation  of  the  more  distant  regions  designated  by  the  names  of 
Wen-shin,  Ta-han,  and  Fu-sang.  This  very  reasonable  method 
meets  two  great  difficulties  in  its  practice — one  resulting  from 
the  fact  that  the  particular  point  in  Japan  to  which  the  measure 
was  taken  is  not  clearly  indicated  ;  and  the  other  from  the  fact 
that  the  estimate  of  distances  by  sea  in  a  voyage  of  this  kind  can 
only  be  approximate.  Thus,  de  Guignes  and  Neumann,  who 
agree  in  placing  the  country  of  Wen-shin  in  Jesso,  have  differed 
regarding  the  identification  of  Ta-han,  which  the  first  thinks  to 
be  in  Kamtchatka,  and  the"  second  upon  the  peninsula  of  Alaska, 
and  this  has  resulted  in  their  placing  Fu-sang  more  or  less  to 
the  south.  But  neither  of  these  two  scholars,  nor  M.  d'Eichthal, 
the  Chevalier  de  Paravey,  M.  Jose  Perez,  or  Mr.  Leland,  has 
hesitated  to  acknowledge  that  Fu-sang  must  be  sought  upon  the 
American  Continent.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  it  seems 
to  me  impossible  to  seek  elsewhere  for  a  region  of  a  thousand 
leagues  in  extent,  situated  beyond  the  great  ocean,  to  the  east  of 
Japan,  an$  the  new  documents  which  I  have  been  permitted  to 
collect  attest  this  to  be  its  true  location. 

The  mention  regarding  the  extent  of  Fu-sang  is  in  the  frag 
ment  of  the  Shi-cheu-ki,  cited  above  ;  that  of  the  situation  of 
Fu-sang  to  the  east  of  Japan  is  found  in  the  preface  of  the 
"  Ethnography  of  the  Eastern  Nations,"  by  Ma  Twan-lin,  where 
it  is  distinctly  said,  "Japan  is  situated  directly  to  the  east  of 
China,  and  Fu-sang  is  situated  directly  to  the  east  of  Japan " 


228  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

(Kiuen,  324,  fol.  1,  line  6).  Ma  Twan-lin  adds  that  about  thirty 
thousand  li  separate  China  from  this  country  of  the  extreme 
east ;  an  assertion  which  does  not  in  any  way  contradict  the 
estimate  of  forty  thousand  li  made  by  Li-yen,  since  the  distance 
here  spoken  of  is  that  in  a  direct  line,  and  not  the  distance  by  a 
roundabout  route. 

This  positive  statement  of  Ma  Twan-lin's  would  be  sufficient 
to  destroy  the  singular  hypothesis  of  Klaproth,  who  imagined 
that  the  Chinese  had  confounded  Japan  with  Fu-sang,  if  this 
paradoxical  theory  did  not  crumble  of  itself  at  all  points,  as  it  is 
easy  to  demonstrate  that  it  does. 

Klaproth  does  not  dispute  either  the  sincerity  of  the  state 
ments  of  Hoei  Shin,  or  the  veracity  of  the  Chineses  writers  who 
have  spoken  of  Fu-sang,  and  confines  himself  to  commenting 
upon  their  statements  from  his  point  of  view.  The  best  way  of 
exposing  his  attempted  refutation  of  de  Guignes's  memoir  is  to 
show  how  he  has  proceeded  in  his  interpretation  of  the  Chinese 
authors. 

The  Prussian  scholar  commences  by  admitting,  with  de 
Guignes,  that  the  country  of  Wen-shin  must  be  Jesso,  so  that 
he  is  obliged  to  accept  as  the  length  of  the  li,  in  the  time  of  the 
historian  Li-yen,  a  measure  proportionate  to  the  number  of  li 
which  this  writer  concedes  between  Leao-tong  and  the  island  of 
Jesso.  Then,  immediately,  in  order  to  bring  the  remainder  of 
the  itinerary  into  accordance  with  his  fancy,  he  supposes  the  li 
to  be  less  than  half  as  long,  and  so  small  that  it  can  not  be  ap 
plied  to  any  of  the  measures  of  distance  indicated  by  the  Chinese 
geographers  of  any  epoch.  M.  d'Eichthal  has  described  this 
contradiction  very  clearly;  but  that  which  he  has  not  said  is,  that, 
in  order  to  place  Ta-han  in  the  island  of  Karafto,  or  Tarakai, 
the  same  land  according  to  him  as  Lieu-Jcuei,  Klaproth  ignores 
or  pretends  to  be  ignorant,  on  the  one  side,  that  the  land  of 
Lieu-kuei  is  described  by  the  Chinese  books  as  a  peninsula  and 
not  as  an  island  ("  Long-wei-pi-shu?  Kiuen,  4,  fol.  7 ;  "  Wen- 
hien-tong-kao,"  Kiuen,  347,  fol.  4),  and,  on  the  other  side,  that 
the  countries  of  Lieu-kuei  and  Ta-han  are  described  separately 
in  the  two  works  above  named,  with  the  important  distinction 
that  Lieu-kuei  is  described  among  the  regions  of  the  north,  and 
Ta-han  among  those  of  the  east ;  this  last  country  being  located 
to  the  east  of  the  Wen-shin,  while  Lieu-Jcuei  is  to  their  north. 


D'HERVEY'S  APPENDIX.  229 

The  question  of  the  orientation  troubled  the  scholarly  author 
of  the  "  Tableaux  de  1'Asie "  very  little,  it  is  true  ;  and,  as  the 
direction  toward  the  east,  on  leaving  the  island  of  Karafto,  or 
Tarakai,  incommoded  him,  he,  in  order  to  arrive  at  his  conclu 
sion,  changed  this  direction,  so  precisely  given  by  the  Chinese 
texts,  and,  without  ceremony,  turned  it  arbitrarily  toward  the 
south.  In  such  manner  was  he  carried  away  by  his  imagination, 
that  he  concluded  by  supposing  that  the  Chinese  navigators  of 
the  seventh  century  thought  that  they  were  visiting  Fii-sang 
when  they  landed  upon  the  southeastern  coast  of  Japan — that  is 
to  say,  in  a  country  which  had  been  known  to  them,  and  which 
had  had  constant  relations  with  China,  for  more  than  five  cent 
uries.  If  such  reasoning  had  been  published  by  an  Orientalist 
of  less  reputation  than  Klaproth,  it  would  be  almost  superfluous 
to  expose  it. 

Attention  should  be  called,  in  conclusion,  to  the  fact  that 
Klaproth  is  the  only  critic  who  has  opposed  the  identification  of 
Fu-sang  with  America  ;  since  no  attention  should  be  paid  to  the 
unsupported  opinion  of  those  who  with  closed  eyes  declare  that 
they  agree  wTith  him. 

Such  is  the  additional  information  drawn  from  the  examina 
tion  of  a  number  of  Chinese  authors— information  which  I  have 
thought  should  be  added  to  the  notice  of  Ma  Twan-lin.  For  a 
statement  of  all  that  has  been  published  hitherto  in  European 
languages  on  the  question  of  Fu-sang,  as  also  for  the  latest  in 
formation  concerning  the  ethnography  of  North  America,  and 
the  navigation  of  the  Pacific,  Mr.  C.  G.  Leland's  book  may  be 
profitably  consulted. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AKGUMENT. 

"  Notices  of  Fu-sang  and  other  Countries  lying  East  of  China  " — The  origin  of 
American  tribes — The  work  of  H.  H.  Bancroft— Mr.  Leland's  book — Ma 
Twan-lin — His  "  Antiquarian  Researches  " — Hwui-shin's  story — Cophene — 
No  later  accounts  of  Fu-sang — The  titles  of  the  nobility — The  ten-year  cycle 
— Red  pears — The  f  u-sang  tree — No  mention  of  pulque — Brocade — Fables — 
Account  of  the  Shih  Chau  Ki — The  article  of  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint- 
Denys — Criticisms  thereon — P&ng-lai — The  distance  of  Japan  and  Fu-sang — 
The  name  Fu-sang  sometimes  applied  to  Japan — Mention  of  the  fu-sang  tree 
in  a  Chinese  geography— Expeditions  sent  to  search  for  Fu-sang — Compari 
son  with  Swift's  "Voyage  to  Laputa" — The  Kingdom  of  Women — Mention 
by  Maundevile  and  Marco  Polo  of  a  land  of  Amazons — The  country  of  Wan 
Shan — Tattooing — Its  existence  among  the  Esquimaux — Quicksilver — Two 
kingdoms  of  Ta  Han — Lieu-kuei  and  the  Lewchew  Islands. 

Notices  of  Fu-sang  and  Other  Countries  lying  East  of  China — 
by  Professor  S.  Wells  Williams.*™ 

THE  origin  of  the  various  nations  and  tribes  inhabiting  the 
American  Continent  is  a  question  that  has  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  antiquarians  ever  since  the  discovery  of  the  continent 
four  centuries  ago.  The  general  designation  of  "Indians,"  given 
by  Columbus  to  the  people  whom  he  met,  shows  the  notion  then 
entertained  of  their  Asiatic  origin,  not  less  than  his  ignorance  of 
their  true  position.  Since  that  time,  numerous  antiquarians 
have  given  us  their  ideas  and  researches  upon  this  obscure  sub 
ject.  Some  have  combined  many  scattered  facts  so  as  to  uphold 
their  crude  fancies  ;  while  others  have  formed  a  theory,  and 
then  hunted  over  the  continent  for  facts  to  prove  it.  When 
their  various  works  are  brought  together,  comparison  only  shows 
how  little  which  can  lead  to  a  definite  conclusion  has  yet  been 
really  ascertained.  The  digest  of  the  most  careful  of  these  trav 
elers,  and  the  candid  analysis  of  the  works  of  antiquarians  and 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  231 

philologists,  given  by  H.  H.  Bancroft  in  the  fifth  volume  of  his 
laborious  work  on  the  "  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  "  (pp. 
1-136),  fully  upholds  his  concluding  sentence  as  to  the  present 
state  of  this  question  :  "  To  all  whose  investigations  are  a  search 
for  truth,  darkness  covers  the  origin  of  the  American  peoples  and 
their  primitive  history,  save  for  a  few  centuries  preceding  the 
conquest.  The  darkness  is  lighted  up  here  and  there  by  dim 
rays  of  conjecture,  which  only  become  fixed  lights  of  facts  in 
the  eyes  of  antiquarians  whose  lively  imaginations  enable  them 
to  •  see  best  in  the  dark,  and  whose  researches  are  but  a  sifting 
out  of  supports  to  a  preconceived  opinion." 

Since  the  publication  of  this  work,  in  1875,  attention  has 
been  again  directed  to  a  hypothesis  as  to  the  origin  of  the  na 
tive  races — namely,  that  America  was  peopled  from  China — by 
the  issue  of  Mr.  C.  G.  Leland's  book,  entitled  "  Fusang,  or  the 
Discovery  of  America  by  Chinese  Buddhist  Priests  in  the  Fifth 
Century."  Mr.  Bancroft  had  already  collected  the  leading  data 
upon  this  particular  point  (volume  v,  pp.  34-51),  and  Mr.  Le- 
land  adduces  no  new  facts.*  He  brings  together  in  a  conven 
ient  form  what  he  has  collected  from  de  Guignes,  Neumann,  and 
d'Eichthal  in  favor  of  his  theory  ;  while  he  analyzes  and  criti 
cises  the  remarks  of  Klaproth,  Sampson,  and  Bretschneider 
against  it. 

I  have  thought  that  a  translation  of  the  sections  describing 
the  lands  lying  to  the  east  of  China,  found  in  the  work  of  Ha 
Twan-lin,  would  tend  to  place  his  notice  of  Fu-sang  in  its  true 
light,  and  help  us  to  guess  where  that  country  should  be  looked 
for.  This  distinguished  Chinese  author  belonged  to  a  literary 
family,  and  spent  his  life  in  collecting  and  arranging  the  materials 
for  his  great  work,  the  Wdn  Hien  Tung  Kao,  or  "Antiquarian 
Researches,"  which  was  published  about  the  year  1321,  by  the 
Mongol  emperor  Jin-tsung,  a  nephew  of  Kublai  Khan.  Ma 
Twan-lin's  life  was  passed  amid  the  troublous  times  of  the  con 
quests  of  the  Mongols,  and  his  father  held  a  high  office  at  the 
court  of  the  emperors  of  the  Sung  dynasty  at  Hangchow.  He 
was  busily  engaged  with  these  labors  during  the  whole  period  of 
the  residence  of  Marco  Polo  in  China  (1275-1295),  and  their 
deaths  probably  occurred  about  the  year  1325. 

*  Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that  an  earlier  and  shorter  ar 
gument  by  Mr.  Leland  preceded  Mr.  Bancroft's  work  by  many  years. — E.  P.  V. 


232  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  "Antiquarian  Researches"  now  contains  348  chapters 
(Men),  arranged,  without  any  natural  sequence,  under  twenty-five 
different  heads,  as  Chronology,  Classics,  Religion,  Dynasties,  etc. 
The  last  title  is  called  Sz*  X Kao,  or  "  Researches  into  the  Four 
Frontiers."  In  it  are  gathered  together,  in  twenty-four  chapters, 
all  the  information  that  the  author  could  collect  respecting  for 
eign  kingdoms  and  peoples.  He  himself  seems  never  to  have 
traveled  outside  of  his  own  land  ;  and  during  the  ruthless  wars 
of  the  Mongols  he  was  probably  glad  to  escape  all  molestation 
by  staying  quietly  at  bis  home  at  Po-yang,  in  Kiangsi  province. 
The  eight  volumes  containing  these  notices  of  other  countries 
must  consequently  be  regarded  only  as  the  carefully  written 
notes  of  a  retired  scholar,  who  was  unable  to  test  their  value  or 
accuracy  by  any  standard,  either  of  his  own  personal  observation, 
or  of  the  criticisms  of  those  among  his  acquaintances  who  had 
gone  abroad.  The  energy  and  skill  of  the  great  Khan,  so  unlike 
the  effete  and  ignorant  rule  of  the  native  monarchs  at  Hang- 
chow,  must  have  developed  much  mental  and  physical  vigor 
among  his  subjects.  An  author  like  Ma  Twan-lin  would  there 
fore  be  stimulated  to  gather  all  the  information  he  could,  no 
matter  whence  it  came,  to  enrich  his  work.  His  design  was 
more  like  that  of  Hackluyt  orPurchas  than  that  of  Rollin  or  La 
Harpe ;  and  in  carrying  it  out  he  has  done  a  good  service  for 
the  literature  of  his  native  land. 

In  his  survey  of  lands  beyond  the  Middle  Kingdom,  he  com 
mences  on  the  east,  and  goes  around  to  the  south  and  west, 
describing  each  country  without  much  reference  to  those  near  it. 
Having  no  data  for  ascertaining  their  distances,  size,  or  relative 
importance,  he  makes  no  distinction  between  islands,  peninsulas, 
and  continents  ;  for  all  such  things  his  countrymen  are  even 
now  just  beginning  to  learn.  .  .  . 

[The  first  section  of  Ma  Twan-lin's  work,  translated  by 
Professor  Williams,  is  that  relating  to  Hia-i,  the  land  of  the 
"Shrimp  Barbarians."  These  are  shown  to  be  the  Ainos,  and 
it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  copy  the  account  here.  Then 
follows  his  translation  of  the  account  regarding  Fu-sang,  which 
is  given  elsewhere  ;  upon  which  Professor  Williams  makes  the 
following  observations  :] 

Ma  Twan-lin  makes  no  comment  on  this  narrative,  nor  does 
he  tell  us  whence  Hwui-shin  got  it ;  he  did  not  feel  obliged  to 


PROFESSOR  TVILLIAHS'S  ARGUMENT.  233 

discuss  its  veracity,  or  explain  its  obscurities.  The  first  impres 
sion  made  upon  one  who  reads  it,  with  the  idea  that  Fu-sang  lay 
somewhere  on  the  American  Continent,  is  that  it  proves  rather 
too  much,  judging  by  what  we  yet  know  of  the  nations  and 
tribes  who  once  dwelt  there.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  notices 
it  gives  of  the  houses,  unwalled  cities,  curious  mode  of  judging 
prisoners,  and  mourning  customs,  could  not  have  applied  to  the 
natives  of  Mexico  or  Peru  ;  but  it  has  not  the  air  of  the  narra 
tive  of  a  man  who  had  actually  lived  there.  It  is  easy  to  reply 
that  all  traces  of  the  people  mentioned  have  been  lost,  so  that 
our  present  ignorance  of  their  early  civilization  proves  nothing 
either  way.  Still,  this  account  reads  more  like  the  description 
of  a  land  having  many  things  in  common  with  countries  well 
known  to  the  speaker  and  his  hearers,  but  whose  few  peculiari 
ties  were  otherwise  worth  recording.  The  shaman  Hwui-shin 
may  have  been  one  of  the  five  priests  who  went  to  Fu-sang 
from  Ki-pin  only  forty  years  before  his  arrival  at  Kingchau,  the 
capital  of  the  Tsi  dynasty.  Ki-pin  is  the  Chinese  name  for 
Cophene,  a  region  mentioned  by  the  Buddhist  traveler  Fa-hien 
(chap,  v)  under  that  name,  and  by  Strabo  and  Pliny  as  situated 
between  Ghazni  and  Candahar,  along  the  western  slopes  of 
the  Suleiman  Mountains,  in  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Helmond 
River.  These  priests  had  probably  traveled  far  north  of  China 
in  their  missionary  tour,  as  described  by  de  Guignes  and 
d'Eichthal,  and  lived  in  Fu-sang  until  it  had  become  familiar  to 
them.  I  think  that  Ma  Twan-lin  inserts  Hwui-shin's  account 
next  to  that  of  Hia-i,  from  an  idea  that  both  kingdoms  lay  in 
the  same  direction.  He  seems  to  have  found  no  accounts  of  a 
later  date,  and  the  long  interval  of  seven  centuries  had  furnished 
nothing  worth  recording  about  a  land  so  insignificant  as  Fu- 
sang.  We  can  hardly  imagine  that  such  would  have  been  the 
case  with  a  country  to  be  reached  by  a  long  sea-voyage,  one 
where  stupendous  mountains,  great  rivers,  well-built  cities  or 
citadels,  and  people  with  black  or  dark-red  complexions,  would 
each  make  a  deep  impression  upon  an  Asiatic.  It  is  just  as 
likely  that  junks  drifted  across  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  the  sixth 
century  as  in  the  nineteenth  ;  but  Hwui-shin  is  as  silent  respect 
ing  the  manner  in  which  he  returned  from  Fu-sang,  as  of  the 
way  he  reached  it.  If  the  five  priests  had  traveled  toward 
Okotsk,  and  beyond  the  river  Anadyr,  till  they  reached  Beh- 


234:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ring's  Straits,  and  then  slowly  found  their  way  down  to  warmer 
climes,  this  would  naturally  form  part  of  the  story.  Silence  on 
all  these  points  makes  one  hesitate  in  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  Fu-sang  formed  any  part  of  America. 

The  internal  evidences  to  be  deduced  from  what  is  stated 
are  still  more  opposed  to  that  conclusion.  In  our  present  state 
of  knowledge  of  the  ancient  American  languages,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn,  it  would  be  a  vain  search  to  look  for  any  words  among 
them  suggesting  the  names  of  yueh-ki  for  king  ;  tui-lu  for  a 
high  noble  ;  siao  tui-lu  for  a  secondary  grandee  ;  and  no-cha- 
sha  for  those  of  the  lowest  rank.  It  is  not  possible  at  this  date 
to  be  quite  sure  what  sounds  were  intended  by  the  priest,  or  by 
the  historian,  to  be  represented  by  the  Chinese  characters  used 
in  transliterating  the  three  foreign  words  ;  but  those  here  given 
are  the  present  sounds  in  the  court  dialect,  and  probably  near 
their  originals. 

But  the  next  statement,  respecting  the  changes  required  every 
two  years  in  the  color  of  the  king's  dress,  carries  with  it  alto 
gether  too  much  likeness  to  Chinese  ritualism  to  be  overlooked. 
It  needs  a  little  explanation  to  be  made  clear.  The  sexagenary 
cycle,  used  in  Eastern  Asia  from  remote  times,  is  made  by  repeat 
ing  ten  stems  six  times  in  connection  with  twelve  branches  re 
peated  five  times  ;  the  two  characters'  united  form  the  name  of 
a  year.  The  ten  years  containing  the  ten  stems  begin  with  the 
first  year  of  the  sixty.  Consequently,  the  first  and  second  years, 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth,  the  twenty-first  and  twenty-second, 
and  so  on  to  the  last  decade,  will  contain  the  same  two  stems — 
kiah  yueh  five  times  over  ;  in  these  two  years  the  king's  dress 
must  be  tsing,  or  azure  color.  In  the  next  two,  the  third  and 
fourth  in  each  decade,  the  stems  ping  ting  require  it  to  be  chih, 
red  or  carnation.  In  the  next  two  the  stems  wu  hi  require  it  to 
be  hwang,  yellow  ;  in  the  fourth  binary  combination,  the  stems 
Jc&ng  sin  require  it  to  be  peh,  white.  Lastly,  the  two  stems  jin 
kwei,  denoting  the  ninth  and  tenth  years  of  each  decade,  close 
the  series,  and  then  his  robes  are  to  be  AeA,  black.  These  five 
are  the  primitive  colors  of  Chinese  philosophy. 

Nothing  analogous  to  this  custom  has  ever  been  recognized 
among  the  Aztec,  Peruvian,  or  Maya  people.  The  ten  stems 
in  these  five  couples  indicate  among  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
the  operation  of  the  five  elements,  wood,  fire,  earth,  metal,  water, 


PROFESSOR   WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  235 

in  their  active  and  passive  exhibitions  ;  each  one  destroys  its 
predecessor,  and  produces  its  successor,  in  a  perpetual  round  of 
evolutionary  forces.  The  mention  of  such  an  observance  in  Fu- 
sang  seems  to  fix  its  location  in  Eastern  Asia,  where  the  sexa 
genary  computation  of  time  has  long  been  known.  It  was  a 
curious  usage,  which  would  strike  a  priest  familiar  with  the  Chi 
nese  ritual. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  worship  of  ancestral  manes  and 
images,  and  of  the  three  years'  mourning  by  the  new  king.  The 
efforts  to  explain  the  big  horns  of  the  oxen,  the  red  pears  which 
will  keep  a  year,  and  the  vehicles  drawn  by  horses,  have  each 
their  difficulties  if  applied  to  anything  yet  known  of  the  na 
tions  of  ancient  America  along  the  Pacific  coast,  but  may  be 
applied  to  Northern  Asia  with  some  allowances.  I  think  the  red 
pears  may  denote  persimmons,  which  are  dried  for  winter  use, 
and  to  this  day  form  a  common  article  for  native  ships'  stores. 

The  identification  of  the  tree  fu-sang,  on  which  the  notice 
chiefly  turns,  is  not  yet  complete.  Klaproth  refers  it  to  the  Hi 
biscus  rosa  sinensis;  but  I  agree  with  Dr.  Bretschneider  in  mak 
ing  it  to  be  the  Broussonetia  papyri/era,  or  paper-mulberry,  a 
common  and  useful  tree  in  Northeastern  Asia.  The  use  asserted 
to  be  made  of  the  bark  in  manufacturing  paper  and  dresses  does 
not  apply  to  the  Hibiscus  nearly  so  well,  though  that  plant  also 
produces  some  textile  fibers,  as  does  also  another  large  tree  not 
yet  entirely  identified,  belonging  to  the  family  Tiliaceae  or  lin 
dens.  The  further  statement,  too,  that  its  shoots  are  eatable 
like  those  of  the  bamboo,  is  inapplicable  to  the  agave  of  Mexico 
as  well  as  to  the  Hibiscus,  the  linden,  or  Broussonetia,  none  of 
which  are  endogenous.  It  is  one  of  the  inaccuracies  of  the  de 
scription,  and  can  not  be  reconciled  with  either  plant.  The 
maguey  made  from  the  agave  is  better  fitted  for  threads  and 
cloths  than  for  making  paper.  The  fruit  or  berry  of  the  Brous 
sonetia  is  reddish,  indeed,  but  no  one  would  liken  it  to  a  It  or 
pear.  If  the  agave  is  intended,  as  Mr.  Leland  urges,  it  is  very- 
probable  that  Hwui-shin  would  have  said  something  about  the 
intoxicating  drink  called  pulque,  obtained  from  the  leaves,  rather 
than  have  likened  them  to  the  tung,  as  he  has  done.  This  last 
tree  is  either  the  ^Eleococca  or  Pawlonia,  both  well  known  in 
China  and  Japan  ;  so  that  an  omission  to  speak  of  the  pulque  be 
comes  rather  an  evidence  against  the  agave  being  thefu-sang  tree. 


236  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  remark  about  the  fibers  being  woven  into  brocade  is  also 
true  of  the  Broussonetia.  A  beautiful  fabric  is  made  in  Japan 
by  weaving  them  with  a  woof  of  silk ;  but  nothing  of  this  sort 
could  be  made  from  the  weak  agave  fibers.  Moreover,  the 
Broussonetia  has  not  been  found  in  Mexico,  although  Neumann 
thinks  that  it  once  existed  there.  .  .  .  The  word  kin  (Jg),  ap 
plied  to  the  curious  paper-silk  brocade  manufactured  from  the 
fu-sang  bark,  according  to  Ma  Twan-lin's  text,  is  also  applied  to 
embroidery  and  parti-colored  textures.  It  is  not  so  much  the 
damask-like  figure  that  is  the  essential  point ;  but  among  the 
Chinese  the  kin  always  has  a  variety  of  colors.  This  seems  to 
have  attracted  the  attention  of  Hwui-shin,  and  the  remarkable 
iridescence  of  some  specimens  of  this  Japanese  mulberry  silk  still 
excites  admiration.  Professor  Neumann  says  that  in  the  year 
books  of  Liang  he  found  the  reading  to  be  mien  ($^),  "  floss  "  ; 
but  the  textual  character  kin  has  more  authority  in  its  favor,  and 
is  found  in  the  Yuen  Kien  Lui  Han.  He  translates  the  sentence: 
"  From  the  bark  they  prepare  a  sort  of  linen  which  they  use  for 
clothing,  and  a  sort  of  ornamental  stuff."  The  word  pu,  here 
rendered  linen,  is  now  confined  to  cotton  fabrics  ;  but  the  distinc 
tion  aimed  at  in  the  two  terms  used  seems  to  have  been  that  of 
a  plain  fabric  and  a  brocaded  one,  like  the  Japanese  nisiki. 

It  may  be  added,  lastly,  that  many  fables  have  gathered 
around  the  tree  and  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  which  increase  the 
difficulty  of  their  identification.  For  instance,  the  Shih  Chau 
Ki,  quoted  in  the  native  lexicon  Pei-wtin  Yin  Fu,  says  :  "  The 
fu-sang  grows  on  a  land  in  the  Pih  Hai,  or  Azure  Sea,  where  it 
is  abundant ;  the  leaves  resemble  the  common  mulberry  (sang), 
and  it  bears  the  same  kind  of  berries  (shin,  ^g)  ;  the  trunk  rises 
several  thousand  rods  (chang),  and  is  more  than  two  thousand 
rods  in  girth.  Two  trunks  grow  from  one  root,  and  lean  upon 
each  other  as  they  rise  ;  whence  it  gets  the  name  fu-sang,  i.  e., 
supporting  mulberry."  *  The  use  of  the  technical  word  shin  for 
the  fruit  of  the  fu-sang  is  a  very  strong  argument  for  its  being 
the  Broussonetia,  and  shows  that  its  affinity  to  the  silk  mulberry 
(Mbrus)  had  been  noticed. 

*  This  is  evidently  a  philological  myth ;  as  one  of  the  meanings  of  the  charac 
ter  FU  is  "  to  prop  up,  support,"  ™*  the  name  FU-SANG  was  supposed  to  mean 
"the  supporting  mulberry,"  and  the  tale  given  above  was  probably  invented  to 
account  for  it.  It  appears,  however,  that  there  is  a  species  of  double  maguey,  or 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S   ARGUMENT.  237 

Since  the  publication  of  Mr.  Leland's  book,  the  Marquis 
d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  who  has  succeeded  Stanislas  Julien 
in  the  Chinese  Professorship  at  Paris,  has  contributed  a  paper 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles- 
Letters  for  1876,  which  contains  some  additional  notices  of  Fu- 
sang.  Among  these  is  an  extract  translated  from  the  Liang  $?' 
Kung  Ki,  or  "  Memoirs  of  Four  Lords  of  the  Liang  Dynasty," 
which  throws  some  light  on  the  times  in  which  Hwui-shin  lived, 
and  the  circumstances  attending  his  arrival  at  King-chau.  The 
marquis  shows  that  it  was  just  at  the  overthrow  of  the  Tsi 
dynasty  that  the  priest  came  as  envoy  from  Fu-sang,  and  bad  to 
wait  three  years  before  the  Emperor  Wu-ti,  of  the  Liang  dy 
nasty,  could  receive  him.  The  section  in  Ma  Twan-lin  he  justly 
regards  as  a  copy  of  the  official  report  made  to  his  superiors  by 
Yu  Kieh,  one  of  these  four  lords,  obtained  from  Hwui-shin,  the 
envoy.  It  is  quite  unlike  the  usage  in  such  cases  that  nothing  is 
said  in  the  official  annals  of  the  presents  offered  by  him  ;  these, 
if  they  had  come  from  America,  would  have  been  different  from 
anything  before  seen,  and  therefore  likely  to  be  recorded.  Such 
a  list,  however,  did  not  necessarily  fall  within  Ma's  purpose  when 
describing  Fu-sang.  The  marquis  notices  some  of  the  presents 
offered,  which  are  spoken  of  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Four  Lords," 
and  also  some  popular  notions  of  that  day  concerning  Fu-sang. 
He  identifies  the  envoy  with  the  shaman  Hwui-shin,  and  con 
cludes,  with  reason,  that  he  was  one  of  the  five  priests  who  went 
in  the  year  458  from  Ki-pin.  I  have  no  copy  of  the  Liang  SzJ 
JTung  Ki,  and  therefore  quote  his  translation  : 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  year  502,*  an  envoy  from  the 
kingdom  of  Fu-sang  was  introduced,  and,  having  offered  different 
things  from  his  country,  the  emperor  ordered  Yu  Kieh  to  in 
terrogate  him  on  the  manners  and  productions  of  Fu-sang,  the 
history  of  the  kingdom,  its  cities,  rivers,  mountains,  etc.,  in 

that  the  plant  sometimes  throws  out  two  flowering-stalks  instead  of  one  ;  as  Saha- 
gun  refers  to  it  in  the  following  words :  220°  "  The  god  Xolotl  took  to  flight  and 
hid  himself  in  a  field  of  maize,  where  he  metamorphosed  himself  into  a  stalk  of 
that  plant,  having  two  lower  portions  with  separate  roots,  which  the  labourers  call 
xolotl ;  but  having  been  discovered  among  the  maize,  he  fled  a  second  time  and  hid 
himself  among  the  magueys,  where  he  changed  himself  into  a  double  maguey,  which 
is  called  mexolotl  (from  metl,  maguey,  and  xolotl )." — E.  P.  V. 

*  This  clause  should  read,  "At  the  commencement  of  the  years  called  tien-kien," 
i.  e.,  about  the  year  502.— E.  P.  V. 


238  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

conformity  to  the  usage  practiced  at  court  whenever  a  foreign 
envoy  visited  it.  The  envoy  from  Fu-sang  wept,  and  replied 
with  a  respectful  animation,  says  the  Chinese  text,  such  as  an 
old  man  would  exhibit  when  he  found  himself  in  his  own  country 
after  a  long  absence.*  The  presents  which  he  offered  consisted 
especially  of  three  hundred  pounds  of  yellow  silk,  produced  by 
worms  found  on  the  fu-sang  tree,  and  of  extraordinary  strength. 
The  censer  of  the  emperor,  made  of  solid  gold,  weighed  fifty 
catties  (between  fifty  and  sixty  pounds),  and  three  f  threads  of 
this  silk  held  it  up  without  breaking.  Among  the  presents  was 
also  a  kind  of  semi-transparent  stone,  carved  in  the  form  of  a 
mirror,  in  which,  when  the  sun's  image  was  examined,  the  palace 
in  the  sun  distinctly  appeared.  .  .  . 

"  One  day,  while  he  was  entertaining  the  court  about  foreign 
countries,  the  magnate  Yu  Kieh  began  to  speak  thus  :  '  In  the 
extreme  east  is  Fu-saug.  A  kind  of  silk-worm  is  found  there, 
which  is  seven  feet  long  and  almost  seven  inches  around.  The 
color  is  golden.  It  takes  a  year  to  raise  them.  On  the  eighth 
day  of  the  fifth  moon  the  worms  spin  a  yellow  silk,  which  they 
stretch  across  the  branches  of  the  fu-sang,  for  they  wind  no  co 
coons.  This  native  silk  is  very  weak  ;  but,  if  it  be  boiled  in  the 
lye  made  from  the  ashes  of  fit-sang  wood,  it  will  acquire  such 
strength  that  four  strands  well  twisted  together  are  able  to  hold 
up  thirty  catties.  The  eggs  of  these  silk-worms  are  as  big  as 
swallows'  eggs.  Some  of  them  were  taken  to  Corea ;  but  the 
voyage  injured  them,  and  when  they  hatched  out  they  were  or 
dinary  silk-worms.  The  king's  palace  is  surrounded  with  walls 
of  crystal.  They  begin  to  be  clear  before  daylight,  and  become 
all  at  once  invisible  when  an  eclipse  of  the  moon  occurs.' 

"The  magnate  Yu  Kieh  proceeded  to  say  :  'About  ten  thou 
sand  li  northwest  of  this  region  there  is  a  Kingdom  of  Women  ; 
they  have  serpents  for  husbands.  The  serpents  are  J  venomous 
and  live  in  holes,  while  their  spouses  dwell  in  houses  and  pal 
aces.  No  books  are  seen  in  this  kingdom,  nor  have  the  people 

*  The  pamphlet,  from  which  Professor  Williams  translated,  might  leave  it  to  be 
inferred  that  the  phrase,  "  such  as  an  old  man  would  exhibit  when  he  found  him 
self  in  his  own  country  after  a  long  absence,"  was  contained  in  the  Chinese  text. 
It  is,  however,  merely  a  comment,  made  by  M.  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys. — E.  P.  V. 

f  The  word  "  three  "  should  be  "  six."— E.  P.  V. 

\  This  clause  should  read,  "  The  serpents  are  not  venomous." — E.  P.  V. 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  239 

any  writing.  They  firmly  believe  in  the  power  of  certain  sor 
ceries.  The  worship  of  the  gods  imposes  obligations  which  no 
one  dares  to  violate.  In  the  middle  *  of  the  kingdom  is  an  island 
of  fire  with  a  burning  mountain,  whose  inhabitants  eat  hairy 
snakes  to  preserve  themselves  from  the  heat  ;  rats  live  on  the 
mountain,  from  whose  fur  an  incombustible  tissue  is  woven, 
which  is  cleaned  by  putting  it  into  the  fire  instead  of  washing  it. 
North  of  this  Kingdom  of  Women  there  is  a  dark  valley  ;  and 
still  farther  north  are  some  mountains  covered  with  snow  whose 
peaks  reach  to  heaven.  The  sun  never  shines  there,  and  the  lu 
minous  dragon  dwells  in  this  valley.  West  of  it  is  an  intoxi 
cating  fountain  whose  waters  have  the  taste  of  wine.  In  this 
region  is  likewise  found  a  sea  of  varnish  whose  waves  dye  plumes 
and  furs  black  ;  and  another  sea  having  the  color  of  milk.  The 
land  surrounded  by  these  wonders  is  of  great  extent,  and  exceed 
ingly  fertile.  One  sees  there  dogs  and  horses  of  great  stature, 
and  even  birds  which  produce  human  beings.  The  males  born 
of  them  do  not  live  ;  the  females  are  carefully  reared  by  their 
fathers,  who  carry  them  on  their  wings  ;  as  soon  as  they  begin 
to  walk  they  become  mistresses  of  themselves.  They  are  re 
markably  beautiful  and  very  hospitable,  but  they  die  before  the 
age  of  thirty.  The  hares  of  that  land  are  as  big  as  the  horses 
elsewhere,  having  fur  a  foot  long.  The  sables  are  like  wolves 
for  size,  with  black  fur  of  extraordinary  thickness.' 

"  The  courtiers  were  greatly  amused  with  these  recitals, 
laughing  and  clapping  their  hands,  while  they  assured  the  nar 
rator  that  they  had  never  heard  better  stories.  One  minister  in 
terrupted  Yu  Kieh  by  a  bantering  objection  :  ( If  one  can  put 
any  trust  in  the  official  reports  collected  in  relation  to  this  King 
dom  of  Women,  it  might  be  all  simply  inhabited  by  savages  who 
are  governed  by  a  woman  ;  there  would  then  be  no  question  re 
specting  this  matter  of  serpents  acting  as  husbands.  How  would 
you  then  arrange  this  matter  ? ' 

"  Yu  Kieh  answered  pleasantly,  that  he  had  nothing  more  to 
say  on  that  point  ;  and  then  he  went  on  from  one  strange  story 
to  another  still  more  strange,  in  which  one  part  truth  was  mixed 
with  nine  parts  invention." 

The  whole  paper  from  which  this  extract  is  taken  does  credit 
to  its  author's  researches  into  this  matter,  however  much  we  may 
*  For  "  In  the  middle  "  read  "At  the  south." -E.  P.  V. 


240  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

differ  from  his  inferences.  On  a  previous  page  he  adduces  fur 
ther  proof  from  two  early  Chinese  authors,  who  mention  Fu- 
sang.  One  of  them  is  Kiuh  Yuen,  who  nourished  about  B.  c. 
300,  and  wrote  the  poem  Le  Sao,  or  "  Dissipation  of  Sorrows," 
which  has  since  become  a  classic  among  his  countrymen.  In  it, 
the  marquis  says,  "  he  traveled  in  thought  to  the  four  quarters  of 
the  universe.  On  the  north  he  perceived  the  land  of  long  days 
and  long  nights  ;  on  the  south,  the  boundless  ocean  met  his 
view ;  on  the  west,  he  saw  the  sun  set  in  a  lake,  perhaps  the 
Tengiri-nor  or  the  Caspian  Sea  ;  on  the  east,  in  spite  of  the  vast- 
ness  of  the  Pacific,  and  of  the  idea  which  would  naturally  pre 
sent  itself  to  his  mind  as  the  sun  rose  from  the  abyss  of  waters, 
he  beheld  the  far-off  shores  receive  the  beams  of  Aurora,  and  in 
a  valley,  on  a  land  shaded  by  the  fu-sang  tree,  he  places  the  lim 
its  of  the  extreme  east." 

He  also  calls  in  another  author  to  fortify  the  poet,  namely, 
Tung  Fang-soh,  whose  work,  the  Shin-i  King,  or  "  Record  of 
Strange  Wonders,"  was  extant  in  the  Han  dynasty,  but  was  af 
terward  lost.  That  now  bearing  his  name  has  been  manipulated 
by  subsequent  authors,  and  Mr.  Wylie  regards  it  as  a  production 
of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  and  "  the  marvelous  occupies  so 
large  a  portion  that  it  has  never  been  received  as  true  narrative." 
But  the  marquis  does  not  so  regard  it :  "  The  works  of  Tung 
Fang-soh,  which  treat  of  regions  most  remote  from  China,  have 
undergone  some  slight  alterations  at  the  dictum  of  the  Chinese 
literati,  who  inform  us  that  the  alterations  which  they  suspect 
date  back  to  the  fourth  century  after  Christ.  Their  criticism, 
far  from  diminishing  for  us  its  authority,  becomes,  on  the  con 
trary,  a  valuable  testimony  of  its  authenticity  at  that  date. 
This  it  what  it  says  :  *  East  of  the  Eastern  Ocean  is  the  country 
of  Fu-sang.  When  one  lands  on  its  shores,  if  he  continue  to 
travel  on  by  land  still  further  east  ten  thousand  li,  he  will  again 
come  to  a  blue  sea,  vast,  immense,  and  boundless.'  I  think  that 
I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  beforehand  that  it  is  impossible  to 
apply  these  indications  of  Tung  Fang-soh  to  any  other  country 
than  America." 

Fu-sang  and  Pang-lai  are  still  used  among  the  Chinese  for 
fairy  land,  and  are  referred  to  by  the  common  people  very  much 
as  the  Garden  of  the  Hesperides  and  Atlantis  were  among  the 
ancient  Greeks.  In  Hankow,  when  a  shopkeeper  wishes  to  praise 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  24:1 

the  quality  of  his  goods,  he  puts  on  his  sign  that  they  are  from  one 
or  other  of  these  lands.  The  latter  is  perhaps  the  more  common 
of  the  two,  for  it  has  become  associated  with  the  conqueror 
Tsin  Chi  Hwangti,  who  sent  an  expedition,  about  B.C.  220, 
easterly  to  find  it  and  two  other  islands,  called  San  Sien  Shan, 
or  Three  Fairy  Hills,  where  the  genii  live.  Pang-lai  is  now  the 
name  of  a  district  in  the  province  of  Shantung  (better  known 
from  the  pref ectural  city  Tangchau,  west  of  Chef u),  which  com 
memorates  this  expedition  after  the  fairies.  Nothing  was  more 
natural  to  people  living  along  the  Yellow  River,  in  the  days  of 
Kiuh  Yuen  and  Tung  Fang-soh,  when  Shantung  was  inhabited 
by  wild  tribes,  than  to  regard  all  that  little  known  region  in  the 
utmost  east  as  the  abode  of  whatever  and  whoever  were  wonder 
ful.  To  quote  such  legends  as  corroborative  history  or  travel, 
needs  the  support  of  some  authentic  statement  to  begin  with  ; 
and  Hwui-shin  would  be  as  likely  to  connect  his  account  with 
something  his  hearers  would  recognize  as  existing  in  that  direc 
tion,  as  to  make  up  a  story.  I  do  not  infer  that  neither  the  Chi 
nese  nor  Japanese  of  the  sixth  century  had  any  knowledge  of 
the  American  Continent  from  other  sources,  for  it  was  as  easy 
then  for  vessels  to  drift  across  the  Pacific  as  they  still  do  ;  but 
they  could  not  drift  back  again,  and,  when  once  landed  anywhere 
between  Alaska  and  Acapulco,  the  sailors  were  not  likely  to  try 
a  second  voyage  to  reach  their  homes. 

There  is,  furthermore,  an  unexplained  point  how  the  name  of 
the  treefu-sang  came  to  be  applied  to  the  kingdom  Fu-sang. 
If  the  Broussonetia  be  the  plant  denoted,  and  everything  con 
firms  this  deduction,  one  would  have  expected  its  identity  or 
likeness  to  the  chu  shu,  its  Chinese  name,  to  have  been  men 
tioned.  It  is,  however,  quite  as  probable  that  the  tree  got  its 
name  from  the  country,  for  the  manufacture  of  paper  from  its 
bark  does  not  seem  to  have  been  known  in  the  days  of  Kiuh 
Yuen. 

Yu  Kieh's  pleasant  account  of  Fu-sang  and  its  silk-worms 
tends  rather  to  show  that  in  his  day  it  was  a  region  which  every 
one  could  people  with  what  he  chose.  The  use  of  silk  among 
the  people  on  the  Pacific  coast  was,  according  to  H.  H.  Ban 
croft,  mostly  confined  to  the  Mayas  in  Central  America  ;  it  was 
by  no  means  a  common  product,  and  mostly  used  in  combination 
with  cotton.  This  reference  by  Yu  Kieh,  although  so  exagger- 
16 


242  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ated,  tends  to  show  that  Fu-sang  was  regarded  as  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  and  I  am  inclined  to  place  it  in  Sag- 
halien  Island. 

De  Guignes  lays  much  stress  on  the  alleged  distance  of  Fu- 
sang  from  Ta-han,  and  ingeniously  reduces  the  20,000  li,  or  7,000 
miles,  to  an  actual  estimate  of  the  road  taken  by  Hwui-shin  (Le- 
land,  p.  128)  to  get  there.  In  the  introduction  to  his  accounts 
of  all  these  eastern  countries,  in  chap.  324,  Ma  Twan-lin  places 
the  Flowery  Land  in  the  center  of  the  universe,  and  then  adds  : 
"  East  of  China  lies  Wo-kwoh,  also  called  Japan  ;  east  of  Wo- 
kwoh,  farther  on,  lies  Fu-sang,  about  30,000  li  from  China." 
These  figures  are  much  too  hap-hazard  to  depend  on  in  settling 
this  point,  and  carry  less  weight  than  such  internal  evidence  as 
we  can  analyze.  If  compared  with  other  distances  applied  to  those 
regions  by  this  author,  we  soon  find  how  valueless  they  all  are. 
No  one  in  the  sixth  century  had  any  means  of  measuring  long 
distances,  or  taking  the  bearings  of  places,  so  as  to  make  even  a 
rough  guess  as  to  their  relative  positions,  if  he  had  tried  to  make 
a  map.  For  an  illustration  of  this  remark,  see  Dr.  Bretschnei- 
der's  article  in  "  Transactions  of  North  China  Branch  of  the  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,"  No.  X,  1876,  where  he  gives  an  example  of 
Asiatic  map-making  in  A.  D.  1331,  to  show  the  divisions  of  the 
Mongol  Empire.  It  looks  like  a  checker-board. 

The  position  of  Fu-sang  can  not  therefore  be  yet  settled  from 
these  notices  ;  but  we  may,  as  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint- 
Denys  hopefully  remarks,  yet  see  the  day  when  the  immense 
riches  hidden  and  almost  lost  in  Chinese  books  will  be  brought 
out,  and  something  more  definite  on  this  head  be  discovered. 

I  have  only  two  other  quotations  to  add.  One  is  the  name 
FuAhi-koku,  i.  e.,  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang,  an  unusual  designation, 
known  to  the  Japanese  themselves,  of  their  own  country  or  a 
part  of  it,  and  which  would  hardly  have  been  applied  to  a  land 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  other  is  the  men 
tion  found  in  the  Ying-hioan  Chi  Lioh,  or  "  Geography  of  the 
World,"  by  SiiKi-yii,  the  late  governor  of  Fuhkien,  who  wrote  it 
in  1848.  In  speaking  of  the  troubles  in  Corea  caused  by  the 
Mongol  invasion,  and  the  ravages  of  the  Japanese  corsairs  along 
the  Chinese  coast  during  the  Ming  dynasty,  he  proceeds  to  say  : 
"  But  as  the  rising  grandeur  of  our  present  Imperial  house  began 
to  diffuse  itself  afar,  its  quick  intelligence  perceived  that  it  ought 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  243 

first  to  scatter  [as  it  were]  slips  from  ihefu-satig  tree  in  the  Valley 
of  Sunrise  ;  and  thereby  those  lands  (Corea  and  Japan)  were  awed 
into  submission  for  many  years,  and  our  eastern  frontier  remained 
quiet  and  protected  ;  neither  of  these  nations  presumed  to  en 
croach  on  our  possessions. "  The  Valley  of  Sunrise,  used  in  the 
Shu  King,  or  "  Book  of  Records,"  is  regarded  as  a  synonym  of 
Corea,  and  thefu-sang  tree  is  here  connected  with  that  land.  A 
few  sentences  on,  Governor  Su  quotes  from  another  book,  called 
"  Records  of  Ten  Islands  or  Regions  "  :  "  In  the  sea  toward  the 
northeastern  shores  lie  Fu-sang,  Pang-kiu,  and  Ying-chau  ;  their 
entire  circuit  is  a  thousand  li."  He  then  adds  :  "  I  think  that  the 
story  about  these  Three  Fairy  Hills  arose  from  the  exaggerated 
descriptions  of  our  own  writers,  who  used  them  to  deceive  and 
mislead  men  ;  for  really  they  were  small  islands,  contiguous  to 
Japan  and  belonging  to  it.  If  their  ships  of  that  period  went  to 
them  out  in  the  ocean,  why  could  not  [our  people  ?]  find  them 
if  they  had  searched  for  them  ?  "  He  then  relates  the  quixotic 
expedition  sent  by  Tsin  Chi  Hwangti  under  Si!  Fuh  to  find 
them,  with  several  thousand  men  and  women,  none  of  whom 
ever  returned.  From  this  reference  it  may  be  concluded  that 
Governor  Sil  regarded  Fu-sang  and  the  other  two  to  belong  to 
the  Kurile  Islands  near  Yezo.  He  had  access  to  many  works 
in  his  own  literature,  and  took  unwearied  pains  to  get  at  the 
truth  of  what  he  was  writing  about,  by  asking  intelligent 
foreigners  who  were  able  to  tell  him.  Among  these  were  Rev. 
David  Abeel  (whose  aid  he  acknowledges),  and  M.  C.  Morrison, 
a  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Morrison,  the  missionary.  His  opinion  de 
serves  to  be  received  as  that  of  an  intelligent  scholar,  though  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  question  started  by  de  Guignes. 

In  reading  the  marquis's  translation  of  Yu  Kieh's  story,  an 
English  scholar  can  hardly  fail  to  compare  it  with  the  "  Voyage 
to  Laputa  "  ;  for  that  land  was  placed  not  far  from  Fu-sang  by 
its  clever  discoverer  and  historian.  Dean  Swift,  like  Yu  Kieh, 
drew  on  his  imagination  for  his  facts.  The  numerous  references 
in  that  "  Voyage  "  to  the  people  of  China,  their  institutions,  pecul 
iarities,  costumes,  and  manners,  must  have  been  derived  or  sug 
gested  to  him  by  the  writings  of  Semedo,  Martini,  Mendez 
Pinto,  and  other  travelers  in  Asia  before  1720,  which  were  prob 
ably  in  Sir  William  Temple's  library.  But  one  would  almost  as 
soon  think  of  quoting  Swift's  assertion  in  chapter  iii  of  this  "  Voy- 


244  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

age  "  regarding  "  the  two  lesser  stars  or  satellites  which  revolve 
about  Mars,"  as  proof  that  Professor  Asaph  Hall's  discovery  of 
1876  had  been  already  known  in  Queen  Anne's  reign,  as  to  seri 
ously  undertake  from  these  Chinese  authors  to  prove  that  they 
knew  the  American  Continent  by  the  name  of  Fu-sang. 

[Then  follows  the  translation  of  the  account  of  the  "  King 
dom  of  Women,"  which  is  given  in  full  in  the  seventeenth  chap 
ter  of  this  work.  Professor  Williams  comments  :] 

From  this  account,  following  that  of  Fu-sang,  we  might  con 
clude  that  Ma  Twan-lin  regarded  Hwui-shin  alone  as  his  author 
ity  for  both  of  them,  as  he  is  quoted  at  the  beginning  of  each 
section.  But  the  incident  of  A.  D.  508  may  have  been  taken 
from  the  "  History  of  the  Liang  Dynasty. "  The  mention  of  Tsin- 
ngan,  however,  as  the  residence  of  the  shipwrecked  man  who 
found  the  Ntl  Kwoh,  shows  how  little  dependence  can  be  placed 
on  the  Buddhist  priest's  estimate  of  the  distance  or  direction  of 
either  Fu-sang  or  Nti  Kwoh  from  China.  The  only  seaport  of 
that  day  named  Tsin-ngan  was  the  present  Pu-tien  Men,  identical 
with  the  prefectural  city  of  Hing-hwa,  situated  between  Fuhchau 
and  Tstien-chau  in  the  province  of  Fuhkien.  This  man  was 
probably  a  fisherman,  bound  for  the  Pescadore  Islands,  who  was 
driven  off  by  a  storm  through  the  Bashee  Straits  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  among  the  islands  east  of  the  Philippines.  I  think  the 
priest  is  not  responsible  for  the  sailor's  story,  as  it  is  omitted  in 
the  Yuen  Kien  Lui  Han,  and  only  the  first  part  given.  The 
legend  of  the  Nil  Kwoh  probably  applies  to  two  places.  Sir 
John  Maundevile  *  places  his  Lond  of  Amazoyne  beside  the 
Lond  of  Caldee  where  Abraham  dwelt ;  but  his  Yle  of  Nacume- 
ra,  where  "alle  the  men  and  women  of  that  Yle  have  Houndes 
Hedes ;  and  thei  ben  clept  Cynocephali,"  might  be  looked  for 
where  the  "  History  of  the  Liang  Dynasty  "  puts  them  as  well 
as  anywhere  else. 

In  his  «  Book  of  Marco  Polo  "  (ed.  1871,  vol.  ii,  pp.  338-340), 
Colonel  Yule  has  brought  together  notices  of  the  various  legends 
which  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  Eastern  Asia  of  this 
fabled  land  of  females,  to  illustrate  what  the  Venetian  has  reported 
in  chapter  xxxi  about  the  "  Two  Islands  called  Male  and  Female." 
In  his  other  admirably  edited  work,  "Cathay,  and  the  Way 
Thither"  (p.  324),  he  alludes  to  the  report  of  Marignolli,  about 

*  "  Maundevile's  Voyage,"  ed.  by  nalliwcll,  1839,  pp.  154,  197. 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  245 

A.  D.  1330,  of  a  kingdom  in  Sumatra  ruled  by  women.  The  first 
part  of  Ma's  notice,  which  is  certainly  ascribed  to  the  shaman, 
leads  one  to  look  northeasterly  toward  the  Kurile  Islands  for  people 
with  so  much  hair  ;  and  suggests  a  comparison  with  the  inhab 
itants  of  Alaska  called  Kuchin  Indians,  described  in  Bancroft's 
"  Native  Races  "  (vol.  i,  pp.  115, 147,  sqq.).  But  it  would  not  be 
worth  while  to  spend  much  time  in  looking  for  this  fabled  land, 
had  not  the  idea  got  abroad  that  its  location  would  aid  in  identi 
fying  Fu-sang  with  some  part  of  America. 

[Next  comes  Professor  Williams's  translation  of  the  account 
of  the  Wtin  SMn,  or  the  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  found  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter  of  this  work,  as  to  which  he  says  :] 

It  is  not  certain  whether  marking  and  painting  the  body,  or 
tattooing,  is  intended  by  this  term  wan  sMn ;  but  as  the  Chi 
nese  have  a  technical  term,  king,  Hj,  used  in  this  extract  *  to  de 
note  the  process,  it  proves  that  tattooing  must  be  here  intended. 
This  practice  is  less  common  among  the  islanders  in  the  North 
Pacific  than  in  the  South,  where  a  warmer  climate  enables  them 
to  show  off  their  pretty  colors  and  figures.  The  courses  and 
distances  from  Japan  here  given  would  land  us  in  Alaska  ;  but 
no  weight  can  be  attached  to  them  in  this  quotation  from  the 
Liang  records. 

The  distinction  of  rank,  indicated  by  the  different  lines  de 
scribed  in  this  extract,  is  like  that  in  force  among  the  Eskimo 
tribes  near  Icy  Cape,  as  described  by  Armstrong  :  "  At  Point 
Barrow  the  women  have  on  the  chin  a  vertical  line  about  half 
an  inch  broad  in  the  center,  extending  from  the  lip,  with  a 
parallel  but  narrower  one  on  either  side  of  it,  a  little  apart. 
Some  had  two  vertical  lines  protruding  from  either  angle  of  the 
mouth,  which  is  a  mark  of  their  high  position  in  the  tribe " 
(Bancroft,  vol.  i,  p.  48).  The  practice  of  tattooing  has  been 
so  common  at  various  times  among  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  and 
other  inhabitants  of  Eastern  Asia,  that  nothing  can  be  inferred 
regarding  the  country  here  intended.  The  singular  notice  of 
filling  the  moat  with  quicksilver  may  be  paralleled  by  Sz'ma 
Tsien's  description  of  the  wonderful  subterranean  tomb  of  the 
great  conqueror  Tsin  Chi  Hwangti  (B.  c.  270)  in  Shensi,  wherein 
he  tells  us  that  "rivers,  lakes,  and  seas  were  imitated  by  means 

*  I  am  unable  to  find  this  character  in  Ma  Twan-lin's  Chinese  account  of  the 
country  of  "  Marked  Bodies."— E.  P.  V. 


246  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

of  quicksilver  caused  to  flow  in  constant  circulation  by  mechan 
ism." 

[After  giving  the  translation  of  the  account  of  the  country 
of  Ta  Han,  Professor  Williams  says  :] 

In  chapter  ccxxxi  of  the  Yuen  Kien  Lui  Han,  a  valuable  Cyclo 
paedia,  compiled  by  orders  of  the  Emperor  Kanghi,  and  issued  in 
1710,  this  section  is  quoted  verbatim  from  the  Nan  Shi  of  Li 
Yen-shau,  the  same  source  from  which  Ma  Twan-lin  got  it. 
Though  that  history  contains  the  records  of  the  Liang  dynasty 
(A.  r>.  502-557),  it  was  not  written  till  about  one  century  after 
ward,  in  the  Tang  dynasty  ;  and  during  that  interval  nothing 
more  seems  to  have  been  learned  about  the  lands  of  Fu-sang,  Ta 
Han,  or  Nil  Kwoh.  Nor  had  Ma  Twan-lin  found  anything  in  his 
day,  six  centuries  afterward,  to  add  to  what  the  shaman  Hwui- 
shin  reported  ;  while  this  Cyclopaedia — the  product  of  a  com 
mission  of  learned  men  who  ransacked  the  literature  of  China  to 
find  whatever  was  valuable  and  insert  it — contains  just  the  same 
story,  hoary  with  the  twelve  hundred  years'  repose  it  had  had  in 
the  Nan  Shi.  To  show  the  carelessness  of  these  compilers  in  their 
work,  in  chapter  ccxli  another  kingdom  is  described  under  the 
name  of  Ta  Han,  but  not  a  word  is  added  to  indicate  how  two 
kingdoms  should  have  had  the  same  name.  This  last  is  equally 
vague  with  the  first  in  respect  to  its  identification,  and  reads  as 
follows  : 

"The  'New  Records  of  the  Tang  Dynasty'  say:  'Ta  Han 
borders  on  the  north  of  Kuh;  it  is  rich  in  sheep  and  horses. 
The  men  are  tall  and  large,  and  this  has  given  the  name  Ta  Han 
(i.  e.,  Great  China)  to  their  country.  This  kingdom  and  J£uh  are 
both  conterminous  with  JZieh-Jciah-sz1 ,  and  therefore  they  were 
never  seen  as  guests  [in  our  court].  But  during  the  reigns 
Ching-kwan  and  Yung-hwui  (A.  D.  627  to  656)  they  presented 
sable  skins  and  horses,  and  were  received.  It  may  be  that  they 
have  come  once  since  that  time.' " 

The  compilers  of  the  Cyclopaedia  abridged  this  extract  some 
what,  for  they  do  not  refer  to  Lake  Baikal,  where  Ta  Han  joins 
the  countries  of  the  Kieh-kiah-sz\  and  Kuh,  and  thus  help  to 
identify  it.  The  next  section  contains  an  extract  of  seven  pages 
from  the  "  New  Records  of  Tang "  about  the  Kieh-kiah-sz\  or 
Hakas,  whom  Klaproth  regards  as  the  ancestors  of  the  Kirghis 
now  dwelling  in  Tomsk.  If  half  of  this  account  be  true,  the 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAMS'S  ARGUMENT.  247 

Hakas  formed  a  powerful  kingdom  in  the  Tang  dynasty,  and 
their  neighbors  Ta  Han  and  Kuh  are  to  be  looked  for  on  the 
river  Yenisei,  or  more  probably  between  the  Angara  and  Vitim 
rivers. 

The  effort  of  Professor  Neumann  to  identify  the  first-named 
Ta  Han  with  Alaska,  simply  because  he  places  Wan  Shan 
among  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  Ta  Han  lies  5,000  U  east  of  it, 
is  based  alone  on  reported  distances  that  are  mere  guesses.  Mr. 
Leland  also  refers  to  de  Guignes's  opinion  that  Ta  Han  meant 
Kamtchatka,  and  that  Wan  Shan  was  Yezo,  and  adds  this  com 
ment  :  "  De  Guignes  determined  with  great  intelligence  that 
the  country  of  the  Wen-schin,  7,000  li  northwest  of  Japan,  must 
be  Jezo,  from  the  exact  agreement  of  the  accounts  given  of  that 
country  by  Chinese  historians  of  the  early  part  of  the  sixth  cent 
ury  (Goei-chi  and  Ven-hien-tum-hao,  A.  D.  510-515)  with  that 
of  Dutch  navigators  in  1643.  Both  describe  the  extraordinary 
appearance  of  the  natives,  and  speak  of  the  abundance  of  a 
peculiar  mineral  resembling  quicksilver  "  (p.  129).  Mr.  Leland 
has  been  misled,  in  regard  to  this  agreement,  by  not  knowing 
that  these  supposed  historians  are  only  the  names  of  two  books, 
viz.,  "  Records  of  the  Wei  Dynasty "  (A.  D.  386  to  543),  and 
the  same  "  Antiquarian  Researches  "  from  which  I  have  trans 
lated  these  sections.  He  also  assumes  that  Hwui-shin  and  his 
predecessors  went  by  sea,  adding  that  this  was  "no  impossible 
thing  at  a  time  when  in  China  both  astronomy  and  navigation 
were  sciences  in  a  high  sense  of  the  word." 

[Then  follow  the  accounts  of  the  "Land  of  Pygmies,"  of 
the  "  Kingdom  of  Giants,"  and  of  the  "  Islands  of  Lewchew," 
none  of  which  have  any  direct  bearing  upon  the  account  re 
garding  Fu-sang,  the  "Women's  Kingdom,"  or  the  countries 
passed  on  the  way  thither.  Professor  Williams  continues  :] 

In  concluding  these  extracts  from  Ma  Twan-lin's  writings,  I 
need  hardly  draw  attention  to  the  vagueness  which  marks  them, 
when  we  look  for  any  definite  information.  His  long  chapter 
on  Japan  bears  more  marks  of  well-digested  information  than 
any  of  those  which  are  here  given,  and  indicates  constant  inter 
course  between  it  and  China.  Mr.  Leland  quotes  from  several 
authors  whatever  will  elucidate  and  uphold  his  theory  respecting 
Fu-sang,  and  deserves  thanks  for  his  research  in  this  interesting 
question.  He  has,  however,  been  led  astray  by  a  similarity,  or 


248  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

an  error  in  spelling,  to  confound  Kamtchatka  with  Lewchew.* 
.  .  Mr.  Leland  has  a  note  in  which  he  says :  "  It  [ie.,  the  ac 
count  of  the  kingdom  of  Zsieu-Tcuei]  is  evidently  borrowed  from 
the  Tang-schu,  but  is  much  better  arranged,  and  contains  some 
original  incidents,  on  which  account  I  have  freely  availed  my 
self  of  it."  I  have  no  means  of  verifying  this  statement,  and 
therefore  am  unable  to  say  how  far  Ma  quoted  from  the  "  History 
of  the  Tang,"  and  also  to  explain  whether  Kamtchatka  was  ever 
called  Lieu-kuei,  and  what  the  Chinese  characters  for  this  name 
are,  or  whether  Lieu-kuei  is  a  misprint  for  Liu-kiu  or  Lew- 
chew.  The  name  of  this  insular  kingdom  has  been  written  a 
dozen  ways  by  foreigners  ;  it  is  called  Riu-kiu  by  the  Japanese, 
Doo-choo  by  the  inhabitants,  Low-kow  by  the  Cantonese,  and 
Lewchew  by  the  Ningpo  people  ;  but  it  could  never  have  been 
confounded  with  Kamtchatka  by  either  of  them. 

*  It  appears  that  Professor  Williams  was  led  to  confound  Liu-Hu  (^  ]Ejj£), 
or  Lewchew,  with  Lieu-hud  (ffifc  ^j| — characters  transcribed  in  Professor  Will- 
iams's  dictionary  as  Liu-kwei),  a  term  which  seems,  beyond  question,  to  have 
been  applied  to  Kamtchatka.  The  fact  that  he  did  not  learn  the  characters  for 
the  term  Lieu-kuei  is  evidently  the  cause  of  his  error ;  and  in  this  case  it  was  he, 
and  not  Mr.  Leland,  who  was  led  astray  by  the  similarity  in  sound  of  the  two 
names,  one  of  which  was  applied  to  the  Lewchew  Islands  and  the  other  to  Kam 
tchatka.— E.  P.  V. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ADDITIONAL   INFORMATION. — NATURE    OP   THE    CHINESE   LAN 
GUAGE. 

Fu-sang  wood— NiS-yao-kiun-ti— The  Warm  Spring  Valley— The  Shin  I  King— 
The  kingdom  Hi-ho-koue — The  astronomer  Hi-ho — The  story  of  a  Corean — 
An  island  of  women — P*ung-lai — An  expedition  to  explore  it — The  coloniza 
tion  of  Japan — Lang  Yuen — The  Kwun-lun  Mountains — A  statue  of  a  native 
of  Fu-sang — A  poem  to  his  memory — The  tree  of  stone— Varying  translations 
— The  peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  language — The  brevity  and  conciseness  of 
the  written  language — Its  lack  of  clearness — The  meaning  of  groups  of  char 
acters,  or  compounds — Proper  names — No  punctuation — Difficulty  of  trans 
lating  correctly — Preparation  of  M.  Julien — Illustrations  of  mistakes. 

To  the  information  regarding  Fu-sang,  which  is  contained  in 
the  quotations  given  in  the  preceding  chapters,  a  few  additional 
items  may  be  added.  Klaproth  states1666  that  some  Japanese 
writers  report  that  a  blackish,  petrified  wood  is  found  in  their 
country,  which  is  highly  valued,  and  which  is  called  fu-sang 
wood,  or  wood  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang  :  that  this  country  is 
Japan,  which  has  received  this  name  because  of  its  beauty,  in 
which  it  resembles  the  shrub  fu-sang,  which  is,  as  is  well  known, 
the  species  of  hibiscus  which  we  designate  by  the  name  of  rosa 
Sinensis. 

1667  A  passage  of  the  Shan  Hai  King,  quoted  by  some  Japan 
ese  authors,  reads  as  follows  : 

"  In  the  vast  space  placed  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
world  is  the  mountain  Nie-yao-Jciun-ti.  It  is  there  that  the  tree 
fu-sang  grows.  Its  height  is  three  hundred  li.  Its  leaves  re 
semble  those  of  mustard.  Near  this,  to  the  east,  is  the  valley 
Wen-yuan-ku."  The  Chinese  words,  " 2ffi<&-yao-kiun-ti"  are  pro 
nounced  by  the  Japanese  "  I-yo-Jcun-te"  and  the  Japanese  author 
adds  that  this  is  lyo,  one  of  the  four  provinces  of  the  island 


250  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

of  Si-kokf.  The  valley  Wen-yuan-ku  is  also  called  ^Pang-kit, 
or  "  Warm  Springs." 

We  read  in  another  Chinese  work,  called  Shin  I  King :  "In 
the  eastern  part  of  the  world  there  is  a  mulberry-tree  eight  hund 
red  feet  in  height ;  it  covers  a  large  space  of  ground,  and  its 
leaves  are  ten  feet  long  and  six  or  seven  broad.  Upon  this  tree 
there  live  silk-worms  three  feet  in  length,  of  which  the  cocoons 
furnish  a  pound  of  silk.  The  fruit  of  this  tree  is  three  feet  and 
five  inches  long." 

The  following  passage  is  found  in  another  chapter  of  the 
Shan  Hai  King :  "  Beyond  the  southeastern  ocean,  and  between 
the  Kan-shui,  or  the  "  Pleasant  Rivers,"  is  the  kingdom  of  Hi- 
ho-Jcoue  (or,  according  to  the  Japanese  pronunciation  of  the  char 
acters,  Ghi-wa-kokf).  There  lived  the  virgin  Hi-ho  (Ghi-wa), 
who  espoused  Ti-tsiun,  and  gave  birth  to  ten  suns."  The  same 
book  also  says  that  Hi-ho  ( Ghi-wa)  is  the  name  of  a  kingdom 
among  the  countries  of  the  east,  which  is  also  called  "The 
Place  where  the  Sun  Rises."  .  .  . 

A  passage  of  the  Shan  Hai  King  T'sang-chu,  which  is  a  com 
mentary  upon  the  Shan  Hai  King,  says  :  "In  the  days  of  the 
Emperor  Hwang-ti,  Hi-ho  ( Ghi-wa)  was  the  astronomer  charged 
with  the  observations  of  the  sun.  This  prince  having  given  him 
the  country  of  Fu-sang,  he  embarked  with  his  family,  settled 
there,  and  gave  this  country  the  name  of  Hi-ho-koue  ( Ghi-wa 
kokf),  or  the  country  of  Hi-ho.  He  had  ten  children  ;  the  boys 
were  named  Yen  (in  Japanese,  Fiko),  or  the  male  sun  ;  and  the 
girls  Ki  (in  Japanese,  Fime),  or  the  female  sun  ;  the  sun  being 
considered  as  the  source  of  all  fecundity."  "  So,"adds  the  Japan 
ese  author,  "  a  man,  who  in  our  days  would  be  called  Ko-saJc, 
would  at  that  time  have  been  called  Ko-fiko ;  and  a  woman 
named  Ouki-ne  would  then  have  been  called  Ouki-fime.  This 
country,"  he  continues,  "  was  also  called  Wa-kokf"  (in  Chinese, 
Ho-koue).  Wa  (Ho),  the  second  character  of  Ghi-wa,  signifies 
tranquillity  and  peace  ;  kokf  means  kingdom.  Wa  (in  Chinese, 
Ho)  is,  even  now,  one  of  the  names  of  Japan. 

Klaproth  also  reports  an  incident  which  indicates  that  Hwui 
Shan  told  in  Corea,  as  well  as  in  China,  the  story  of  his  advent 
ures,  and  that  some  recollection  of  his  narration  was  preserved 
by  the  people,  as  the  following  story  of  a  country  inhabited 
by  women  recalls  Hwui  Shan's  account  of  the  "Kingdom  of 


ADDITIONAL  INFORMATION.  251 

Women,"  as  well  as  the  Chinese  account  of  the  sailors  who  were 
shipwrecked  upon  an  island  inhabited  by  women  who  resembled 
those  of  China.  The  incident  is  as  follows  :  1657 

The  King  I£hi  (of  Wo-tsiu,  one  of  the  divisions  of  Corea) 
sent  emissaries  to  look  for  Koung,  to  capture  him,  so  that  he 
might  be  punished.  When  they  had  reached  the  eastern  coast  of 
the  country,  they  asked  an  old  man  if  there  were  any  people  beyond 
the  sea  upon  the  east.  He  answered  :  "  Some  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  country  once  embarked  to  go  a-fishing,  when  they  were  as 
sailed  by  a  storm  ;  and,  having  been  violently  driven  before  the 
wind  for  ten  days,  they  reached  an  island  inhabited  by  people 
whose  language  they  could  not  understand,  and  who  had  an 
ancient  custom  of  drowning  a  young  virgin  in  the  sea  at  the 
seventh  month."  The  same  old  man  also  stated  that  there  was 
another  country  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  inhabited  by  women, 
without  any  men.  He  said  that,  simply  clothed  in  linen  gar 
ments,  they  threw  themselves  into  the  sea,  and  passed  it  by  swim 
ming.  Their  bodies  resembled  those  of  the  Chinese  women,  and 
their  garments  had  sleeves  three  fathoms  long.  Their  country 
was  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  of  Wo-tsiu. 

The  expedition  above  referred  to  occurred  during  the  reign 
of  the  Wei  dynasty,  i.  e.,  some  time  between  386  and  534  A.  D.2518 

As  a  place  called  P'ung-lai  is  frequently  mentioned  in  con 
nection  with  Fu-sang,  the  following  statements  regarding  it  may 
be  of  interest : 

In  the  year  219  B.  c.,2159  during1671  the  epoch  of  the  Japanese 
Dairi  Ko-rei-ten-o,  who  reigned  from  290  to  210  B.  c.,  the  Em 
peror  Shi-hwang,  of  the  T'sin  dynasty,  reigned  in  China.  He 
sent  the  skillful  physician  Siu-fu  to  the  island  of  P'ung-lai  to 
seek  for  the  beverage  of  immortality.  It  is  stated  that,  not  hav 
ing  succeeded  in  this  commission,  he  arrived  at  Japan,  and  died 
upon  the  mountain  Fusi.  The  Chinese  mythologists  pretend 
that  in  the  Eastern  Sea  there  are  three  mountains  (or  islands)  of 
the  genii,  called  P'ung-lai,  Fang-chang,  and  Ing-cheu.  They 
are  inaccessible.  To  the  first  is  also  given  the  name  of  P'ung- 
tao,  or  the  island  of  P'ung;  it  is  said  that  they  are  covered 
with  tabernacles,  and  with  halls  of  gold  and  silver,  which  are 
used  as  the  habitations  of  the  genii. 

It  is  to  these  three  islands  that  Tsin  Shi  Hwang  Ti  (the 
Emperor  Shi  Hwang,  of  the  Tsin  dynasty)  sent  an  expedition, 


252  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

composed  of  some  thousands  of  young  people  of  both  sexes,  un 
der  the  guidance  of  one  Tao-szu,  to  seek  there  for  the  remedy 
that  confers  immortality.  The  Chinese  historians  report  that 
the  fleet  which  bore  them  was  shipwrecked,  and  that  a  single 
bark  returned  with  the  news  of  the  disaster.  It  is  seen  that  the 
Japanese  annalists  report  the  contrary.  Sin-fu  was,  according 
to  their  statement,  one  of  the  physicians  of  the  emperor  of 
China ;  he  introduced  into  their  country  arts  and  sciences  which 
they  had  not  before  known,  and  the  Japanese  have  therefore 
accorded  divine  honours  to  him. 

It  appears  that  the  Chinese  tradition  of  the  three  fabulous 
islands,  situated  in  the  Eastern  Sea,  had  its  origin  in  the  vague 
ideas  which  they  then  had  of  Japan,  which  is  really  composed  of 
three  large  islands,  which  could  only  be  reached  with  difficulty 
by  navigators  as  inexperienced  as  the  Chinese  must  have  been  at 
that  time.  Other  Chinese  authors  state  that  the  island,  or  the 
mountain,  of  P'ung-lai  is  found  near  an  island  situated  to  the 
east  of  CJiang-Jcoue,  a  district  of  T'ai-cheu,  of  the  province  of 
Che-Many. 

Mr.  Mayers  adds  1189  that  it  is  conjectured  that  this  legend  has 
some  reference  to  attempts  at  colonizing  the  Japanese  islands  ; 
and  M.  de  Rosny 2157  states  that  this  expedition  is  mentioned  by 
a  number  of  Japanese  historians. 

Klaproth  mentions  the  fact  that 1682  the  Japanese  proverbially 
apply  the  name  P'ung-lai  shan  to  all  places  where  treasure  is 
kept. 

In  Professor  "VVilliams's  Dictionary, 254T  the  term  ^  $jj,  LANG 
YUEN,  is  defined  "  Fairy-land."  The  characters  mean  a  vacant  or 
unoccupied  pasture-field,  or  park  ;  and  as  it  is  a  fact  that  there 
is  much  confusion  between  the  Chinese  accounts  of  "Fairy 
land  "  and  of  Fu-sang,  this  may  possibly  be  a  reference  to  the 
vast  plains  of  America,  which,  some  centuries  ago,  were  almost 
uninhabited. 

Mr.  Medhurst 1867  states  that  ^p  Jj|  (pronounced  Fu-sang  in 
the  Mandarin  dialect,  and  Hoo-song  in  the  Hok-keen  dialect)  is 
a  kind  of  supernatural  mulberry-tree,  that  grows  on  the  east  of 
the  JTwun-lun  hill,  toward  the  sunrising ;  hence  the  common 
expression  that  the  sun  rises  at  Fu-sang. 

It  is  reported2325  that  the  name  Kwun-lun  is  applied  to  a 
range  of  mountains,  rendered  famous  in  Chinese  history  and 


ADDITIONAL  INFORMATION.  253 

legend,  separating  Thibet  from  Chinese  Turkestan  and  the  Des 
ert  of  Gobi.  It  starts  from  the  Pushtikur  Knot,  in  latitude  36°, 
N.,  and  runs  along  easterly  nearly  parallel  between  that  and  the 
35th  degree.  At  the  92d  degree  of  longitude,  E.,  in  the  middle 
of  its  course,  it  divides  into  two  ranges,  one  declining  to  the 
southeast  —  the  Bajinkara,  or  Snowy  Mountains  —  and  unites 
with  the  Yung  Ling,  or  Cloudy  Mountains.  The  other  branch 
bends  northerly,  and,  under  the  various  names  of  Kilien  Shan, 
In  Shan,  and  Ala  Shan,  passes  through  Kansuh  and  Shinsi  to 
join  the  Inner  Hing-ngan  range.  The  JTwun-lun  range  is  the 
Olympus  of  China,  and  the  supposed  source  of  the  Fung-sJiwin. 

Professor  Williams  states  that  the  term  Kwun  means  "a 
peak  beyond  comparison,"  and  adds  that  the  Kwun-lun  range  is, 
like  the  Caucasus  among  the  Arabs,  the  fairy-land  of  Chinese 
writers,  one  of  whom  says  its  peaks  are  so  high  that  when  sun 
light  is  on  one  side  the  moonlight  is  on  the  other.2545  The  En 
cyclopaedia  Britannica 1316  says  that  the  name  is  derived  from 
the  Chinese  geographers,  and  is  probably  a  corruption  of  some 
Turkish  or  Thibetan  word ;  it  appears  to  be  unknown  locally. 
The  name  having  been  adopted,  chiefly  on  the  initiative  of  Hum- 
boldt,  before  any  correct  geographical  knowledge  had  been  ob 
tained  of  the  region  to  which  it  was  applied,  it  has  been  used 
with  inconvenient  want  of  precision,  and  this  has  encouraged 
erroneous  conceptions.  Little  precise  information  is  available  on 
the  subject.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  name  Kwun-lun  is 
also  applied  to  an  island  in  the  China  Sea  (Pulo  Condor  Island), 
probably  in  imitation  of  the  Anamitic  name  Conon,  or  Koh- 
noong.2546 

As  the  characters  g,  $f,  KWUN-LUN,  are  composed  of  the 
radical  for  mountains,  |lj,  combined  with  the  phonetics  B  ^, 
Kwux-LUtf,  which,  taken  by  themselves,  mean  258°  "  the  canopy  of 
the  sky,"  it  seems  possible  that  the  name  originally  meant 
"  mountains  reaching  to  the  sky,"  and  that  it  may  have  been  ap 
plied  to  more  than  one  high  range,  somewhat  as  the  general 
term  "  Alps  "  is  applied  in  English. 

As  in  some  cases  Chinese  characters  terminating  in  nasals  are 
intended  to  transcribe  foreign  words  in  which  no  nasal  is  found — 
as,  for  instance,  Kiang-lang  is  written  for  the  Sanskrit  Kdla,  and 
Thoung-loung-mo  for  the  Sanskrit  drouma 1619 — it  does  not  seem 
impossible  that,  in  case  sufficient  reason  is  found  for  believing 


254  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  country  of  Fu-sang  to  be  identical  with  Mexico,  the  name 
HTwun-lun,  as  applied  to  the  mountain-range  east  of  which  Fu- 
sang  is  situated,  may  be  used  as  the  Chinese  transcription  of  the 
Mexican  word  Quauhtla,  meaning  a  mountain,  or  a  range  of 
mountains.1918 

As  an  illustration  of  the  knowledge  of  the  country  of  Fu- 
sang  still  preserved  among  the  people  of  China,  the  following 
translation  of  an  account  given  by  Mr.  Chung  Nam  Shan,  of 
San  Francisco,  in  September,  1883,  may  be  found  of  interest : 

"  Some  fifty  li  east  of  Canton  there  is  a  temple  named  the 
temple  of  Po-lo,  outside  of  the  door  of  which  there  stands  a  statue 
of  a  man  who  came  from  the  country  of  Fu-sang.  Here  he 
lived  for  some  years,  and  here  he  finally  died  ;  and  after  his  death 
he  was  deified  and  his  statue  placed  at  the  door  of  the  temple. 
He  is  represented  as  standing  looking  earnestly  toward  the  east, 
with  his  right  hand  shading  his  eyes.  At  some  later  date  a  visitor 
to  the  temple  wrote  this  stanza  about  him  : 

'  Where  the  sun  rises,  in  the  land  of  Fu-sang,  there  is  my  home ; 
Seeking  glory  and  riches,  I  came  to  the  Kingdom  of  the  Central  Flower ; 
Everywhere  the  cocks  crow  and  the  dogs  bark,  the  same  in  one  place  as 

in  another, 
Everywhere  the  almond -trees  blossom  the  same.'  " 

The  last  two  lines  are  intended  to  be  consolatory  to  a  man 
that  is  homesick  ;  the  assurance  being  that  one  place  is  substan 
tially  the  same  as  another,  and  the  conclusion  being  that  it  is 
therefore  foolish  to  grieve  for  any  particular  place. 

The  Chinese  believe  that  in  "  Fairy-land  "  (between  which 
mythical  land  and  the  country  of  Fu-sang  there  is,  as  has  been 
mentioned,  more  or  less  confusion  in  their  traditions),  or  in  the 
Kwun-lun  mountains,2557  there  is  a  tree  of  stone,2642  called  KII-KA^, 
"  the  agate  gem  "  ;  2539  PIH-SHIT,  "  the  green-jade-stone  tree," 2657  or 
LANG-KAN-SHTi,2536  "  the  coral-tree " ;  which  myth  it  will  here 
after  be  shown  may  have  originated  from  a  pun,  or  accidental 
resemblance  between  two  words  of  the  Mexican  language. 

Before  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  the  account  given  by 
Hwui  Shan,  it  seems  necessary  to  give  his  story  in  full,  in  the 
original  Chinese,  as  preserved  for  us  by  Ma  Twan-lin,  and  place 
opposite  to  it  the  different  translations  that  have  been  made 
by  the  Chinese  scholars  who  have  given  the  subject  attention. 


NATURE  OF  THE   CHINESE  LANGUAGE.  255 

This  course  is  necessary,  as  the  disagreements  as  to  the  true  ren 
dering  of  various  phrases  and  characters  are  numerous  and  im 
portant  ;  and  Hwui  Shan's  report  will  often  be  found  to  be 
true  if  a  certain  reading,  for  which  there  is  good  authority,  is 
adopted,  while,  if  the  versions  of  other  translators  are  accepted, 
no  confirmation  of  the  statement  can  be  found. 

It  is  evident  that,  in  cases  in  which  some  five  or  six  translat 
ors  differ  radically  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  certain  clause,  all  but 
one  are  certainly  mistaken  as  to  its  true  meaning,  and  it  may 
even  be  the  case  that  no  one  of  the  translators  has  correctly  ren 
dered  it.  The  present  author,  therefore,  while  admitting  that  he 
has  no  other  knowledge  of  Chinese  than  such  as  he  has  been  able 
to  obtain  from  the  study  of  a  few  Chinese-English  dictionaries 
and  grammars,  during  the  time  that  he  has  been  interested  in  the 
question  as  to  the  true  location  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  will 
venture  to  give  his  own  translation  of  the  account,  differing  in 
some  points  from  the  version  given  by  any  of  the  celebrated 
scholars  who  have  preceded  him.  In  all  cases,  however,  the 
authorities  will  be  quoted  in  full  upon  which  he  relies  as  justify 
ing  the  changes  in  the  translation  ;  and  it  is  believed  that  these 
authorities  will  be  found  sufficiently  plain  and  decided,  as  to  the 
points  in  question,  to  enable  all  to  see  the  reasons  for  the  render 
ing  that  is  given.  As,  moreover,  he  has  had  the  assistance  of  a 
number  of  native  Chinese  scholars,  as  well  as  of  others  who 
have  made  a  study  of  the  Chinese  language,  some  one  or  more 
of  whom  he  has  consulted  as  to  each  doubtful  point,  he  believes 
that  his  translation  will  be  accepted  as  giving  at  least  as  accurate 
a  rendering  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  original  as  is  found  in  any 
of  the  earlier  versions. 

The  principle  has  been  adopted  that,  in  all  cases  in  which  the 
Chinese  text  may  be  understood  in  two  or  more  ways,  one  of 
which  is  true  while  the  others  are  not,  Hwui  Shan  is  entitled  to 
that  translation  which  brings  his  story  into  conformity  with 
the  truth.  While  there  is  certainly  great  danger,  in  attempting 
a  translation  from  the  Chinese  under  this  principle,  that  the 
translator  may  fail  to  give  the  true  meaning  of  the  original  text, 
it  nevertheless  seems  plain  that  if  the  account  be  true,  such  a 
course  will  best  bring  out  its  truth  ;  while,  if  it  be  false,  no  in 
genuity  can  twist  it  into  a  true  description. 

The  possibility  of  interpreting  a  sentence  in  several  different 


256  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ways  arises  from  the  peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  language. 
While  it  is  feasible  to  so  convey  a  thought  in  Chinese  that  there 
can  be  no  misconception  as  to  the  true  meaning,  or  as  to  the  re 
lations  which  the  different  words  of  the  sentence  bear  to  one 
another,  and  while  this  is  usually  done  in  the  colloquial  idioms, 
yet  in  the  written  language  it  is  made  an  object  to  convey  the 
conception  with  the  least  possible  number  of  words  or  characters, 
and  clearness  is  therefore  frequently  sacrificed  in  favour  of  brev 
ity. 

"Before  all  things,"  says  Martin,1825  "a  Chinese  loves  con 
ciseness.  While  we  construct  our  sentences  so  as  to  guard 
against  the  possibility  of  mistake,  he  is  satisfied  with  giving  the 
reader  a  hint  of  his  meaning.  Our  style  is  a  ferry-boat,  that 
carries  the  reader  over  without  danger  or  effort  on  his  part ;  his 
is  only  a  succession  of  stepping-stones,  which  test  the  agility  of 
the  passenger  in  leaping  from  one  to  another.  ...  In  return 
for  a  few  hints,  the  reader  himself  supplies  all  the  links  that  are 
necessary  for  the  continuity  of  thought." 

It  is  said  of  Confucius,  for  instance,980  that  he  studies  the 
utmost  brevity  and  terseness,  and  frequently  the  most  profound 
Chinese  scholars,  without  the  aid  of  commentaries,  are  unable  to 
comprehend  the  meaning  of  his  sentences.  Even  at  this  day, 
among  the  Chinese,  a  writer  can  scarcely  lay  claim  to  classical 
taste  unless  he  is  able  to  couch  his  thoughts  in  language  so 
brief  and  obscure  as  to  require  the  aid  of  a  commentator  to 
make  them  intelligible  to  the  common  reader. 

Dr.  Bretschneider  states 782  that,  in  translating  from  the  Chi 
nese,  the  principal  question  is  the  understanding  of  groups  of 
words  in  their  connection,  or  phrases,  not  of  single  words ;  for 
very  often  the  single  characters  in  a  phrase  lose  completely  their 
original  meaning.  In  the  dictionaries,  for  example,  you  find  fu9 
to  assist,  and  ma,  horse.  Entfu  ma  is  not  an  "  assistant  horse," 
but  is  used  in  Chinese  historical  writings  always  to  designate  the 
son-in-law  of  the  emperor.  Chinese  literature  is  very  rich  in  such 
combinations  and  phrases  formed  by  two  or  more  characters  ; 
and  the  original  meaning  of  the  characters,  in  most  of  the  cases, 
does  not  serve  to  explain  the  phrases.  It  is  in  vain,  then,  that 
you  look  for  them  in  the  dictionaries  ;  the  greater  part,  although 
often  unknown  to  our  European  Sinologues,  have  come  down  by 
tradition  to  the  Chinese  of  the  present  day,  and  they  are  so 


NATURE  OF  THE  CHINESE  LANGUAGE.  257 

familiarized  with  those  terms  that  they  consider  it  superfluous 
to  incorporate  them  in  the  dictionaries.  A  Chinese  dictionary 
in  a  European  language,  with  a  good  collection  of  phrases,  is 
still  a  desideratum.  At  least  all  existing  dictionaries  are  of  no 
value  to  the  reader  as  regards  the  Chinese  historical  style,  and, 
if  he  consults  only  Morrison's  or  other  dictionaries,  he  runs  the 
risk  of  committing  the  greatest  mistakes. 

In  Chinese  historical  writings,  or  narratives  of  journeys,  one 
meets  with  a  great  many  proper  names.  The  Chinese,  in  render 
ing  names  of  countries  or  men,  are  obliged  to  represent  every 
syllable  of  the  name  by  a  similar  sounding  hieroglyph  (it  is 
known  that  all  Chinese  words  are  monosyllabic).  As  every 
hieroglyph  has  a  meaning,  it  is  sometimes  difficult  for  a  Euro 
pean  scholar,  translating  without  a  native  teacher,  to  distinguish 
whether  the  characters  represent  only  sounds,  or  whether  they 
must  be  translated.  European  translators  have  often  committed 
errors  of  this  kind. 

Another  difficulty,  to  the  European  reader  of  Chinese  books, 
arises  from  the  complete  ignorance  of  the  Chinese  of  our  system 
of  punctuation.  They  have  some  characters  which  denote  the 
end  of  a  period,  but  they  seldom  make  use  of  them ;  and  gen 
erally  one  finds  no  break  in  a  whole  chapter  ;  so  that  the  reader 
must  decide  for  himself  where  a  point  is  to  be  supplied.  An 
erroneous  punctuation  sometimes  changes  the  sense  of  the  whole 
period,  or  even  the  whole  article. 

Dr.  Bretschneider  adds  that781  every  Sinologue  knows  how 
apt  the  ambiguous  Chinese  style  is  to  give  rise  to  misunderstand 
ings,  and  that  often  the  Chinese  themselves  are  unable  to  solve 
the  difficulties  ;  and  he  states783  that  he  is  of  opinion,  and  thinks 
every  conscientious  Sinologue  will  agree  with  him,  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  make  correct  translations  from  Chinese  in  Europe, 
without  the  assistance  of  a  good  native  scholar,  except,  of  course, 
those  Sinologues  who  have  studied  the  language  in  China,  and 
who  have  studied  it  for  a  long  time. 

Professor  Max  Miiller  says  that,1962  while  the  mere  transla 
tion  of  a  Chinese  work  into  French  seems  a  very  ordinary  per 
formance,  M.  Stanislas  Julien,  who  had  long  been  acknowl 
edged  as  the  first  Chinese  scholar  in  Europe,  had  to  spend 
twenty  years  of  incessant  labour  in  order  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  task  of  translating  the  "  Travels  of  Hiouen-thsang." 
17 


258  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  danger  of  misunderstanding  a  Chi 
nese  text,  the  following  translation  of  a  Chinese  ode,  by  Pro 
fessor  Neumann,  is  quoted  from  the  "  Chinese  Repository  "  : 979 

41  Cease  fighting  now  for  a  while, 
Let  us  call  back  the  flowing  waves. 
"Who  opposed  the  enemy  in  time  ? 
A  single  wife  could  overpower  him ; 

Streaming  with  blood,  she  grasped  the  mad  offspring  of  guilt; 
She  held  fast  the  man,  and  threw  him  into  the  meandering  stream. 
The  Spirit  of  the  Water,  wandering  up  and  down  on  the  waves, 
Was  astonished  at  the  virtue  of  Ying. 

My  song  is  at  an  end. 
Waves  meet  each  other  continually ; 
I  see  the  water  green  as  mountain  Peih, 
But  the  brilliant  fire  returns  no  more. 
How  long  did  we  mourn  and  cry !  " 

"  I  am  compelled,"  says  Professor  Neumann,  "  to  give  a  free 
translation  of  this  verse,  and  confess  myself  not  quite  certain  of 
the  signification  of  the  poetical  figures  used  by  our  author." 
We  will  subjoin  a  less  free  translation  : 

"  The  spirit  of  war  has  now  ceased  and  vanished  away; 
Let  us  go  back  in  thought,  returning  like  the  winding  stream. 
Who  was  there  that  could  then  resist  the  foe, 
When  but  a  single  female  was  found  to  insult  his  power? 
With  her  blood  she  spat  on  the  guilty  wretch, 
Then,  despising  life,  she  sank  in  the  curling  waves. 
Her  pure  ice-like  spirit  now  wanders  over  the  stream, 
Her  courageous  soul  with  hesitancy  lingers  behind. 

"  My  song  ended,  I  still  loitered  on  the  spot,  and,  casting  a 
look  on  all  around,  I  saw  the  hills  retaining  their  blueness,  and 
the  sea  its  azure  hue  ;  but  the  beacon  smoke  and  the  shadowing 
masts  return  no  more.  Long  I  stayed  disburdening  myself  of 
sighs." 

An  instance  of  a  still  more  radical  misunderstanding  of  the 
meaning  of  a  Chinese  sentence  is  given 978  in  the  "  Chinese  Re 
pository,"  vol.  iii,  p.  72. 

The  quotations  given  above  sufficiently  show  the  difficulty 
sometimes  experienced  in  comprehending  the  exact  meaning  of 


NATURE   OF  THE  CHINESE  LANGUAGE.  259 

a  Chinese  author,  and  hence  it  should  not  be  considered  as  any 
reflection  upon  the  scholarship  and  superior  knowledge  of  the 
eminent  gentlemen  who  have  given  translations  of  the  Chinese 
account  of  Fu-sang,  if  the  present  author,  relying  partly  upon 
the  dictionaries  and  grammars  of  the  language,  and  partly  upon 
the  views  of  native  scholars,  ventures  in  some  cases  to  differ 
from  his  predecessors. 

Although  knowing  far  less  in  regard  to  the  Chinese  language 
than  any  of  the  celebrated  scholars  who  have  discussed  Hwui 
Shan's  story,  it  is  possible  that  the  greater  length  of  time,  and 
the  more  patient  and  careful  study,  which  he  has  devoted  to  this 
particular  account,  may  have  counterbalanced  this  disadvantage, 
and  may  have  enabled  him  to  discover  the  true  meaning  of  cer 
tain  phrases  which  have  heretofore  been  misunderstood. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    DESCRIPTION    OF   FU-SANG. 

The  Chinese  authorities — Variations  in  the  texts — The  Chinese  text — A  literal 
translation— Parallel  translations  of  eight  authors — The  date  of  Hwui  ShSn's 
arrival  in  China— The  location  of  Fu-sang— The  f  u-sang  trees— The  deriva 
tion  of  the  name  of  the  country — The  leaves  of  the  fu-sang  tree — Its  first 
sprouts— Red  pears — Thread  and  cloth — Dwellings — Literary  characters — 
Paper — Lack  of  arms — The  two  places  of  confinement — The  difference  be 
tween  them — The  pardon  of  criminals — Marriages  of  the  prisoners— Slave- 
children — The  punishment  of  a  criminal  of  high  rank — The  great  assembly — 
Suffocation  in  ashes — Punishment  of  his  family — Titles  of  the  king  and 
nobles — Musicians — The  king's  garments— The  changing  of  their  colour — 
— A  ten-year  cycle — Long  cattle-horns — Their  great  size — Horse-carts,  cattle- 
carts,  and  deer-carts — Domesticated  deer — Koumiss — The  red  pears  preserved 
throughout  the  year — To-p'u-i'Aoes — The  lack  of  iron — Abundance  of  cop 
per — Gold  and  silver  not  valued — Barter  in  their  markets — Courtship — The 
cabin  of  the  suitor — The  sweeping  and  watering  of  the  path — The  ceremonies 
of  marriage — Mourning  customs — The  worship  of  images  of  the  dead — The 
succession  to  the  throne — A  visit  from  a  party  of  Buddhist  missionaries — 
Their  labours  and  success. 

THE  substance  of  the  following  account  is  found  in  the 
Liang-shu™  or  "  Records  of  the  Liang  Dynasty,"  contained 
in  the  Nan-shi,  or  "  History  of  the  South,"  written  by  Li  Yen- 
shau,*  who  lived  at  the  commencement  of  the  seventh  century. 
The  Nan-shi  forms  a  portion  of  the  Great  Annals  of  China, 
the  Nien-rli-sJii^  or  "  Twenty-two  Historians." 

Ma  Twan-lin  copied  the  account  in  his  "  Antiquarian  Re 
searches  "  ;  but  as  Mr.  Leland  states  1714  that  he  gives  the  report 
"much  more  correctly,"  it  is  evident  that  he  made  such  changes 
as  he  thought  the  truth  to  require.  A  number  of  points,  as  to 
which  the  different  accounts  vary,  are  noted  by  some  of  the  trans- 

*  See  Klaproth's  account,  given  in  chapter  iii,  and  that  of  Professor  Williams, 
in  chapter  xiv. 


THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SASTG.  261 

lators,  but  it  is  not  likely  that  attention  has  been  called  to  all  the 
variations.  As  the  present  author  has  been  unable  to  obtain  a 
copy  of  any  other  than  Ma  Twan-lin's  account,  that  alone  is 
given  ;  but  in  a  few  important  cases,  in  which  Mr.  Leland  and 
the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys  have  pointed  out  the 
difference  between  the  text  of  Ma  Twan-lin  and  that  of  the 
Liang-ahUy  the  character  found  in  the  latter  is  given  in  a  note 
in  the  column  headed  "  Definition."  It  would  be  interesting  to 
compare  the  different  Chinese  versions  of  Hwui  Shan's  story, 
and  such  a  comparison  would  undoubtedly  do  much  to  remove 
difficulties  and  assist  in  bringing  the  truth  to  light ;  when  it 
would  probably  be  found  that  most  of  Ma  Twan-lin's  "  correc 
tions,"  like  those  of  some  of  our  modern  Shakespearean  com 
mentators,  resulted  only  from  a  failure  to  understand  the 
original  text,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  reject  them,  in  order 
to  arrive  at  the  true  meaning  of  the  author. 

The  left-hand  pages  that  follow  contain  the  characters  of  Ma 
Twan-lin's  text,  with  their  sounds,  and  Professor  Williams's  defini 
tions  of  their  meaning,  with  a  column  showing  the  page  of  his 
dictionary  upon  which  they  are  found.  In  the  last  column  is 
given  that  English  word  which  comes  the  nearest  to  expressing 
the  meaning  of  the  Chinese  character;  and,  by  reading  these 
words  in  their  order  down  the  column,  a  literal  translation  of 
the  story  will  be  discovered,  which  will,  in  most  places,  be  found 
intelligible — such  English  words  as  are  necessary  to  show  the 
connection  with  one  another  of  the  characters,  and  the  ideas 
which  they  express,  having  been  inserted  in  small  type. 

Upon  the  opposite  pages  eight  different  translations  will  be 
found,  being  those  of  de  Guignes,  Klaproth,  Neumann,  de  Ros- 
ny,  Julien,  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  Williams,  and  the  present 
author  ;  these  being  given  in  the  order  above-named,  and  an 
English  version  of  the  first  six  being  presented  instead  of  the 
original  French  or  German  of  their  authofs.  In  making  these 
translations  it  has  been  my  intention  to  follow  the  foreign  text  as 
closely  and  literally  as  is  consistent  with  intelligibility  and  with 
justice  to  the  translators.  It  will  be  seen  that,  in  a  number  of 
cases  in  which  my  version  of  the  Chinese  text  differs  from  that 
of  the  majority,  I  am  nevertheless  supported  by  some  one  or 
more  of  the  scholars  who  have  previously  studied  the  subject. 


262 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

1 

2 

T/C 

144 

724 

FU 
SANG 

To  assist,  support. 
The  mulberry  tree. 

FU- 
SANG. 

3 

# 

144 

FU 

Same  as  1. 

FU- 

4 

ixi'v 

724 

SANG 

Same  as  2. 

SANG 

5 

HI 

.    491 

KWOH 

A  state,  country,  region. 

COUNTRY 

6 

^ 

38 

CHE 

This,  that  ;  indicates  the  sub 
ject  of  the  proposition. 

REGARDING  : 

in  the 

, 

reign  of  the 

7 

ffjK 

966 

TS'I 

The  name  of  a  dynasty. 

TS'I 

J     1 

dynasty, 

in  the  years  called 

8 

/Tc 

1149 

YUNG 

Perpetual,  eternal,  final. 

EVERLASTING 

9 

7C 

1134 

YUEN 

The  first,  the  commencement. 

FOUNDATION, 

in  the 

10 

7C 

1134 

YUEN 

Same  as  9. 

FIRST 

11 

<¥ 

634 

NIEN 

A  year. 

YEAR, 

12 

3£ 

342 

K'l 

He,  she,  it,  that,  there. 

THAT 

13 

H 

491 

KWOH 

Same  as  6. 

COUNTRY 

14 

^ 

1113 

YIU 

To  have,  to  be,  existence. 

HAD 

15 

£J* 

730 

SHA 

Sand,  gravel.    (  Transcription 

a  SHA 

•j  of     the    San- 

16 

ri 

576 

MA.X 

A  gate,  a  door.  (  skritSramana. 

MAN 

named 

17 

H 

265 

HWUI 

Intelligent,  wise,  mild. 

HWUI 

18 

$p* 

736 

SHAN 

Deep,  profound,  learned. 

SHAN 

19 

* 

498 

LAI 

To  come,  to  reach. 

who 
CAME 

20 

M 

60 

CHI 

To  arrive,  to,  at. 

TO 

21 

•  if 

403 

KING 

A  thorny  bush.    {  Name  of  a 
I       Chinese 

KING- 

22 

JH 

48 

CHEU 

An  islet,  a  dis-   j       political 
trict,  a  region.    [       district. 

CHE  U 

and 

23 

ift 

788 

SHWOH 

To  speak,  narrate. 

TOLD 

. 

the  following 

24 

"zr 

1142 

YUN 

To  speak,  say,  circulate. 

STORY  : 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  263 


The  following  is  the  account  which  has  been  preserved  for  us.  It  was 
given  by  a  priest  who  went  to  China  in  the  year  499  A.  D.  in  the  reign  of 
the  Toy  dynasty. 


In  the  first  of  the  years  young  yuan  of  the  reign  of  Fe-ti,  of  the  dynasty 
of  77m,  a  Chamen  (or  Buddhist  priest)  called  Hoei  chin,  arrived  from  the 
country  of  Fu-sang  at  King-tchcou.  He  related  what  follows : 


During  the  reign  of  the  Tsi  dynasty,  in  the  first  year  of  the  years  bear 
ing  the  designation  "  Eternal  Origin  "  (i.  e.,  in  the  year  499  of  our  era), 
there  came  a  Buddhist  priest  from  this  kingdom,  who  was  called  by  his 
cloister-name  of  Hoei-schin,  i.  e.,  "Universal  Sympathy,"  to  King-tscheu— 
an  old  name  for  the  present  district  of  Hu-Kuang  and  several  adjoining 
districts — who  said : 


(Not  translated.) 


The  kingdom  of  Fu-sang  (was  made  known  to  the  Chinese)  in  the  first 
year  of  the  period  Yong-Youen  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Thsi  (499).  In  this 
kingdom  there  was  a  Cha-men,  named  Hoei-chin,  who  came  into  the  dis 
trict  of  King-tcheou.  He  related  that  which  follows : 


In  regard  to  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang,  the  first  year,  yung-youen,  of  the 
dynasty  of  Tsi,  there  was  a  Cha-men,  or  Buddhist  priest  of  this  kingdom, 
called  Hod-chin,  who  arrived  at  the  city  of  King-tcheou,  and  who  reported 
that  which  follows : 


In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  Yung-yuen  of  the  emperor  Tung  Hw&n- 
hau,  of  the  Tsi  dynasty  (A.  D.  499),  a  Shaman  priest  named  Hwui-shin  ar 
rived  at  King-chau  from  the  kingdom  of  Fusang.  He  related  as  follows : 


In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  the  Ts'i  dynasty,  known  by  the  desig 
nation  YUNG-YUEN,  or  "Everlasting  Foundation"  (i.  e.,  in  the  year 
499  A.  D.),  a  Shaman,  or  Buddhist  priest,  named  Hwui  SHAN,  came  to 
KI.NG-CHEU  from  that  country,  and  narrated  the  following  account  regard 
ing  the  country  of  FU-SANG  (or  FU-SANG-KWOH). 


264: 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

25 

$ 

144 

FU 

Same  as  1. 

FU- 

26 

^ 

724 

SANG 

Same  as  2. 

SANG 

27 

28 

* 

941 

839 

TSAI 
TA 

To  be  in  or  at,  to  dwell. 
Great,  chief,  prominent. 

IS  SITUATED 

from  the 

GREAT 

29 

m 

164 

IIAN 

A  Chinese,  relating  to  China  ; 
name  of  a  river  ;  the  milky 
way. 

HAN 

30 
31 

m 

491 
930 

KWOH 
TUNG 

Same  as  5. 

The  spring  of  the  year,  east, 
eastward. 

COUNTRY 

to  the 

EAST 

32 

-  ' 

721 

•BH 

Two  ;  the  second  ;  to  duplicate. 

TWICE 

83 

M 

1040 

WAN 

Ten  thousand  ;  many  ;  an  in 
definite  number. 

TEN  THOUSAND 

or 

34 

m 

1121 

YC 

The  rest,  the  remnants,  super 
abundant. 

MORE 

35 
36 

m 

518 

879 

LI 
TI 

A  Chinese  mile,  which  has 
been   of    various    lengths, 
from  1,158  to  1,894  feet. 

The  earth,  a  place,  land. 

LI 

(Chinese  miles). 
That 
PLACE 

37 

38 

* 

941 

105 

TSAI 
CHUNG 

Same  as  27. 
The  middle,  center. 

IS  SITUATED 

at  the 

MIDDLE 

39 

MI 

491 

KWOH 

Same  as  5. 

COUNTRY 

40 

Z, 

53 

CHI 

Sign  of  the  genitive  case. 

'S 

41 

M 

930 

TUNG 

Same  as  31. 

EAST. 

42 

:k 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THAT 

43 
44 

± 

920 
909 

T'U 
TO 

The  earth,  a  region,  place. 
Numerous,  many,  often. 

REGION 

has 

MANY 

45 

i& 

144 

FU 

Same  as  1. 

FU- 

46 

ik 

724 

SANG 

Same  as  2. 

SANG 

47 

48 

l 

607 
434 

MUH 
KU 

Wood,  a  tree. 

The  cause,  because,  for,  for- 
merlyr  old. 

TREES, 

and  it  is 

BECAUSE 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG. 


265 


The  kingdom  of  Fusany  is  situated  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of 
the  country  of  Tahan.  It  is  also  east  of  China.  It  produces  a  great 
number  of  trees  called  fusang, 


Fusang  is  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  the  country  of  Tahan,  and 
equally  to  the  east  of  China.  In  this  country  there  grow  many  trees 
called  fusang, 


Fusang  is  about  twenty  thousand  Chinese  miles  distant  from  Ta-han 
in  an  easterly  direction.  The  land  lies  easterly  from  the  Middle  King- 
dom.  Many  fusang  trees  grow  here, 


The  country  of  Fou-so  is  situated  at  the  east  of  the  country  of  Tai-kan. 
According  to  the  authority  of  the  work  entitled  Toung-tien,  Fou-so  is  dis 
tant  from  the  country  of  Tai-kan  in  an  easterly  direction  about  20,000  li. 
It  is  placed  to  the  east  of  the  "  Middle  Kingdom  "  (China).  Many  trees, 
called  Fou-so-mok  (Hibiscus  rosa  sinensis),  are  found  there.  (In  Japanese, 
"  SONO  TSOUTSI  NI  FOU-SO-MOK  ONOSi,"  "  In  hanc  terram  FOU-SO  [sic  vocati] 
arbores  multi  sunt "), 


This  kingdom  is  situated  about  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  the 
kingdom  of  Ta-han.  This  country  is  to  the  east  of  the  Middle  Kingdom. 
It  produces  a  great  number  of  fusang  trees, 


Fu-sang  is  situated  more  than  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  the 
kingdom  of  Ta-han,  and  is  equally  to  the  east  of  China.  It  contains 
many  fu-sang  trees, 


Fu-sang  lies  east  of  the  kingdom  of  Ta-han  more  than  twenty  thou 
sand  li;  it  is  also  east  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  It  produces  many  fu 
sang  trees, 


FU-SANG  is  situated  twice  ten  thousand  LI  (Chinese  miles)  or  more  to 
the  east  of  the  Great  HAN  country.  That  land  is  also  situated  at  the  east 
of  the  Middle  Kingdom  (China).  That  region  has  many  FU-SANG  trees, 
and  it  is  from 


266 


AX  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

49 

I/I 

rx^» 

278 

I 

By^ans^oMo     Because;to 

OF  THESE 

SslVwi     'fbS'tS 

trees  that  they 

50 

ywj 

1047 

WEI 

To  do,  to  mate.     °Pinion- 

GIVE 

the  country  its 

51 

^ 

600 

MING 

A  name,  a  title,  famous. 

NAME. 

52 

^ 

144 

FU 

Same  as  1. 

The  FU- 

53 

ik 

724 

SANG 

"      "  2 

SANG 

x'l^ 

's 

54 

5?t 

1081 

YEII 

The  leaves  of  plants. 

LEAVES 

55 

"(El 

837 

SZ' 

Like,  appearing,  resembling. 

RESEMBLE 

56 

IPI 

934 

T'UNG 

The  name  of  a  tree.     (As  this 
character   differs   from    the 

9 

one  given  in  the  Liang  -87m, 
the  true  reading  is  uncertain.) 

and  the 

57 

^j 

91 

ciru 

To  begin,  the  first. 

FIRST 

58 

^fe 

742 

SHlNG 

To  produce,  bear,  grow,  come 

SPROUTS 

forth. 

are 

59 

#R 

297 

JU 

As,  like,  to  equal. 

LIKE 

60 

^ 

813 

SIUN 

The  tender  shoots  of  bamboo. 

(     BAMBOO 
\     SHOOTS. 

The 

61 

[^1 

491 

KWOH 

Same  as  5. 

COUNTRY 

'"  * 

's 

62 

A 

286 

JAN 

A  human  being. 

PEOPLE 

63 

^ 

766 

SHIH 

To  eat  or  drink,  take  food. 

EAT 

64 

2> 

53 

CHI 

Same  as  40.     A  pronoun  in 

THEM 

the  accusative. 

and  the  (or  a) 

65 

fli 

769 

SHIH 

Fruit  of  plants  ;  real,  solid. 

FRUIT 

-^^ 

which  is 

66 

$n 

297 

JU 

Same  as  59. 

LIKE 

•^ 

a 

67 

^H 

515 

LI 

A  pear. 

PEAR, 

68 

m 

719 

'RH 

And,  if,  still,  on  the  contrary. 

BUT 

69 

^fc 

72 

CH'IH 

A  reddish  carnation  ;  light-red 

REDDISH. 

•S* 

colour. 

They 

70 

M 

986 

TSIH 

To  spin  thread. 

SPIN  THREAD 

from 

71 

S 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEIR 

72 

j£ 

679 

Skin,  leather,  a  surface,  bark. 

BARK, 

THE  DESCRIPTION   OF  FtJ-SANG.  267 


from  which  has  come  the  name  borne  by  the  country.  The  leaves  of  the 
fusang  are  similar  to  those  of  the  tree  which  the  Chinese  call  tony.  When 
they  first  appear,  they  resemble  the  shoots  of  the  reeds  called  bamboos, 
and  the  people  of  the  country  eat  them.  The  fruit  has  the  form  of  a 
pear,  and  inclines  toward  red  in  colour ;  from  its  bark  they  make  cloth, 


of  which  the  leaves  resemble  those  of  the  thming  (Bignonia  Tomentosa), 
and  the  first  shoots  those  of  the  bamboo.  The  people  of  the  country  eat 
them.  The  bark  of  this  tree  is  prepared  in  the  same  way  as  that  of  hemp, 


whose  leaves  resemble  the  Dryandra  Cordifolia,  but  the  sprouts,  on  the 
contrary,  those  of  the  bamboo,  and  these  are  eaten  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
land.  The  fruit  in  its  form  resembles  a  pear,  but  is  red.  A  species  of 
linen  cloth  is  prepared  from  the  bark, 


Their  leaves  are  similar  to  those  of  the  t6  tree ;  when  they  are  young 
they  are  like  bamboo  sprouts,  and  the  natives  eat  them.  Their  fruits  are 
like  pears,  and  of  a  red  colour.  The  fibers  of  the  bark  are  drawn  out 


and  it  is  from  this  fact  that  it  derives  its  name.  In  its  leaves,  the  fu 
sang  tree  resembles  the  thong  tree  (Paullownia  imperialis).  When  they 
commence  to  grow  they  are  like  the  (edible)  shoots  of  the  bamboo.  The 
inhabitants  eat  them.  The  fruits  of  this  tree  resemble  pears,  but  they 
are  red.  They  spin  (the  fibers  of)  the  bark, 


and  it  is  from  this  fact  that  its  name  is  derived.  The  leaves  of  the  fu- 
sang  tree  are  similar  to  those  of  the  long  tree  (according  to  Leland,  the 
Dryanda  cordata  or  El&ococca  verucosa).  When  the  fu-sang  commences 
to  grow,  it  resembles  the  young  sprouts  of  the  bamboo,  and  the  inhabit 
ants  of  the  country  eat  it.  Its  fruit  has  the  form  of  a  pear,  and  is  of  a 
red  colour.  From  its  bark  they  make  a  cloth, 


from  which  it  derives  its  name.  The  leaves  of  the  fu-sang  resemble  those 
of  the  tung  tree.  It  sprouts  forth  like  the  bamboo,  and  the  people  eat 
the  shoots.  Its  fruit  resembles  the  pear,  but  is  red  ;  the  bark  is  spun 


these  trees  that  the  country  derives  its  name.     The  leaves  of  the  FU-SANO 

resemble  ?  and  the  first  sprouts  are  like  those  of  the  bamboo.     The 

people  of  the  country  eat  them  and  the  (or  a)  fruit,  which  is  like  a  pear 
(in  form),  but  of  a  reddish  colour.     They  spin  thread  from  their  bark, 


268 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Characfr 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

73 

ft 

1047 

WEI 

Same  as  50. 

from  which  they 
MAKE 

74 

ffi 

713 

PU 

Cotton,  linen,  or  hempen 
fabrics. 

CLOTH, 

75 
76 

I 

278 

1047 

I 
WEI 

Same  as  49. 
"      "  50. 

OF  WHICH 

they 

MAKE 

77 

^ 

270 

I 

Clothes,  garments. 

CLOTHING, 

78 

sfc 

1093 

YIH 

And,  also. 

AND 

79 
80 

n 

278 
1047 

I 

WEI 

Same  as  49. 
"      "  50. 

OF  WHICH 

they 

MAKE 

81 

* 

399 

KIN 

A  kind  of    thin  brocade. 
The  Liang-shu  has  here 
the  character  MIEN,  jg, 
which  signifies  fine  silk, 
soft. 

FINER  MATERIAL. 

They 

82 

f£ 

1005 

TSOH 

To  act,  to  do,  to  make. 

MAKE 

with 

83 

84 
85 

J?R 

sfn£ 

int 
7m 

651 

1064 
1059 

PAN 

WUII 

wu 

A    board,     a    plank    for 
building  adobe  walls. 

A  house,  a  cabin. 
None,  not,  destitute  of. 

PLANKS    OF    THE 
KIND   USED   FOR 
BUILDING  ADOBE 
WALLS,  their 
HOUSES. 
They  are 

DESTITUTE  OF 

86 

$& 

77 

CITING 

A  citadel,  a  walled  city. 

CITADELS 
and 

87 

IP 

492 

KWOH 

The  second  wall  of  a  large 
city. 

WALLED  CITIES. 
They 

88 

W 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAVE 

89 

£ 

1041 

WlN 

Lines,   marks,   literature, 
literary. 

LITERARY 

90 

^ 

1032 

TSZ' 

A   character   in   writing; 
writing. 

CHARACTERS. 

They 

91 

J# 

278 

I 

Same  as  49. 

USE 

the 

92 

t& 

144 

FU 

«      «     i 

FU- 

93 

III 

724 

SANG 

«         ((       0 

SANG 

94 
95 

I 

679 
1047 

P'l 
WEI 

"      "  72. 
"      "  50. 

BARK 
to 
MAKE 

96 

lii 

56 
I 

CHI 

Paper,  stationery,  a  docu 
ment. 

PAPER. 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  269 


and  other  stuffs  with  which  the  people  clothe  themselves,  and  the  boards 
which  are  made  from  it  are  employed  in  the  construction  of  their  houses. 
No  walled  cities  are  found  there.  The  people  have  a  species  of  writing, 


and  cloth  and  clothing  are  made  of  it.  Flowered  stuffs  are  also  manu 
factured  from  it.  Wooden  planks  are  used  for  the  construction  of  their 
houses,  for  in  this  country  there  are  no  cities,  and  no  walled  habitations. 
The  inhabitants  have  a  species  of  writing,  and  make  paper  from  the  bark 
of  ihefusany. 


and  is  used  for  clothing,  and  a  species  of  flowered  tissue  is  also  prepared 
from  it.  The  houses  are  made  of  wooden  beams.  Fortified  places  and 
walled  places  are  unknown.  Written  characters  are  used  in  this  land, 
and  paper  is  made  from  the  bark  of  the  fu-sang. 


to  make  cloth,  from  which  clothing  is  made. 

The  planks  of  the  tree  are  employed  to  build  their  houses.  In  this 
country  there  are  no  cities.  The  natives  have  a  method  of  writing,  and 
they  make  clothing  (sic)  from  the  bark  of  the  fou-so  tree. 


and  from  them  make  cloth  to  make  their  garments. 

They  also  make  from  them  a  species  of  brocade  («<•).  (The  inhabitants) 
construct  houses  of  planks.  They  have  no  walled  cities.  They  have  a 
writing,  and  make  paper  from  the  (fibers  of  the)  bark  of  the  fu-sang. 


suitable  for  making  clothing,  and  also  thinner  fabrics,  which  have  the 
appearance  of  silk.  The  houses  are  constructed  of  planks.  Neither  for 
tified  cities  nor  walled  enclosures  are  found  in  Fusang ;  but  the  people 
have  a  method  of  writing,  and  make  paper  from  the  bark  of  i\\Q  fu-sang. 


into  cloth  for  dresses  ;  and  woven  into  brocade.  The  houses  are  made  of 
planks.  There  are  no  walled  cities  with  gates.  The  [people]  use  charac 
ters  and  writing,  making  paper  from  the  bark  of  the  fu-*ang. 


from  which  they  make  cloth,  of  which  they  make  clothing.  They  also 
manufacture  a  finer  fabric  from  it.  In  constructing  their  houses  they  use 
planks,  such  as  are  generally  used  when  building  adobe  walls.  They  have 
no  citadels  or  walled  cities.  They  have  literary  characters,  and  make 
paper  from  the  bark  of  the  FU-SANG. 


270 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

They 

97 

m 

1059 

WU 

Same  as  85. 

ARE   DESTI 
TUTE   OF 

98 

& 

698 

PING 

A  soldier,  troops,  a  weapon, 
military. 

MILITARY 
WEAPONS 

and 

99 

R3 

355 

KIAH 

Armour,  a  soldier,  military. 

ARMOUR, 

* 

and  they  do 

100 

2p 

717 

PUH 

No,  not. 

NOT 

101 

Bfe 

461 

KUNG 

To  attack,  to  fight  with,  to 

WAGE 

rouse. 

102 

Mfe 

45 

CHEN 

To  join  battle,  a  battle,  war, 

WAR 

military. 

in 

103 

3C 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THAT 

104 

H 

491 

KWOH 

"      "  5. 

KINGDOM. 

^ 

According  to  their 

105 

^2r 

123 

FAH 

A  law,  a  rule,  a  religion. 

RULES 

(of  law  or  religion) 

—f—* 

they 

106 

rf 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAVE 

t  2 

a 

107 

IW 

614 

NAN 

The  south,  to  go  south,  sum 

SOUTHERN 

mer. 

and  a 

108 

^l(j 

709 

POH 

The  north,  to  separate,  op 

NORTHERN 

pose. 

jf-=>T» 

(     PLACE  OF 

109 

Wi 

1139 

YUH 

A  prison,  a  jail. 

I     CONFINE- 

f         MENT. 

110 

^fer 

296 

JOII 

As,  if,  perhaps,  like. 

IF 

. 

they 

111 

W 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAVE 

112' 

^ 

128 

FAN 

To  offend,  violate  ;  a  criminal. 

3 

CRIMINAL 

. 

who  has 

113 

fl 

407 

KING 

Light,  not  heavy,  slight. 

SLIGHTLY 

114 

f£ 

1016 

TSUI 

Trespass,   crime,    sin;    pun 

SINNED, 

ishment. 

115 

* 

38 

CHE 

Same  as  6. 

HE 

116 

A 

299 

JUH 

To  enter,  go  into. 

ENTERS 

a 

the 

117 

M 

614 

NAN 

Same  as  107. 

SOUTHERN 

L18 

Wt 

1139 

YUH 

"      "    109. 

PRISON, 

RH 

but  if  his 

L19 

fp 

1016 

TSUI 

"      "    114. 

CRIME 

120 

s 

108 

CHUNG 

Heavy,  weighty,  important. 

WEIGHS 

TEE  DESCRIPTION   OF  FU-SANG.  271 


and  they  love  peace.     Two  prisons,  one  placed  in  the  south  and  the  other 
in  the  north,  are  designed  to  confine  their  criminals,  with  this  difference, 


that  the  most  guilty 


They  have  no  weapons  or  armies,  and  do  not  make  war.  According  to 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  there  are  a  southern  prison  and  a  northern 
prison.  Those  who  have  committed  crimes  that  are  not  very  serious  are 
sent  to  the  southern  prison,  but  great  criminals 


The  people  have  no  weapons,  and  carry  on  no  wars.  According  to  the 
regulations  of  the  kingdom,  there  exist,  however,  a  southern  and  a  north 
ern  prison.  The  petty  transgressors  are  shut  up  in  the  southern,  and  the 
greater 


They  have  no  offensive  weapons  or  defensive  armour,  and  do  not  wage  wars 
between  themselves. 


They  have  neither  armour  nor  lances,  and  do  not  wage  war.  According  to 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  there  are  two  prisons,  that  of  the  south  and  that 
of  the  north.  Those  who  have  committed  a  misdemeanour  of  small  mag 
nitude  are  confined  in  the  southern  prison ;  and  those  who  have  committed 


They  have  no  soldiers,  and  no  thought  of  making  war.  According  to  the 
laws  of  their  kingdom,  there  exist  a  northern  prison  and  a  southern  pris 
on.  Those  who  have  committed  crimes  of  little  gravity  are  sent  to  the 
southern  prison,  while  the  great  criminals 


There  are  no  mailed  soldiers,  for  they  do  not  carry  on  war.  The  law  of 
the  land  prescribes  a  southern  and  a  northern  prison.  Criminals  convicted 
of  light  crimes  are  .put  into  the  former,  and  those  guilty  of  grievous  of 
fences 


They  have  no  military  weapons  or  armour,  and  they  do  not  wage  war  in 
that  kingdom. 

According  to  their  rules  (of  government  or  of  religion)  they  have  a 
southern  and  a  northern  place  of  confinement.  An  offender  who  has 
transgressed  but  slightly  enters  the  southern  place  of  confinement,  but 
if 'he  has  sinned  heavily 


272 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

121 

% 

38 

CHE 

Same  as      6. 

HE 

122 

A 

299 

JUH 

"      "  116. 

ENTERS 

the 

123 

^f(j 

709 

POH 

"      "  108. 

NORTHERN 

124 

*5fc 

1139 

YUH 

"      "  109. 

PRISON. 

wH/V 

If  he  may 

125 

^ 

1113 

YIU 

"      "     14. 

HAVE 

126 

S& 

' 

748 

SHE 

To   remit  punishment,   par 

PARDON, 

don,  forgive. 

127 

IW 

956 

TSEH 

A  rule,   law,    precept;    be 

THEN 

?  »  "T 

cause,  then. 

he  is 

128 

* 

135 

FANG 

To  let  go,  liberate  ;  indulge  ; 

SENT  AWAY 

to  send  away. 

to 

(or  possibly  from 

r£7 

the) 

129 

PfJ 

614 

NAN 

Same  as  107. 

SOUTHERN 

130 

st 

1139 

YUH 

"      "  109. 

PRISON, 

but  if  there  is 

131 

^ 

717 

PUH 

"      "  100. 

NO 

132 

* 

748 

SHE 

"      "  126. 

PARDON 

'     These  three 

for 

133 

38 

CHE 

"       «        6.     words  are  not 

HIM, 

found    in    the 

134 

956 

TSEH 

text     of    Ma 
"   127.  J  Twan-lin.   They 

THEN 

are    inserted 

he  is 

135 

135 

FANG 

u       «   190       here    on    the 
•-0'      authority  of  Mr. 

SENT  AWAY 

136 

Ifc 

709 

POH 

Kwong  fci  Chiu. 
"      "   108. 

to  the 
NORTHERN 

137 

Wi 

1139 

YUH 

"       "  109. 

PRISON. 

The 

138 

fa 

941 

TSAI 

"     "     27. 

DWELLERS 

.     in  the 

139 

tt 

709 

POH 

"      "  108. 

NORTHERN 

140 

m 

1139 

YUH 

"      "  109. 

PRISON, 

141 

^ 

38 

CHE 

"      "       6. 

THOSE 

142 

m 

614 

NAN 

The  male  of  the  human  spe 

MEN 

cies,  a  man,  a  son. 

and 

143 

^C 

641 

NtJ 

Women,    a     lady,    a     wife, 

WOMEN, 

young. 

when  they  (have) 

144 

ffi 

790 

SIANG 

Mutually,  together,  to  assist, 

TOGETHER 

to  examine,  look  at. 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  273 


are  placed  in  the  northern  prison,  and  are  afterward  transferred  into  that 
of  the  south,  if  they  obtain  their  pardon  ;  otherwise  they  are  condemned 
to  remain  all  their  lives  in  the  first. 
They  are  permitted  to 


are  shut  up  in  the  northern  one.  Those  who  may  receive  their  pardon 
are  sent  to  the  first ;  those,  on  the  contrary,  to  whom  it  can  not  be  ac 
corded,  are  confined  in  the  northern  prison.  The  men  and  the  women 
who  are  shut  up  in  the  latter  are  permitted  to 


in  the  northern  prison,  so  that  those  who  may  be  pardoned  are  placed  in 
the  southern  jail,  while,  upon  the  contrary,  those  as  to  whom  this  is  not 
the  case  are  confined  in  the  northern  prison.  The  men  and  women  con 
fined  here  for  life  are  allowed  to 


(Not  translated.) 


n  the  northern  prison.  If  the  culprit  obtains  pardon,  he  is  put  in  the 
southern  prison,  and  if  he  does  not  obtain  pardon,  he  is  put  in  the 
lorthern  prison.  In  the  northern  prison,  which  receives  criminals  of  the 
wo  sexes,  if  a  man  and  woman 


re  confined  in  the  northern  prison,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  southern 
irison  receives  those  who  may  obtain  pardon,  while  those  who  can  not  be 
>ardoned  are  placed  in  the  northern  prison,  from  which  they  can  never  be 
eleased.  Among  the  prisoners  of  the  two  sexes  of  the  northern  prison 


nto  the  latter.  Criminals,  when  pardoned,  are  let  out  of  the  southern 
)rison ;  but  those  in  the  northern  prison  are  not  pardoned.  Prisoners  in 
he  latter 


e  enters  the  northern  place  of  confinement.  If  there  is  pardon  for 
im,  then  he  is  sent  away  to  (or,  possibly,  from)  the  southern  place  of  con- 
nement,  but  if  he  can  not  be  pardoned,  then  he  is  sent  away  to  the 

northern  one.     Those  men  and  women  dwelling  in  the  northern  place  of 

xrafinement,  when  they 
18 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

145 

BE 

672 

P'EI 

A  mate,  a   companion,  as  a 

MATE 

F-9U 

wife;     to   pair,  to  mate, 

(d) 

equal. 

and 

146 

/h 

742 

SHlNG 

Same  as    68. 

BEAR 

-  '  *  * 

(or  have  borne) 

147 

-51 

614 

NAN 

"      "  142. 

MALE 

x^y 

children  ;  at 

148 

A 

647 

PAH 

Eight. 

EIGHT 

149 

H& 

827 

SUI 

A   year  of  one's   age,    age, 

YEARS 

years,  yearly. 

of  age  they 

150 

/TT7| 

1047 

WEI 

Same  as  50. 

MAKE 

yin»| 

them 

151 

& 

640 

NU 

A  slave. 

SLAVES, 

S2^^ 

but  if  they 

152 

/fr 

742 

SHANG 

Same  as    58. 

BEAR 

-  *  * 

•  t. 

(or  have  borne) 

153 

:& 

641 

Nfl 

"      "  143. 

FEMALE 

~*s^ 

children,  at 

154 

x  w 

413 

KIU 

Nine,  many,  deep. 

NINE 

155 

H 

827 

SUI 

Same  as  149. 

YEARS 

>Sf» 

of  age  they 

156 

yiuj 

1047 

WEI 

"      "      50. 

MAKE 

them 

157 

#$ 

675 

PI 

A  maid-servant  ;    an  unmar 
ried  female  slave. 

j     FEMALE 
{     SLAVES. 

The 

158 
159 

H 

128 
1016 

FAN 

TSUI 

Same  as  11  2.  (  To  transgress, 
-|    to  commit  a 
"     "  114.  (    crime  ;  guilty. 

t     GUILTY 

one 

160 

£ 

53 

CHI 

"     "    40. 

'S 

161 

^ 

735 

SHlN 

The  trunk,  the  body. 

BODY 

162 

31 

60 

CHI 

Same  as  20. 

UNTIL 

(or  at) 

163 

^B 

836 

SZ' 

Death,  to  die. 

DEATH 

164 

^ 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

does 
NOT 

165 

ffl 

98 

CH'UH 

To  go  forth,  to  go  out. 

GO  FORTH. 

When  a 

166 

M 

484 

KWEI 

Honourable,  noble,  good. 

NOBLE 

167 

A 

286 

JAN 

Same  as  62. 

MAN 

168 

^f 

1113 

YIU 

"      "    14. 

HAS 

THE  DESCRIPTION   OF  FU-SANG.  275 


marry,  but  their  children  are  made  slaves.     When  criminals  are  found 
occupying  one  of  the  principal  ranks  in  the  nation 


marry  each  other.     The  male  children  born  from  these  unions  are  sold  as 
slaves  at  the  age  of  eight  years ;  the  girls  at  the  age  of  nine  years-     The 
criminals  who  are  confined  there  never  come  forth  alive. 
When  a  man  of  high  rank 


marry.     The  boys  born  of  these  marriages  become  slaves  when  eight 
years  old,  but  the  girls  not  until  they  have  passed  their  ninth  year. 
When  a  man  of  high  rank 


(Not  translated.) 


have  commerce  with  each  other,  and,  if  a  boy  is  born,  he  is  enslaved  at 
the  age  of  eight  years ;  if  a  girl  is  born,  she  is  enslaved  at  the  age  of  nine 
years.  The  men  who  have  committed  a  crime  remain  in  prison  until  their 
death.  When  a  nobleman 


marriages  are  permitted.  The  children  which  are  born  of  these  unions 
become  slaves,  the  boys  at  the  age  of  eight  years,  and  the  girls  at  the  age 
of  nine  years.  When  a  person  of  elevated  rank 


marry.  Their  boys  become  bondmen  when  eight  years  old,  and  the  girls 
bondwomen  when  nine  years  old.  Convicted  criminals  are  not  allowed  to 
leave  their  prison  while  alive.  When  a  nobleman  (or  an  official)  has 


mate  (or  have  mated)  and  bear  (or  have  borne)  children ;  the  boys  are 
made  slaves  at  the  age  of  eight  years,  and  the  girls  at  the  age  of  nine 
years.  The  criminal  (or  the  criminal's  body)  is  not  allowed  to  go  out  up 
to  (or  at)  the  tune  of  his  death.  When  a  nobleman  has 


276 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

169 

fg 

1016 

TSUI 

Same  as  114. 

TRANSGRESSED, 

^ 

the 

170 

|^j 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY 

171 

A 

286 

JlN 

"      "     62. 

PEOPLE, 
in  a 

172 

~fc 

839 

TA 

"      "     28. 

GREAT 

173 

Of 

264 

HWUI 

To  collect,  assemble  ;  an  as 

ASSEMBLY, 

sembly,  meeting. 

174 

^ 

1002 

TSO 

To  sit,  squat,  kneel  ;  to  sit 

SIT 

in  judgment  on. 

in  judgment 
on  the 

175 

1016 

TSUI 

Same  as  114. 

TRANSGRESSING 

176 

A 

286 

JlN 

"     "     62. 

MAN, 

177 

~fjk 

1118 

TO 

A  preposition,  in,  at,  on, 

IN 

^ 

with,  by,  to  be  in,  to  oc 

ED 

cupy  a  position. 

178 

Eft 

323 

K'ANG 

A  ditch,  excavation,   pit; 
a  tumulus. 

(  EXCAVATED 
|     TUMULUS. 

179 

it 

924 

TUI 

To  front,  opposite,  to  re 

IN  FRONT  OF 

spond,  a  sign  of  the  da 

tive. 

180 

z 

53 

CHI 

Same  as  40. 

HIM 

they 

181 

^. 

1090 

YEN 

A  feast,  a  banquet,  merri 

FEAST 

ment. 

and 

182 

life 

1102 

YIN 

To   drink,  to  receive,  con 

DRINK, 

cealed. 

and 

183 

^ 

129 

FAN 

To  separate,  divide,  share, 

SEPARATE 

distribute. 

from  him 

184 

ik 

447 

KtfEH 

Parting  or  dying  words,  a 

TAKING  LEAVE 

farewell,  to  take  leave. 

of  him 

185 

^ 

296 

JOH 

Same  as  110. 

AS 

if  from  a 

186 

su 

836 

SZ' 

"      "  163. 

DYING 

187 

E'J 

684 

PIEH 

To     separate,    divide,    to 

man 
SEPARATING 

'»  * 

part,  to  leave,  a  parting, 

moreover. 

188 

m 

1082 

YEN 

A  final  affirmative  particle. 

TRULY. 

189 

\& 

278 

I 

Same  as  49. 

WITH 

190 

M 

260 

HWUI 

Ashes,  embers,  lime,  dust. 

ASHES 

they 

191 

«|2E 

292 

JAO 

To  wind  around,  to  be  en 

SURROUND 

tangled  in,  to  go  about, 

to  environ. 

192 

^ 

53 

CHI 

Same  as  40. 

HIM 

THE   DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  277 


the  other  chiefs  assemble  around  them ;  they  place  them  in  a  ditch,  and 
hold  a  great  feast  in  their  presence.  They  are  then  judged.  Those  who 
have  merited  death  are  buried  alive  in  ashes, 


commits  a  crime,  the  people  assemble  in  great  numbers.  They  sit  down 
face  to  face  with  the  criminal,  who  is  placed  in  a  ditch,  and  regale  them 
selves  with  a  banquet,  and  take  leave  of  him  as  of  a  dying  man.  Then 
he  is  surrounded  by  ashes. 


commits  a  crime,  a  great  assembly  of  the  people  of  the  kingdom  is  called, 
and  a  banquet  is  held  in  the  presence  of  the  criminal,  which  takes  place 
in  an  excavation.  There  they  bestrew  him  with  ashes,  and  take  leave  of 
him  as  of  a  dying  person. 


(Not  translated.) 


commits  a  crime,  the  inhabitants  gather  together  in  a  great  assembly. 
The  culprit  is  placed  in  a  subterraneous  place,  and  food  and  drink  are 
placed  before  him ;  then  they  take  leave  of  him  as  when  one  takes  leave 
of  one  that  is  dead.  He  is  surrounded  with  ashes. 


commits  a  crime,  the  people  of  the  kingdom  assemble  in  great  numbers, 
place  the  criminal  in  an  excavation,  celebrate  a  banquet  in  his  presence, 
and  take  leave  of  him  as  of  a  dying  man.  Then  he  is  surrounded  with 
ashes. 


been  convicted  of  crime,  the  great  assembly  of  the  nation  meets  and 
places  the  criminal  in  a  hollow  (or  pit) ;  they  set  a  feast,  with  wjjne,  be 
fore  him,  and  then  take  leave  of  him.  If  the  sentence  is  a  capital  one, 
at  the  time  they  separate  they  surround  (the  body)  with  ashes. 


committed  a  crime,  the  people  of  the  country  hold  a  great  assemblage  and 
sit  in  judgment  on  the  culprit,  in  an  excavated  tumulus.  They  feast  and 
drink  before  him,  and  bid  him  farewell  when  parting  from  him,  as  if 
taking  leave  of  a  dying  man.  Then  they  surround  him  with  ashes 


278 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

193 

:K 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THERE. 

•"^^ 

If  of 

194 

—  • 

1095 

YIH 

One,  the  first,  the  same. 

ONE 

195 

108 

CHUNG 

Same  as  120.     To  repeat,  to 

WEIGHT, 

add,  a  time,  again,  a  classi 

fier  of  thickness  or  layers. 

196 

m 

956 

TSEH 

Same  as  127. 

THEN 

197 

1095 

YIH 

"      "  194. 

ONE 

198 

& 

735 

SHAN 

"      "  161. 

BODY 

-^j 

(or  person)  was 

199 

g? 

702 

P'ING 

A   screen-wall,  a   de-  " 

HIDDEN 

#r 

fence,   to    hide,   to 

expel,  to  reject  ;  to       To 

spoil,  as  robbers.          keep 

t 

back. 

200 

*M, 

926 

T'UI 

To  retreat,  draw  back, 

AWAY. 

abate,  yield. 

If  of 

201 

A 

721 

'RH 

Same  as    32. 

DOUBLE 

202 

M 

108 

CHUNG 

"      "  120. 

WEIGHT, 

203 

Mil 

956 

TSEH 

"      "  127. 

THEN 

204 

if* 

735 

SHAN 

"      "  161. 

the 
BODIES 

"^ 

were 

205 

z* 

394 

KIH 

To  effect,  to  reach  to,  to  im 
plicate,  also,  concerning. 

IMPLICATED 

of  the 

206 

~¥* 

1030 

TSZ' 

A  child,  a  son,  a  boy,  an  heir. 

CHILDREN 

•9-r 

and 

207 

J^j* 

829 

SUN 

A    grandson,   a    grandchild, 

GRANDCHIL 

suckers. 

DREN. 

t 

If  of 

208 

^* 

723 

SAN 

Three,  thrice,  several. 

TRIPLE 

209 

H| 

108 

CHUNG 

Same  as  120. 

WEIGHT, 

210 

% 

38 

CHE 

"      "       6. 

of 
THOSE 

211 

Mil 

956 

TSEH 

"      "  127. 

THEN 

212 

1%. 

394 

KIH 

"      "  205. 

were 
IMPLICATED 

213 

-k 

987 

TS'IH 

Seven. 

SEVEN 

214 

ttfc 

763 

SHI 

An  age,   a  generation;    the 

GENERATIONS. 

world;  times,  seasons. 

The 

215 

^5 

600 

MING 

Same  as  51. 

TITLE 

216 

SI 

491 

KWOII 

"      "     6. 

of  the 
COUNTRY 

's 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  279 


and  their  posterity  is  punished  according  to  the  magnitude  of  the  crime. 


For  an  offense  of  little  gravity,  the  criminal  alone  is  punished,  but  for 
a  great  crime,  the  culprit,  his  sons,  and  grandsons,  are  punished ;  finally, 
for  the  greatest  offenses,  his  descendants  to  the  seventh  generation  are 
included  in  the  punishment. 


If  the  transgressor  is  of  low  rank,  he  alone  is  punished ;  if  of  higher 
rank,  the  punishment  falls  upon  his  children  and  grandchildren  also,  and, 
if  of  the  highest  rank,  the  punishment  reaches  to  the  seventh  generation. 


(Not  translated.) 


If  a  man  has  committed  a  grave  crime,  he  alone  is  cut  off  from  society. 
If  he  has  committed  two  grave  crimes,  the  same  punishment  is  visited 
also  upon  his  children  and  his  nephews ;  if  he  has  committed  three,  this 
punishment  is  extended  to  the  seventh  generation. 


If  the  crime  is  only  one  of  the  first  degree,  the  criminal  alone  is  pun 
ished  ;  if  the  crime  is  of  the  second  degree,  his  children  and  grandchild 
ren  are  punished  with  him  ;  and,  finally,  if  the  crime  is  of  the  third  degree, 
the  descendants  of  the  criminal  to  the  seventh  generation  are  included  in 
his  chastisement. 


For  crimes  of  the  first  grade,  the  sentence  involves  only  the  person  of 
the  culprit ;  for  the  second,  it  reaches  the  children  and  grandchildren ; 
while  the  third  extends  to  the  seventh  generation. 


there.  For  a  single  crime  (or  a  crime  of  the  first  magnitude),  only  one 
person  (the  culprit)  was  hidden  (or  sent)  away.  For  two  crimes  (or  a 
crime  of  the  second  magnitude),  the  children  and  grandchildren  were 
included  in  the  punishment.  For  three  crimes  (or  a  crime  of  the  third 
magnitude),  seven  generations  were  included  in  the  punishment. 


280 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

217 

I£ 

1043 

WANG 

A  king,  a  ruler,  royal,  to  be 

KING 

a  king. 

is 

218 

s^v 

1047 

WEI 

Same  as  50. 

MADE 

the 

219 

£j 

1096 

YIH 

One  ;  bent  ;  often  used  as  a 

CHIEF 

pedantic  form  of  —  YIH, 

meaning,  one,  the  first. 

of  the 

220 

§15 

345 

K'l 

Full,  abundant,  very,  large, 

MULTITUDES. 

/1*1™ 

numerous,    multitudes,    a 

crowd  of  people. 

The 

221 

n 

484 

KWEI 

Same  as  166. 

NOBLE 

222 

A 

286 

JAN 

"      "     62. 

MEN 

of  the 

223 

~ff 

879 

TI 

A  series,  an  order.     Tlaced 

} 

5ri 

before  figures,  it  forms  the 

ordinal  numbers. 

J-      FIRST 

224 

, 

1095 

YIH 

Same  as  194. 

j 

rank, 

225 

* 

38 

CHE 

"      "      6. 

THESE 

are 

226 

^ 

1047 

WEI 

"      "     50. 

MADE 

227 

it 

924 

TUI 

"      "  179. 

TUI- 

228 

j® 

554 

LU 

A  vessel  for  containing  rice, 

LU; 

a    fire-pan,    a    grog-shop, 

black. 

of  the 

229 

a? 

879 

TI 

Same  as  223. 

\ 

^* 

[     SECOND 

230 

721 

'RH 

"      "     32. 

I 

231 

^s* 

38 

CHE 

"      "       6. 

rank, 
THESE 

232 

is; 

y»»ij 

1047 

WEI 

"      "     50. 

are 
MADE 

233 

795 

SIAO 

Small,  little,  inferior. 

LITTLE 

234 

i- 

924 

TUI 

Same  as  179. 

TUI- 

235 

H 

554 

LU 

"      "  228. 

LU; 

of  the 

236 

2p 

879 

TI 

"     "  223. 

) 

237 

—  * 

723 

SAN 

"      "  208. 

[     THIRD 
)          rank, 

238 

^ 

38 

CHE 

"      "       6. 

THESE 

239 

^ 

1047 

WEI 

"      "     50. 

are 
MADE 

240 

$& 

611 

NAH 

To  enter,  to  receive,  to  insert, 

NAH- 

MM  V 

within. 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  281 


The  king  bears  the  title  of  noble  Y-chi,  the  nobles  of  the  nation  after 
him  are  the  great  and  petty  Touy-lou,  and  the 


The  name  of  the  king  of  the  country  is  Y-khi  (or  YU-khi).  The  nobles 
of  the  first  class  are  called  Toui-lou  ;  those  of  the  second,  little  Toui-lou  ; 
and  those  of  the  third 


The  name  of  the  king  is  pronounced  "Ichi ";  the  nobles  of  the  first 
class  are  called  "Tuilu";  the  second  class,  "Little  Tui-lu";  and  those  of 
the  third  class 


They  give  to  their  king  the  name  of  Kiki-zw,  that  is  to  say,  "  the  most 
honourable  man," 


The  king  is  called  Lid.     The  nobles  of  the  first  class  are  the  Toui-lou  ; 
those  of  the  second  class,  the  little  Toui-lou  ;  those  of  the  third  class,  the 


The  king  is  called  Y-Jci.     The  nobility  of  the  first  class  are  called  toui- 
lou  ;  those  of  the  second  class,  little  toui-lou  ;  and  those  cf  the  third  class 


The  king  of  this  country  is  termed  yueh-Jci  ;  the  highest  rank  of  nobles 
is  called  tui-lu  ;  the  next,  little  tui-lu  ;  and  the  lowest, 


The  title  of  the  king  of  the  country  is  "  The  chief  of  the  multitudes." 
The  noblemen  of  the  first  rank  are  called  "  Tui-lu  ",•  those  of  the  second 
rank,  "  Little  Tui-lu  ";  and  those  of  the  third  rank, 


282 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

241 

PIH 

921 

TUH 

To  speak  to  one  another,  to 

TUH 

talk. 

242 

^K 

730 

SHA 

Same  as    15. 

SHA. 

•-^ 

The 

243 

jl^j 

491 

KWOH 

"     "      5. 

COUNTRY 

244 

EE 

1043 

WANG 

"     "  217. 

KING, 

•    1  -* 

>  —  * 

when  he 

245 

tr 

207 

HING 

To  step,  to  go  to  walk,  to  act, 

WALKS 

to  do. 

abroad, 

246 

"W 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAS 

247 

M 

434 

KU 

A  drum,  to  drum,  to  excite. 

DRUMS 

_- 

and 

248 

/i 

409 

KIOH 

A  horn,  a  corner,  to  gore. 

HORNS 

249 

3iir 

867 

TAO 

To  lead,  to  conduct. 

LEADING 

»j  " 

and 

250 

^St 

1024 

TS'UNG 

A  clan,  a  family,  posterity,  to 

FOLLOWING. 

- 

follow,  followers. 

251 

K 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

HIS 

252 

^ 

270 

I 

"     "  77. 

CLOTHES 

253 

fe 

727 

SEH 

Air,    manner,    form,    colour, 

COLOUR, 

hue,     complexion,     mode, 

sort,  glory,  beauty. 

254 

IM 

826 

SUI 

To  accord,  to  follow,  to  com 

ACCORDING  TO 

ply  with,  according  to. 

the 

255 

^ 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS' 

256 

^c 

307 

KAI 

To  change,  to  alter,  to  amend, 

CHANGES, 

to  correct. 

257 

11 

281 

YIH 

The  mutations  or  alterations 

IS  CHANGED. 

?7J 

in  nature,  as  of  the  sun  or 

moon;  to  change. 

The 

258 

f 

355 

KIAH 

Same  as  99.   The  first  year  of 

FIRST 

the  cycle. 

and 

259 

z, 

1096 

YIH 

Same  as  219.  The  second  year 

SECOND 

of  the  cycle. 

260 

^P 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS, 

261 

» 

995 

TS'ING 

The  green  of  plants  or  the 
blue  of  the  sky. 

they  are 
BLUE 

(or  green); 

262 

R 

699 

PING 

The  third  of  the  ten  stems. 

the 
THIRD 

263 

T 

903 

TING 

The  fourth  of  the  ten  stems. 

and 
FOURTH 

264 

4p 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS, 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  283 


Na-to-cha.     The  prince  is  preceded  by  drums  and  horns  when  he  goes 
abroad.     He  changes  the  colour  of  his  garments  every  year. 


Natu-cha.  When  the  king  goes  forth,  he  is  accompanied  by  drums  and 
horns.  He  changes  the  colour  of  his  garments  at  different  epochs.  In 
the  years  of  the  cycle  Ida  and  i,  they  are  blue ;  in  the  years  ping  and 
ting, 


"Na-to-scha"  When  the  prince  goes  out  he  is  accompanied  by  drums  and 
horns.  The  colour  of  his  clothes  is  different  in  different  years.  In  the 
two  first  of  the  ten-year  cycle  they  are  blue ;  in  the  next  two, 


When  the  latter  walks  abroad  he  is  accompanied  by  drums  and  trumpets. 
At  different  periods  of  the  year  he  changes  the  colour  of  his  garments.  In 
the  cyclic  years  kia  and  i,  they  are  blue ;  in  the  years  ping  and  ting,  they 


Na-to-cha.  When  the  king  goes  forth,  he  is  accompanied  with  drums  and 
horns.  The  colour  of  his  garments  is  changed  according  to  the  years.  In 
the  years  marked  with  the  cyclic  signs  Kia  and  I  they  are  green ;  in  the 
years  marked  with  the  cyclic  signs  Ping  and  Ting  they  are 


na-to-cha.  When  the  king  goes  abroad  he  is  accompanied  with  drums  and 
trumpets,  which  precede  and  follow  him.  He  changes  the  colour  of  his 
garments  according  to  the  order  of  the  years.  In  the  years  (of  the  cycle 
called)  kia  and  y  his  garments  are  of  a  blue  or  green  colour.  In  the  years 
ping  and  ting  they  are  of  a 


no-cha-sha.  When  the  king  goes  abroad  he  is  preceded  and  followed  by 
drummers  and  trumpeters.  The  color  of  his  robes  varies  with  the  years 
in  the  cycle  containing  the  ten  stems.  It  is  azure  in  the  first  two  years ; 
in  the  second  two  years  it  is 


NAH-TO-SHA.  The  king  of  the  country,  when  he  walks  abroad,  is  pre 
ceded  and  followed  with  drums  and  horns.  The  colour  of  his  garments  is 
changed  according  to  the  mutations  of  the  years.  The  first  and  second 
years  (of  a  ten-year  cycle)  they  are  blue  (or  green) ;  the  third  and  fourth 
years  they  are 


284: 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

265 

^ 
•^ 

72 

CH'IH 

Same  as  69. 

RED; 

the 

266 

H/ 

1063 

WU 

The  fifth  of  the  ten  stems. 

FIFTH 

i^i 

and 

267 

a 

337 

KI 

The  sixth  of  the  ten  stems. 

SIXTH 

268 

^ 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS 

269 

iff 

252 

HWANG 

The  colour  of  earth,  yellow. 

YELLOW; 

•^ 

the 

270 

J^t 

321 

KING 

The  seventh  of  the  ten  stems. 

SEVENTH 

271 

3r 

806 

SIN 

The  eighth  of  the  ten  stems. 

EIGHTH 

272 

&£ 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS 

273 

fl 

706 

POH 

White,  clear,  bright,  pure. 

WHITE  ; 

the 

274 

^f+ 

287 

JlN 

The  ninth  of  the  ten  stems. 

NINTH 

and 

275 

%& 

483 

KWEI 

The  last  of  the  ten  stems. 

TENTH 

276 

££ 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS 

277 

M 

218 

HOH 

Black,  dark. 

BLACK. 

0  ilv 

They 

278 

'pf 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAVE 

279 

2fc. 

638 

NIU 

An  ox,  a  cow,  a  bull,  cattle, 

CATTLE- 

some  kinds  of  deer. 

280 

^t 
y^j 

409 

KIOH 

Same  as  248. 

HORNS  ; 

the 

281 

Jg 

27 

CH'ANG 

Long,   in  time  or   distance, 

LONG 

constantly,  direct,  straight, 

old,  to  grow,  too  heavy. 

ones  are 

282 

J^t 

278 

I 

Same  as    49. 

USED 

MJ 

of  the 

283 

ft 

409 

KIOH 

"      "  248. 

HORNS 

284 

® 

941 

TSAI 

A  year,  to  contain,  to  fill  in, 

TO  CONTAIN 

to  bear. 

285 

$J 

1065 

WUH 

A  thing,  matter,  substance, 

THINGS. 

an  article,  goods. 

They 

286 

^ 

60 

CHI 

Same  as  20. 

REACH 

the 

287 

}ffi 

771 

SHING 

To  bear,  to  sustain,  to  raise, 

BEST 

to  conquer,  to  excel,  supe 

rior,  best,  excellent,  to  add. 

of  them,  to 

288 

d 

721 

'RH 

Same  as  32. 

TWICE 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  285 


The  cattle  of  the  country  bear  a  considerable  weight  upon  their  horns. 


red  ;  in  the  years  ou  and  ki,  yellow  ;  in  the  years  Iceng  and  sin,  white ; 
finally,  in  those  which  have  the  characters  jin  and  kouei,  they  are  black. 
The  cattle  have  long  horns,  upon  which  burdens  are  loaded  which  weigh 
as  much  sometimes  as 


red  ;  in  the  two  following  years,  white  ;  and  in  the  two  last,  black.  The 
oxen  have  such  large  horns  that  they  contain  as  much  as  ten  sheepskins ; 
the  people  use  them  to  keep  all  kinds  of  goods. 


red,  etc. 


red  ;  in  the  years  marked  with  the  signs  Meou  and  Sse,  they  are  yellow  ; 
in  the  years  marked  with  the  cyclic  signs  Keng  and  Sin,  they  are  white  ; 
in  the  years  marked  with  the  signs  Jin  and  Kouei,  they  are  black.  They 
have  cattle  whose  horns  are  very  long,  and  who  bear  upon  their  horns  a 
weight  as  great  as 


of  a  red  colour ;  they  are  of  a  yellow  colour  in  the  years  ou  and  ki;  of  a 
white  colour  in  the  years  keng  and  sin;  and  of  a  black  colour  in  the  years 
jin  and  kouei.  Ox-horns  are  found  in  Fusang  so  large  that  their  capacity 
is  sometimes  as  great  as  two 


red  ;  it  is  yellow  in  the  third  ;  white  in  the  fourth  ;  and  black  in  the  last 
two  years.  There  are  oxen  with  long  horns,  so  long  that  they  will  hold 
things — the  biggest  as  much  as 


red ;  the  fifth  and  sixth  years,  yellow ;  the  seventh  and  eighth  years, 
white ;  and  the  ninth  and  tenth  years,  black.  They  have  cattle-horns,  of 
which  the  long  ones  are  used  to  contain  (some  of  their)  possessions,  the 
best  of  them  reaching  (a  capacity  of)  twice 


286 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

289 

+ 

768 

SHIH 

Ten. 

TEN 

1 

times  as  much 

290 

m 

233 

HUH 

(From  a  peck  measure  and  a  horn.) 
The  Chinese  bushel,  holding  ten 
pecks,  or  a  picul,  according  to 

as  an  ordinary 
HORN-MEAS 
URE. 

some;    but  the  common  table 

makes  it  measure  five  pecks,  or 
half  a  picul.    At  Shanghai  the 

They 

291 

* 

1113 

YIU 

(Same  as  14) 

huh  for  rice  holds  only  2-05  pints, 
and  that  for  peas,  1-86  pint.  The 
Buddhists  use  it  for  a  full  picul 
of  133X  Ibs.,  av.,  but  the  Hindu 
drona,  which  the  huh  represents, 

HAVE 

weighs  only  7  Ibs.  11  oz.,  av. 

292 

Wt 

571 

MA 

A  horse,  warlike,  quick  as  a 

HORSE- 

tttg 

horse. 

293 

M 

39 

CE'E 

A  wheeled  carriage,  a  cart. 

CARTS, 

294 

^r 

638 

NIU 

Same  as  279. 

CATTLE- 

295 

39 

CH'E 

"     "  293. 

CARTS, 

and 

296 

m 

562 

LUH 

A  deer,  especially  the  males  ; 
stags  which  have  horns. 

DEER- 

297 

Iff 

39 

CH'E 

Same  as  293. 

CARTS. 

t^' 

The 

298 

El 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY 

299 

A 

286 

JAN 

"      "     62. 

PEOPLE 

300 

5f 

1072 

YANG 

To  nourish,  rear,  "bring  up, 

RAISE 

tame  ;  to  raise,  educate. 

301 

JS§ 

662 

LUH 

Same  as  296. 

DEER 

302 

y,p 

297 

JO- 

"      "    59. 

AS 

5»" 

in  the 

303 

Pff 

105 

CHUNG 

"      "     38. 

MIDDLE 

304 

SI 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

KINGDOM 

—  »**•* 

, 

they 

305 

iif 

98 

CH'UH 

To  rear,  to  feed,  to  raise,  to 

RAISE 

M-l 

domesticate. 

806 

^ 

638 

NIU 

Same  as  279. 

CATTLE. 

307 

J# 

278 

I 

"      "    49. 

FROM 

308 

^t 

298 

Jtr 

Milk,  milky,  the  breasts,  the 

MILK 

nipple  ;  to  suck,  to  nurse. 

they 

309 

^ 

1047 

w£i 

Same  as  50. 

MAKE 

310 

§§ 

553 

LOH 

Cream,  dried  milk,  racky  [kou 

KOUMISS. 

miss]  from  mare's  milk. 

They 

311 

w 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAVE 

312 

^ 

72 

CH'IH 

"      "  69. 

the 
RED 

THE  DESCRIPTION   OF  FU-SANG.  287 


They  are  harnessed  to  wagons.  Horses  and  deer  are  also  employed  for 
this  purpose.  The  inhabitants  feed  hinds,  as  in  China,  and  from  them 
they  obtain  butter.  A  species  of  red 


twenty  ho  (of  120  Chinese  pounds).     In  this  country  they  make  use  of 
carts  harnessed  to  cattle,  horses,  and  deer.     They  rear  deer  there  as  they 
raise  cattle  in  China,  and  make  cheese  from  the  milk  of  the  females. 
A  species  of  red 


Horses,  oxen,  and  deer  are  also  harnessed  to  wagons.  Deer  are  raised 
here  as  cattle  are  in  the  "  Middle  Kingdom,"  and  from  the  milk  of  the 
hinds  butter  is  made.  The  red 


The  natives  raise  deer,  as  cattle  are  raised,  and  make  creamy  dishes 
from  the  milk  of  the  animals. 


twenty  ho  (the  ho  is  a  measure  of  ten  bushels). 

They  have  carts  drawn  by  horses,  cattle,  and  deer.  The  inhabitants 
raise  deer  as  cattle  are  raised  in  China.  They  make  cheeses  from  milk. 
There  is  a  species  of  red 


hundred  bushels.  They  are  used  to  contain  all  sorts  of  things.  Carriages 
also  may  be  seen,  to  which  horses,  cattle,  and  deer  are  harnessed.  The 
inhabitants  raise  deer  as  cattle  are  raised  in  China  ;  the  milk  of  the  hinds 
makes  part  of  their  food.  They  gather  the  red 


five  pecks.  Vehicles  are  drawn  by  oxen,  horses,  and  deer ;  for  the  people 
of  that  land  rear  deer  just  as  the  Chinese  rear  cattle,  and  make  cream  of 
their  milk.  They  have  red 


ten  times  as  much  as  the  capacity  of  a  common  horn.  They  have  horse- 
carts,  cattle-carts,  and  deer-carts.  The  people  of  the  country  raise  deer 
as  cattle  are  raised  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  (China).  From  milk  they 
make  koumiss.  They  have  the  red 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

313 

3& 

515 

LI 

Same  as  67. 

PEARS 

314 

& 

404 

KING 

The  warp  ;  to  pass  through  ; 

THROUGH- 

laws  ;  religious  manuals. 

out  the 

315 

4p 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as    11. 

YEAR 

316 

/Y* 

717 

PUH 

"      "  100. 

UN 

317 

^H 

244 

HWAI 

Going  or  gone  to  ruin,   to 

SPOILED, 

xK 

spoil,  to  injure,  to  perish, 

spoiled,  useless. 

and 

318 

^> 

909 

TO 

Same  as  44.     Many  ;  numer 

TO 

^g 

™ 

ous. 

319 

715 

P'U 

The   cat-tail  rush,  the  cala 

P'U- 

mus,  or  sweet-flag. 

320 

$fc 

870 

T'AO 

A  peach,  a  nectarine,  a  flower- 

T'AO- 

bud. 

es. 

321 

3£ 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

ITS 

322 

Wl 

879 

TI 

"     "  36. 

GROUND 

jfm* 

is 

323 

Tfft 

1059 

WU 

"     "  85. 

DESTITUTE  OF 

324 

$16 

893 

T'lEH 

Iron,  made  of  iron,  firm. 

IRON, 

^f*^ 

but  it 

325 

rJ 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAS 

326 

m 

934 

T'UNG 

Copper,  brazen,  coppery. 

COPPER. 

~  .« 

They  do 

327 

<r* 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT 

328 

ft* 

484 

KWEI 

"      "  166. 

VALUE 

329 

^ 

398 

KIN 

Gold,  gilded,  yellow,  precious. 

GOLD 

or 

330 

sill 

1101 

YIN 

Silver,  money,  wealth. 

SILVER. 

. 

Their 

331 

rp 

762 

SHI 

A  market,   crowded,  vulgar, 

MARKETS 

to  trade,  salable. 

are 

332 

M 

1059 

WU 

Same  as  85. 

DESTITUTE  OF 

333 

ffl 

1007 

TSU 

Rent  or  tax  in  kind  from 

TAXES 

fields  ;    rental  ;    income  ; 

taxes. 

and 

334 

ft 

433 

KU 

To  estimate,  reckon,   guess, 

FIXED  PRICES. 

think,  set  a  price  on  ;  value, 

worth,  price. 

When 

335 

s 

342 

Kl 

Same  as  12. 

THEY 

336 

$& 

™ 

268 

HWUN 

A  bridegroom,  a  husband,  to 

MARRY, 

marry  a  wife. 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  289 


pear  is  found  there,  which  is  kept  for  a  year  without  spoiling ;  also  the 
iris,  and  peaches,  and  copper  in  great  abundance.  They  have  no  iron, 
and  gold  and  silver  are  not  valued.  He  who  wishes  to  marry 


pear  is  found  there  which  is  preserved  throughout  the  year.    There  are 
also  many  vines.     Iron  is  lacking,  but  copper  is  found.     Gold  and  silver 
are  not  esteemed.     Commerce  is  free,  and  they  do  not  haggle  at  all. 
The  practices  regarding  marriages  are  as  follows  : 


pears  of  the  fusang  trees  keep  good  throughout  the  whole  year.  In  addi 
tion,  there  are  many  apples  and  reeds,  mats  being  made  from  the  last. 
There  is  no  iron  in  this  country,  but  copper  is  found.  Gold  and  silver  are 
not  valued,  and  do  not  serve  as  the  medium  of  exchange  in  the  markets. 
Marriages  are  concluded  in  the  following  manner : 


In  this  country  there  is  no  iron,  but  there  is  copper.     Gold  and  silver 
are  not  valued.     In  the  markets  no  duties  are  levied. 


pear  which  can  be  preserved  for  a  year  without  spoiling.  There  are  many 
grapes.  No  mines  of  iron  exist,  but  copper  is  very  abundant.  The  in 
habitants  do  not  esteem  either  gold  or  silver.  The  public  markets  are 
not  subject  to  any  duty.  The  laws  relating  to  marriage  are  as  follows  : 


pears  which  are  preserved  for  an  entire  year,  and  they  also  have  many 
grapes.  Their  land  does  not  contain  any  iron,  but  they  have  copper,  ob 
tained  from  their  mines.  Gold  and  silver  among  them  have  but  little 
value.  The  markets  are  free,  and  that  which  is  sold  does  not  have  a 
fixed  price.  In  regard  to  marriage, 


pears  which  will  keep  a  year  without  spoiling ;  water-rushes  and  peaches 
are  common.  Iron  is  not  found  in  the  ground,  though  copper  is  ;  they  do 
not  prize  gold  or  silver,  and  trade  is  conducted  without  rent,  duty,  or 
fixed  prices. 

In  matters  of  marriage 


pears  kept  unspoiled  throughout  the  year,  and  they  also  have  TOMATOES. 
The  ground  is  destitute  of  iron,  but  they  have  copper.  Gold  and  silver 
are  not  valued.  In  their  markets  there  are  no  taxes  or  fixed  prices.  When 
they  marry, 

19 


290 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

337 

fc 

123 

FAH 

Same  as  105.  )  A  rule,  a  pat- 

it  is  the 
RULE 

[•     tern  to  go 

338 

Hi] 

956 

TSEH 

"      "  127.  )      by. 

THEN 

for  the  intending 

339 

its 

790 

SI 

A  son-in-law. 

SON-IN-LAW 

340 

ti 

1044 

WANG 

To  go,  formerly,  past,  the  fu 

TO  GO 

ture. 

and  the 

341 

I^C 

641 

Ntf 

Same  as  143. 

WOMAN 

' 

's 

342 

§lc 

351 

KIA 

A    household,    a    family,    a 

DWELLING 

- 

dwelling. 

's 

343 

P^ 

576 

MAN 

Same  as  16. 

DOOR 

344 

& 

1037 

WAI 

Outside,  beyond,  foreign,  to 
exclude. 

OUTSIDE 

345 

>fjs 

1005 

TSOH 

Same  as  82. 

TO  MAKE 

346 

1064 

WUH 

"      "  84. 

HOUSE 

(or  cabin). 

347 

* 

21 

CH'AN 

Morning,  dawn. 

MORNING 
and 

848 

804 

SIH 

Evening,  dusk,  the  last  day 

EVENING 

< 

of  a  month  or  year. 

he 

849 

iH 

731 

SIIA 

To  sprinkle,  to  scatter,  deep 

SPRINKLES 

water. 

and 

350 

jjj£ 

726 

SAO 

To  sweep,  to  brush,  to  clean 

SWEEPS 

up,  a  broom. 

(the  ground) 

851 

$f 

404 

KING 

Same  as  314. 

THROUG  fl 

out  a 

852 

t^ 

638 

NIEN 

"      "     11. 

YEAR, 

853 

flff 

719 

'RH 

"      "     68. 

AND 

* 

if  the 

354 

~k 

641 

Nt 

"      "  143. 

WOMAN 

•^^ 

is 

355 

^ 

717 

PUH 

"      "  100. 

NOT 

356 

is 

1131 

YUEH 

Contented,      delightful,      to 

PLEASED 

agree  to,  willing. 

with  him, 

357 

in 

984 

TSIH 

Eating,  to  go,  now,  soon,  then, 

THEN 

forthwith. 

she 

358 

ffg 

443 

K'U 

To  turn  animals  out  of  a  field, 

SENDS  AWAY 

"* 

to  drive  on,  to  lash,  to  or 

der  people  into  their  prop 

er  places. 

359 

•S 

53 

CHI 

Same  as    40. 

HIM; 

360 

* 

790 

SIANG 

"      "  144. 

but  if  they  are 
MUTUALLY 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  291 


builds  a  house  or  cabin  near  that  of  the  maid  whom  he  desires  to  wed, 
and  takes  care  to  sprinkle  a  certain  quantity  of  water  upon  the  ground 
every  day  during  the  year  ;  he  finally  marries  the  maid,  if  she  wishes  and 
consents  ;  otherwise,  he  goes  to  seek  his  fortune  elsewhere. 


He  who  desires  to  wed  a  girl,  establishes  his  cabin  before  the  door  of 
the  latter ;  he  sprinkles  and  sweeps  the  earth  every  morning  and  every 
night.  When  he  has  practiced  this  formality  for  a  year,  if  the  maid  will 
not  give  her  consent,  he  desists  ;  but  if  she  is 


the  man  builds  himself  a  hut  before  the  door  of  the  house  in  which  the 
one  lives  whom  he  desires  ;  morning  and  evening  he  sprinkles  and  clears 
the  ground.  When  a  year  has  passed,  if  the  maiden  does  not  consent,  he 
leaves  her  ;  but  if  she 


(Not  translated.) 


The  future  son-in-law  goes  into  the  family  of  the  girl  and  constructs  a 
house,  outside  of  her  door ;  morning  and  night  he  waters  and  sweeps 
;he  place.  If,  at  the  end  of  a  year,  the  girl  feels  no  love  for  him,  she 
sends  him  away  ;  but,  if  they  are  smitten  with  love  for  each  other, 


he  customs  of  the  country  are  as  follows  :  the  suitor  constructs  a  dwell- 
ng  for  himself  before  the  door  of  the  house  in  which  dwells  the  young 
woman  whom  he  seeks.  Morning  and  evening  he  sprinkles  and  sweeps 
he  earth  in  this  place.  At  the  end  of  a  year,  if  the  young  woman  is  not 
leased,  she  sends  him  away  ;  and,  in  the  contrary  case, 


i  is  the  law  that  the  (intending)  son-in-law  must  erect  a  hut  before  the 
oor  of  the  girl's  house,  and  must  sprinkle  and  sweep  the  place  morn- 
ng  and  evening  for  a  whole  year.  If  she  then  does  not  like  him,  she 
ids  him  depart ;  but  if  she  is 


t  is  the  custom  for  the  son-in-law  to  go  and  erect  a  house  (or  cabin)  out- 

ide  of  the  door  of  the  dwelling  of  the  young  woman  (whom  he  desires  to 

marry).     Morning  and  evening  he  sprinkles  and  sweeps  (the  ground)  for 

year,  and,  if  the  young  woman  is  not  pleased  with  him,  she  then  sends 

im  away ;  but  if  they  are  mutually 


292 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

361 

'It 

1131 

YUEH 

Same  as  356. 

PLEASED, 

362 

JTj 

612 

NAI 

But,   it    may  be,   doubtless, 

THEN 

moreover,  if,  then,  there 

they 

ff^ 

upon. 

363 

J& 

71 

CH'ING 

To  finish,  to  complete,  to  ac 

COMPLETE 

complish. 

the 

364 

$H 
" 

268 

HWUN 

Same  as  336. 

MARRIAGE. 

The 

365 

2n 

268 

HWUN 

"      "  336. 

MARRIAGE 

366 

fl 

520 

LI 

An  act,  particularly  an  act  of 

CEREMONIES 

worship,    ceremony,    rites, 

for  the 

manners. 

367 

"A* 

839 

TA 

Same  as  28.            "I  T 

MOST 

*  > 

In  gen- 

368 

•U£ 

878 

TI 

To  oppose,  to  sus-  I  ^emost 

PART 

to'obtdn/6'1011  J    Part 

are 

369 

JSil 

1125 

YOr 

By,  with,  to,  as,  as  if. 

AS 

^ 

in  the 

370 

pff 

105 

CHUNG 

Same  as  38. 

MIDDLE 

371 

RH 

491 

KWOH 

"      "     5. 

KINGDOM 

•~"T 

the 

372 

[§j 

933 

T'UNG 

Together,  all,  identical,  same, 

SAME. 

the  same  as. 

Fora 

373 

SH 

991 

TS'IN 

To  love,  to  approach,  near, 

FATHER, 

^ 

intimate,  a  relative,  a  wife, 

MOTHER, 

kindred.      The    six     TS'IN 

WIFE,  OR 

are  parents,  brothers,  wife, 

SON, 

.  t 

and  sons. 

they 

374 

5x 

725 

SANG 

To  mourn,  to  lament  for  one's 

MOURN 

parents. 

375 

"C 

987 

TS'IH 

Same  as  213. 

SEVEN 

376 

0 

293 

JEII 

A  day,  the  sun,  daily. 

DAYS, 

377 

>5 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT 

378 

^ 

766 

SHIH 

"      "     63. 

EATING. 

379 

M& 

1007 

TSU 

A  grandfather,  an  an-  "| 

Fora 
GRAND 

cestor,  the  first,  the  1 

origin,  to  begin.             A 

V  grand- 

380 

3c 

147 

FU 

A  rule,  a  father,  an    father. 

FATHER 

ancestor,  a  senior, 

paternal.                  J 

or  grand- 

381 

'fif 

605 

MU 

A  mother,  a  dam,  the  source 

MOTHER 

-^ 

of. 

they 

382 

131 

725 

SANG 

Same  as  374. 

MOURN 

383 

3L 

1060 

wu 

A  perfect  number,  five,  the 

FIVE 

whole,  all. 

384 

0 

293 

JEH 

Same  as  376. 

DAYS 

THE   DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  293 


The  marriage  ceremonies,  for  the  most  part,  are  similar  to  those  which 
are  practiced  in  China.  At  the  death  of  relatives,  they  fast  a  greater  or 
less  number  of  days,  according  to  the  degree  of  relationship. 


pleased  with  him,  he  marries  her.  The  ceremonies  of  marriage  are 
nearly  the  same  as  in  China.  At  the  death  of  father  or  mother,  they  fast 
seven  days.  At  that  of  a  grandfather  or  grandmother,  they  refrain  from 
eating  for  five  days, 


consents,  the  marriage  is  completed.  The  marriage  customs,  on  the 
whole,  resemble  those  of  the  "  Middle  Kingdom."  When  the  parents  die, 
it  is  the  custom  to  fast  for  seven  days  ;  on  the  death  of  a  grandfather, 
on  either  the  father's  or  mother's  side,  five  days ; 


The  rules  for  the  observance  of  the  marriage  ceremony  are  in  general 
the  same  as  those  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  (China). 


they  are  married.  The  ceremonies  of  marriage  are  in  general  the  same  as 
those  in  China.  If  a  father  or  mother  dies,  one  fasts  for  seven  days  ;  if 
it  is  a  grandfather  or  grandmother,  for  five  days  ; 


the  marriage  is  immediately  celebrated  with  ceremonies  which  have  much 
resemblance  to  those  of  China.  At  the  death  of  father  or  mother,  it  is 
the  custom  to  fast  for  seven  days.  The  fast  is  for  five  days  at  the  death 
of  a  grandfather  or  grandmother, 


pleased  with  him,  they  are  married.  The  bridal  ceremonies  are  for  the 
most  part  like  those  of  China.  A  fast  of  seven  days  is  observed  for  par 
ents  at  their  death  ;  five  for  grand-parents ; 


pleased,  then  the  marriage  is  completed,  the  marriage  ceremonies  being 
for  the  most  part  like  those  of  the  "  Middle  Kingdom  "  (China). 

For  a  father,  mother,  wife,  or  son,  they  mourn  for  seven  days  without 
eating.     For  a  grandfather  or  grandmother  they  mourn  for  five  days 


294 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

385 

# 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT 

386 

^ 

766 

SHIH 

"      "     63. 

EATING  ; 

J^G 

for  an 

387 

51 

213 

HIUNG 

An  elder  brother,  a  senior. 

ELDER 

s  u 

BROTHER, 

388 

j¥i 

879 

TI 

A  younger   brother,   junior, 

YOUNGER 

cousins. 

BROTHER, 

389 

ffi 

707 

POH 

A  father's  elder  brother. 

FATHER'S  ELD 

1  H 

ER  BROTHER, 

390 

.jfcj/ 

779 

SHUH 

A  father's  younger  brother. 

FATHER'S 

4?V 

YOUNGER 

BROTHER, 

891 

'fcfc 

432 

KU 

A  polite  term  for  females. 

or  his  SISTER, 

t  ji- 

or  for  an 

392 

"iff} 

1031 

TSZ' 

An  elder  sister,  a  school-mis 

ELDER 

tress. 

SISTER 

or 

393 

•hk 

586 

MEI 

A  younger  sister,  a  sister,  a 

YOUNGER 

girl. 

SISTER, 

394 

~ 

723 

SAN 

Same  as  208. 

THREE 

395 

0 

293 

JEH 

"     "  376. 

DAYS, 

396 

^ 

717 

PUH 

"      "  100. 

NOT 

397 

^ 

766 

SHIH 

"      "     63. 

EATING. 

398 

m 

750 

SHEH 

To  institute,  establish,  set  up. 

They 
ESTABLISH 

and 

399 

^K 

1002 

TSO 

Same  as  174. 

SET  UP 

qprf. 

the 

400 

m 

737 

SHAN 

A  god,  a  spirit,  divine,  super 

SPIRIT 

natural. 

's 

401 

Hfc 

793 

SIANG 

Like,  a  figure,  image,  like 

IMAGE, 

ness,  a  statue,  an  idol,  to 

resemble. 

and 

402 

32 

CHAO 

The  dawn,  morning,  early. 

MORNING 

and 

403 

804 

SIH 

Same  as  348. 

EVENING 

404 

^? 

648 

PAI 

To  honour,  reverence,  kneel 

REVERENCE 

to,  salute. 

it,  and 

405 

896 

TIEN 

To  enshrine  as  a  god,  to  offer 

OFFER  LIBA 

libations. 

TIONS 

.  >- 

to  it.    They  do 

406 

'T* 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT, 

in  their 

407 

rjj'J 

59 

CHI 

To  regulate,  a  rule,  practice, 

MOURNING 

mourning  usages. 

USAGES, 

»  •  . 

wear 

408 

JiR 

1017 

TS'UI 

A  strip  of  sackcloth  ancient 

MOURNING- 

ly  worn  on  the  breast  as  a 

GARMENTS 

badge  of  mourning. 

or 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  295 


and  during  their  prayers  they  expose  the  image  of  the  deceased  person. 
They  wear  no  mourning 


and  only  for  three  days  at  the  death  of  brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  aunts, 
and  other  relatives.  The  images  of  spirits  are  placed  upon  a  species  of 
pedestal,  and  prayers  are  addressed  to  them  morning  and  evening. 


for  the  death  of  an  elder  or  younger  brother  or  sister,  or  an  uncle  or  aunt, 
three  days.  They  sit  then,  from  morning  until  evening,  before  the  image 
of  the  spirit,  absorbed  in  prayer ;  yet  they  have  no  mourning 


(Xot  translated.) 


if  it  is  an  uncle,  or  an  aunt,  or  a  sister,  for  three  days.  The  image  of 
the  deceased  person  is  placed  upon  a  pedestal.  It  is  saluted  morning  and 
night,  and  offerings  made  to  it.  There  is  no  law  in  regard  to  mourning 


and  for  three  days  at  the  death  of  brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  and  aunts, 
Avithout  distinction  between  the  elder  and  younger,  or  between  the  rela 
tives  on  the  father's  side  and  those  on  the  mother's  side.  The  image  of  a 
spirit  is  set  up,  before  which  prostrations  are  made  morning  and  night, 
and  to  which  oblations  are  made.  Moreover,  mourning 


and  three  days  for  brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  and  aunts.  Images  to  repre 
sent  their  spirits  are  set  up,  before  which  they  worship  and  pour  out  liba 
tions  morning  and  evening  ;  but  they  wear  no  mourning  or 


without  eating ;  for  an  elder  brother,  younger  brother,  father's  elder 
brother,  or  father's  younger  brother,  or  for  the  corresponding  female  rela 
tives,  or  for  an  elder  sister  or  younger  sister,  three  days  without  eating. 
They  set  up  an  image  of  the  spirit  (of  the  deceased  person)  and  reverence 
it,  and  offer  libations  to  it  morning  and  evening.  In  their  mourning 
usages  they  do  not  wear  mourning  garments  or  \f  Q"? 


296 


AX  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

409 

*g 

890 

TIEH 

Badges  of  coarse  white  hemp 

MOURNING- 

en  cloth  worn  by  mourners 

BADGES. 

at  funerals. 

An 

410 

if 

838 

SZ' 

To  succeed  to,  lawfully  ;  the 

INHERITING 

IHJ'y 

expectant    heir,    children, 

heirs  ;    to   employ  ;    here 

after  ;  the  following. 

411 

3E 

1043 

WANG 

Same  as  217. 

KING 

is 

412 

AL 

538 

LIH 

To  stand  erect,  established,  to 

SEATED  ON 

set  up,  to  succeed  to  or  seat 

THE  THRONE 

one's  self  on  the  throne. 

for 

413 

~> 

723 

SAN 

Same  as  208. 

THREE 

414 

&£ 

634 

NIEN 

"      "     11. 

YEARS 

415 

>F 

717 

PUH 

"      "  100. 

WITHOUT 

416 

II 

991 

TS'IN 

"      "  373. 

APPROACHING 

the 

417 

HU 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY 

418 

% 

764 

SHI 

An  affair,  a  matter,  business, 

.     AFFAIRS. 

duties. 

419 

~M" 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEY 

~y/> 

were 

420 

r& 

822 

SUE 

Inelegant,  uneducated,  com 

IGNORANT 

mon,  vulgar. 

421 

l8 

414 

KIU 

Old,  venerable,  formerly,  an 

FORMERLY, 

ciently. 

and 

422 

fiE 

1059 

WU 

Same  as  85. 

DESTITUTE 

/>i 

OF 

423 

TO 

153 

FUH 

Buddha. 

BUDDHA 

I/  r* 

'a 

424 

Sr 

123 

FAH 

Same  as  105. 

RULES; 

4-2 

but  in  the 

425 

,/^v 

831 

SUNG 

To  dwell  ;  a  feudal  state  ;  the 

SUNG 

Sung  dynasty. 

dynasty, 
in  the  period  called 

426 

~fc 

839 

TA 

Same  as  28. 

"  GREAT 

427 

IJj 

599 

MING 

Bright,  clear,  the  dawn,  splen 

BRIGHTNESS," 

dour. 

in  the 

428 

-    J. 

721 

'RH 

Same  as  32. 

SECOND 

429 

^ 

634 

NIEN 

"      "  11. 

YEAR, 

430 

lit 

340 

KI 

A  coarse  carpet  or  felt  rug, 

KI- 

made  of  camel's  hair. 

431 

51 

695 

PIN 

A  stranger,  a  visitor,  to  en 

PIN 

tertain. 

432 

H 

491 

KWOH 

Same  as  5. 

COUNTRY 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  297 


garments,  and  the  prince  who  succeeds  to  his  father  takes  no  care  regard 
ing  the  government  for  three  years  after  his  elevation.  In  former  times 
the  people  had  no  knowledge  of  the  religion  of  Fo,  but,  in  the  year  458 
A.  D.,  in  the  Sum  dynasty,  from  Samarcand 


The  king  does  not  occupy  himself  with  the  affairs  of  government  dur 
ing  the  three  years  which  follow  his  accession  to  the  throne.  Formerly 
the  religion  of  Buddha  did  not  exist  in  this  country,  but  in  the  fourth  of 
the  years  Ta-ming,  of  the  reign  of  Hiao-wou-ti  of  the  dynasty  of  Soung 
(458  A.  D.),  from  the  country  of  Ki-pin  (Cophene), 


garments.  The  king  who  succeeds  his  deceased  father  does  not  occupy 
himself  with  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  for  the  next  three  years.  Of  old, 
the  method  of  living  of  these  people  was  not  according  to  the  laws  of 
Buddha.  It  happened,  however,  that  in  the  second  year  of  the  years 
bearing  the  designation  "Great  Light,"  of  the  Song  dynasty  (458  A.  D.), 
from  the  kingdom  of  Kipin, 


In  the  second  year  of  the  period  called  "  ta-ming  "  (or  great  light),  the 
year  458  of  our  era,  under  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Hiao  Wu-ti  of  the 
Sung  dynasty,  from  the  country  of  Ki-pin, 


garments.  The  heir  to  the  throne  remains  three  years  without  occupying 
himself  with  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom.  Formerly  they  did  not  know 
the  doctrine  of  Buddha.  In  the  second  year  of  the  period  Ta-ming,  of 
the  dynasty  of  the  Song  (458),  from  the  kingdom  of  Ki-pin  (i.  e.,  Cophene, 
now  the  country  of  Caboul), 


garments  are  not  worn.  During  the  first  three  years  of  his  accession,  the 
king  does  not  occupy  himself  with  affairs  of  state.  Formerly  the  religion 
of  Fo  was  unknown  in  Fusang.  It  was  only  in  the  Song  dynasty,  in  the 
second  of  the  years  ta-ming  (458),  that  from  the  kingdom  of  Ki-pin 


fillets.  The  successor  of  the  king  does  not  attend  personally  to  govern 
ment  affairs  for  the  first  three  years.  In  olden  times  they  knew  nothing 
of  the  Buddhist  religion,  but  during  the  reign  Ta-ming,  of  the  Emperor 
Hiao  Wu-ti  of  the  Sung  dynasty  (A.  D.  458),  from  Ki-pin 


mourning-badges.  A  king  who  inherits  the  throne  does  not  occupy  him 
self  with  the  affairs  of  the  government  for  the  first  three  years  after  his  ac 
cession.  Formerly  they  were  ignorant,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  Buddhist 
religion  ;  but  during  the  reign  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  in  the  second  year  of 
the  period  called  TA-MIXG  (or  "  Great  Brightness,"  i.  e.,  in  the  year  458 
A.  D.),  from  the  country  of  Ki-nx  (i.  e.,  Cophene,  now  Cabul), 


298 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

r**«l 

had 

433 

jj 

27 

CH'ANG 

To  taste,  to  try,  to  essay,  to  prove. 
When  preceding  another  verb, 

FORMERLY 

it  denotes  past   time,  usually. 

formerly,  ever. 

434 

rJ 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAD 

435 

It 

674 

PI 

To    compare,     to    corre-  "| 
spond,  to  equal,  to  bring 

PI- 

into  harmony,  to  select,        A 

f-j» 

each,  every.                         men- 

436 

Jn\ 

416 

K'lU 

A  natural  hillock,  a  high     dicant 

K'lU, 

* 

place,  a  hill  with  a  hoi-     priest. 

.    ; 

lowed  or  level  top  for 

(mendicant  priests), 

worshipers,  a  tumulus. 

437 

3£ 

1060 

WU 

Same  as  383. 

FIVE 

438 

A 

286 

JlN 

"      "     62. 

MEN, 
who 

439 

%$• 

1112 

YIU 

To  float,  drift,  swim,  travel,  rove 
about,  to  take  pleasure  in,  satis- 

VOYAGING 

fled,  pleased. 

440 

ft 

207 

HING 

Same  as  245. 

WENT 

to 

441 

•K 

342 

K'l 

"      "     12. 

THAT 

442 

s 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY, 

\Z—  1 

and 

443 

$£ 

549 

LIU 

The  flowing  of  water,  to  pass,  to 
circulate,    to    diffuse,    to  make 
known,  to  shed,  fluid,  to  select, 

MADE 
KNOWN 

444 

"S 

932 

T'UNG 

to  beg,  a  class,  roving,  vagrant. 
To    permeate,    go    through,    see 

THROUGH 

^^  ' 

clearly,  to  bring  about,  to  suc 

ceed,  current,  through,  general, 

it 

complete. 

445 

/fife 

153 

FUH 

Same  as  423. 

BUDDHA 

|X  f* 

'a 

446 

iy-fc 

123 

FAH 

"      "  105. 

RULES, 

^i 

and  his 

447 

>B"T^ 

404 

KING 

"     "  314. 

RELIGIOUS 

' 

BOOKS,  and 

448 

1^ 

793 

SIANG 

"      "  401. 

IMAGES, 

^•30 

and 

449 

£f2* 

372 

KIAO 

To  instruct,  to  teach,  command, 

TAUGHT 

precept,    doctrine,    a    religious 
sect,  a  party,  a  class. 

the 

450 

•A 

546 

LING 

A  law,  a  rule,  an  order,  to 

COMMAND 

command,  an  officer. 

to 

451 

m 

98 

CH'UH 

To  become  a  priest. 
Same  as  165.      (Hepburn,  p.  424.) 
Forsaking    home, 

FORSAKE 

•     surname,  and  the 

the 

world  to  enter  a 

452 

^Sc. 

351 

KIA 

"      "  345.      Buddhist   monas 

FAMILY, 

tery. 

and  its 

453 

155 

FUNG 

The  wind,  a  breeze,  speech,  man 
ner,  deportment,  style,  fashion, 

MANNERS' 

reformation,  instruction,  temper, 

habit. 

454 

16* 

822 

SUH 

Same  as  420. 

RUDENESS 

455 

^ 

828 

BUI 

To   accord   with,  then,   thereon, 

FINALLY 

-tlu 

finally. 

was 

456 

§2 

307 

KAI 

Same  as  256. 

REFORMED. 

THE  DESCRIPTION  OF  FU-SANG.  299 


five  priests  went  preaching  their  doctrine  in  this  country,  and  then  the 
manners  of  the  people  were  changed. 


five  pi-khievu,  or  priests,  came  to  Fu~sang,  and  there  spread  abroad  the 
law  of  Buddha.  They  carried  with  them  their  books  and  sacred  images, 
and  the  ritual,  and  established  monastic  customs,  and  so  changed  the 
manners  of  the  inhabitants. 


five  begging  monks  came  to  this  land,  and  there  spread  abroad  the  re 
ligion  of  Buddha,  with  his  sacred  writings  and  images.  They  instructed 
the  people  regarding  the  rules  of  monastic  life,  and  so  changed  the  cus 
toms  of  the  people. 


five  bhikshu  (mendicant  priests)  in  their  travels  reached  FOU-SO,  and  com 
menced  to  propagate  Buddhism  there. 


five  bhikcJwus  (religious  mendicants)  traveled  into  this  country,  and  there 
spread  abroad  the  law,  the  books,  and  the  images  of  Buddha.  Their  doc 
trine  induced  men  to  leave  their  families  (in  order  to  embrace  a  religious 
life).  The  manners  of  the  inhabitants  were  then  changed  (i.  e.,  the  peo 
ple  immediately  adopted  the  usages  and  the  principles  of  Buddhism). 


five  Buddhist  priests  repaired  by  sea  to  this  country.  They  there  dis 
tributed  the  books  of  the  law  and  the  holy  images  ;  they  taught  the  pre 
cepts  of  monastic  life,  and  changed  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants. 


five  beggar  priests  went  there.  They  traveled  over  the  kingdom,  every 
where  making  known  the  laws,  canons,  and  images  of  that  faith.  Priests 
of  regular  ordination  were  set  apart  among  the  natives,  and  the  customs 
of  the  country  became  reformed. 


formerly,  five  men  who  were  PI-K'IU  (i.  e.,  bhikshus,  mendicant  Bud 
dhist  monks)  went  by  a  voyage  to  that  country,  and  made  Buddha's  rules 
and  his  religious  books  and  images  known  among  them,  taught  the  com 
mand  to  forsake  the  family  (for  the  purpose  of  entering  a  monastery),  and 
finally  reformed  the  rudeness  of  its  customs. 


300  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Hwui  Shan  also  gave  a  description  of  a  country  called  "  the 
Kingdom  of  Women,"  situated  about  one  thousand  li  east  of 
Fu-sang.  This  story  has  always  been  rejected  as  a  manifest 
absurdity,  and  its  presumed  falsity  has  been  one  of  the  most 
powerful  arguments  for  casting  discredit  upon  his  whole  account. 
For  this  reason,  those  who  have  accepted  his  statements  regard 
ing  the  country  of  Fu-sang  have  said  as  little  as  possible  about 
his  tale  in  regard  to  "the  Kingdom  of  Women,"  and  have  dis 
missed  it  with  the  statement  that  it  was  merely  a  description, 
given  by  him  from  hearsay,  of  a  country  that  he  had  not  visited, 
and  that  its  absurdities  should  not  be  permitted  to  raise  doubts 
as  to  the  truth  of  his  report  regarding  the  country  of  Fu-sang, 
in  which  he  had  resided. 

His  description,  which  will  be  found,  when  rightly  translated 
and  understood,  to  be  substantially  true,  and  to  furnish  strong 
proof  of  the  reliability  of  his  statements,  will  be  given  in  the 
following  chapter  ;  and  as  the  only  clew  to  the  location  of  Fu- 
sang  is  that  it  lies  easterly  from  both  China  and  the  Great  Han 
Country,  and  as  all  that  is  known  as  to  the  situation  of  this  last- 
named  country  is  that  it  lies  northeasterly  from  Wen  Shan,  the 
land  of  "Marked  Bodies,"  the  Chinese  account  of  these  two 
countries  will  also  be  given. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN,  THE    LAND  OP   "  MARKED  BODIES,"  AND 
THE    GKEAT   HAN    COUNTRY. 

The  accounts  of  all  these  countries  derived  from  the  same  source — The  Chinese 
text — The  location  of  the  Kingdom  of  Women — Its  inhabitants — Their  long 
locks — Their  migrations — Birth  of  their  young — Nursing  the  young — The  age 
at  which  they  walk — Their  timidity — Their  devotion  to  their  mates — The 
salt-plant — Its  peculiarities — A  shipwreck — The  women — A  tribe  whose  lan 
guage  could  not  be  understood — Men  with  puppies'  heads — Their  food, 
clothing,  and  dwellings — The  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies " — Its  location — 
Tattooing  with  three  lines — The  character  of  the  people — Lack  of  fortifi 
cations — The  king's  residence — Water-silver — No  money  used — The  Country 
of  Great  Han — Its  location — Lack  of  weapons — Its  people. 

THE  following  account  of  the  Kingdom  of  Women  is  ex 
pressly  stated  to  have  been  given  by  Hwui  Shan  ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  noticed  that  the  reports  in  regard  to  the 
Great  Han  Country,  and  the  land  of  "Marked  Bodies,"  must 
also,  in  all  probability,  have  been  derived  from  the  same  source. 

These  countries  were  made  known  to  the  Chinese  during  the 
reign  of  the  Liang  dynasty.  Now,  it  is  known  that  Hwui  Shan 
reached  China  just  before  the  establishment  of  this  dynasty,  but 
that  his  account  was  not  given  to  the  emperor,  and  did  not 
become  generally  known,  until  some  time  during  its  first  years. 
Hence  there  can  have  been  no  earlier  report,  regarding  Great 
Han,  than  that  which  he  could  have  given  ;  and  as  in  his  account 
of  Fu-sang  he  refers  to  Great  Han,  and  in  the  description  of 
this  country  the  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies "  is  mentioned,  it  is 
almost  impossible  that  he  should  not  have  been  questioned  as  to 
these  strange  countries  also.  The  accounts  are  short — such  as 
would  be  incidentally  given  in  a  single  report,  in  which  the  main 
interest  centered  upon  another  land  ;  and  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  the  Chinese  ever  heard  anything  more  about  them. 


302 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

457 

# 

641 

Ntr 

Same  as  143. 

WOMAN 

'8 

458 

HI 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY. 

459 

it 

641 

NtJ 

Same  as  143. 

WOMAN 

's 

460 

EH 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY, 

461 

^P 

265 

HWUI 

"      "     17. 

HWUI 

462 

$i 

736 

SHAN 

"      "     18. 

SHlN 

463 

^ 

1142 

YUN 

"      "     24. 

SAYS, 

464 

IE 

941 

TSAI 

"      "     27. 

IS  SITUATED 
from 

465 

^ 

144 

FU 

1. 

FU- 

466 

Jj| 

724 

SANG 

"      "       2 

SANG 

467 

1C 

930 

TUNG 

"      "     81. 

EAST 

^•J^ 

one 

468 

'"T 

980 

TS'IEN 

A  thousand,  many,  an  indefi 

THOUSAND 

nite  number. 

469 

Ji 

518 

LI 

Same  as  35. 

LI. 

470 

342 

K'l 

"      "  12. 

ITS 

471 

A 

286 

JAN 

"      "  62. 

PEOPLE 

's 

472 

^ 

1146 

YUNG 

To  receive,  the  air,  " 
manner,  conduct, 
the  face,  looks,  or 

The     aspect 
of  one's  man 

MANNER 
of 

attitude. 

ner     (Med- 

473 

f£ 

582 

MAO 

The  outward  mien, 
gait,  style,  man 
ner,  form,  appear 

hurst,  p.  757). 
The    appear 
ance,  air,  de 

APPEARANCE 

ance,     the     face, 

meanour. 

is 

like,  similar  to.     , 

474 

ifl 

936 

TWAN 

Sprouting,  the  head, 
the  origin,  straight, 

STRAIGHT 

direct,  correct,  up 

Correct,  in 

right,     modest, 

tegrity,  up 

475 

IE 

75 

CHING 

grave,  decent. 
Correct,     proper, 
straight,     right, 

right,  either 
physically 
or  morally. 

ERECT. 

erect,  exact,  really, 

the  first. 

Their 

^^ 

(  (Mcdhurst.      586.) 

476 

EL 

727 

SEH 

Same  as  253.  •<     The  countenance, 
(     colour,  beauty. 

COLOUR 

is  a 

477 

® 

738 

SHlN 

Social  delights,  very,  extreme 

VERY 

ly. 

478 

lii* 

377 

KIEH 

Clear,    limpid,     pure,    neat, 

PURE 

tidy. 

479 

1=3 

706 

POH 

Same  as  273. 

WHITE. 

480 

^ 

735 

SHAN 

"      "  161. 

Their 
BODIES 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN.  393 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  kingdom  are  white, 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  WOMEN. 

The  bonze  Hoei-chin  has  spoken  in  the  following  terms  of  a  kingdom 
of  women  situated  a  thousand  li  from  Fu-sang  toward  the  east.  The 
women  of  this  kingdom  have  very  regular  features  and  very  white  faces ; 
but 


NtT  KWOH,  OR  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN. 

Concerning  the  Kingdom  of  Women,  the  shaman  Hwui-shin  relates  :  It 
is  a  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  Fu-sang.  The  bearing  and  manners  of  the 
people  are  very  sedate  and  formal ;  their  color  is  exceedingly  clear  and 
white :  their  bodies 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN. 

Hwui  ShSn  says  that  the  Country  of  Women  is  situated  a  thousand  li 
east  of  Fu-sang.  Its  people's  manner  of  appearance  is  straight  erect 
(or,  is  very  correct),  and  their  colour  is  (or  their  countenances  are)  a  very 
pure  white. 

Their  bodies 


304 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

481 

n 

884 

T'l 

The  body,  the  whole  person,  the 
substance,  a  solid,  the  essentials, 
influential,  to  embody. 

THE  WHOLE 
BODY 

482 

rJ 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAS 

483 

^ 

580 

MAO 

The  covering  of  animals  or 

HAIR. 

birds,  as  hair,  fur,  feathers, 

or  down. 

The 

484 

Ji£ 

121 

FAH 

The  hair  of  the  head,  numer 

HAIR  OF  THE 

ous,  grass,  vegetation. 

HEAD  is 

485 

*Sk 

27 

CH'ANG 

Same  as  281. 

LONG, 

486 

IS 

1051 

WEI 

To  sustain,  bear,  allege,  send  off, 

the 
END 

confide  to,  a  wrong,  grievance, 
the  end,  the  last,  really. 

reaching  to  the 

487 

iiil 

879 

TI 

Same  as    36. 

GROUND. 

488 

3* 

60 

CHI 

"      "     20. 

AT 

•  '  •* 

the 

489 

*. 

721 

'RH 

"      "     32. 

SECOND 

or 

490 

\ 

723 

SAN 

"      "  208. 

THIRD 

491 

^i 

1129 

YUEH 

The  moon,   a  lunar  month, 

MONTH, 

.  .. 

monthly. 

492 

ia 

407 

KING 

Originally  formed  of  words  above  a 
man,  repeated,  to  indicate  the 

BICKERING, 

bickering  of  the  people  ;  strong, 

violent,  bickering,  testy,  to  be 

they 

quarrelsome,  great,  abundant. 

493 

A 

299 

JUH 

To  enter,  to  go  into,  to  pro 

ENTER 

gress,  according  to,  an  en 

trance. 

the 

494 

* 

781 

SHUI 

Water,  a  fluid,  clear,  a  stream,  a 
trip  from  one  place  to  another, 

WATER. 

an  inundation,  trivial,  common. 

Tbcv 

gentle,  low  land,  to  wet,  to  soak. 

495 

M'J 

956 

TSEII 

Same  as  127. 

THEN 

496 

*s 

287 

JlN 

Pregnant    (used 
only  of  women).      *— 

BECOME 
PREGNANT 

497 

fiB 

736 

SHAN 

Pregnant,      quick     ^pe^j;n' 

WITH  YOUNG 

/wt 

with  child. 

In 

498 

.  1  . 

562 

LUH 

Six. 

SIX 

499 

^ 

987 

TS'IH 

Same  as  213. 

SEVEN 

500 

H 

1129 

YUEH 

"      "  491. 

MONTHS 

-**- 

they 

501 

jS 

14 

CH'AN 

To  produce,  to  breed,  to  bear, 

BEAR 

a  birth,  the  natives,  an  es 

tate,  an  occupation. 

their 

502 

-^p. 

1030 

TSZ' 

Same  as  206. 

YOUNG. 

•^ 

The 

503 

ft* 

641 

NCr 

"      "  143.  ) 

FEMALE 

[•  Females. 

504 

286 

JAN 

"      "     62.  ) 

PEOPLE 

's 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN.  395 


They  have  hairy  bodies  and  long  locks  that  fall  down  to  the  ground.  At 
the  second  or  third  month  the  women  come  to  bathe  in  a  river,  and  they 
become  pregnant.  They  bear  their  young  at  the  sixth  or  seventh  month. 


have  hairy  bodies  and  long  locks  which  fall  down  to  the  ground.     At  the 
second  or  third  month  they  enter  the  water,  and  they  then  become  preg 
nant.     They  bear  their  young  at  the  sixth  or  seventh  month. 
These  women 


are  hairy,  and  the  hair  of  the  head  trails  on  the  ground.  In  the  spring 
they  emulously  rush  into  the  water  and  become  pregnant ;  the  children 
are  born  in  the  autumn.  These  female-men 


are  hairy,  and  they  have  long  locks,  the  ends  of  which  reach  to  the 
ground. 

At  the  second  or  third  month,  bickering,  they  enter  the  water  (come 
down  to  the  low  lands  or  to  the  streams  ?  or,  perhaps,  "  enter  upon  a  mi 
gration,"  the  character  SHUI  meaning  not  only  "  water,"  but  also  "  a  trip 
from  one  place  to  another  ").  They  then  become  pregnant.  They  bear 
their  young  at  the  sixth  or  seventh  month  (probably  of  gestation ;  but 
possibly  of  the  year).  The  female-people 


20 


306 


AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

505 

jjtij 

214 

HIUNG 

The  thorax,  the  breast,  the 

CHESTS 

bosom,   the    feelings,  the 

heart,  clamour. 

506 

IB 

981 

TS'IEN 

To  advance,  progress,  in  front 

IN  FRONT 

lU'J 

of,  before,  in  advance,  for 

merly,  when,  a  light  black 

colour. 

507 

:fe£ 

1059 

WU 

Same  as    85. 

ARE  DESTI 

7JR 

TUTE  OF 

508 

ft 

298 

Jtr 

"     "  308. 

BREASTS, 

but  the 

509 

JH 

191 

HIAO 

The  nape,  the  part  which  ' 

NAPE  OF  THE 

•^^ 

rests  on  the  pillow;  a 

sort     or     class,   great,         A 
funds.                               1      A 

(or  back  of  the  head) 

510 

^ 

175 

HEU 

After,  in  time  ;  too  late  ;  [  y     J» 
behind,  in  place;  then,       man' 

BEHIND 

next,  an  heir,  to  remain, 

the  second. 

511 

4fe 

742 

SHlNG 

Same  as    58. 

BEARS 

512 

^ 

580 

MAO 

"     "  483. 

HAIR- 

513 

® 

317 

KAN 

Eoot,  origin,  beginning,  a  base  ;  a 
classifier  of  things  long  and  stiff, 
and  even  of  ropes  ;  an  organ. 

ROOTS; 

and  the 

514 

a 

706 

POH 

Same  as  273. 

WHITE 

615 

% 

580 

MAO 

"     "  483. 

HAIR 

516 

pjj 

105 

CHUNG 

"      "     38. 

MIDST 

517 

-W 

1113 

YIU 

"      "     14. 

HAS 

518 

>J4- 

67 

CHIH 

Juice,  gravy,  liquor,     1 

JUICE 

pleasing  to  the  taste  1  ^j^ 

or  is  pleasing  to  the 

519 

^t 

298 

Jtf 

Same  as  308. 

taste).    They 
NURSE 

their 

520 

"~f~* 

1030 

TSZ' 

"     "  206. 

YOUNG 

w 

for 

521 

W 

707 

POH 

A  hundred,  many,  all. 

ONE  HUNDRED 

522 

g 

293 

JEH 

Same  as  376. 

DAYS, 

523 

I  —  f 
.At* 

HE 

616 

NlNG 

The  moose;   power,  ability, 

and  they  then 

CAN 

rjbJ 

skill,  capable,  skillful,  may, 

can. 

524 

^rf 

207 

HING 

Same  as  245. 

WALK. 

When 

525 

—  . 

723 

SAN 

"      "  208. 

THREE 

Mil 

or 

526 

l/y 

836 

SZ' 

Four,  all,  around,  everywhere. 

POUR 

527 

^p 

634 

NIEN 

Same  as  11. 

YEARS 

Fill 

old 

528 

m 

956 

TSEH 

"      "  127. 

THEN 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN.  307 


Instead  of  breasts  they  have  white  locks  at  the  back  of  the  head,  from 
which  there  issues  a  liquor  that  serves  to  nourish  their  children.  It  is 
said  that  one  hundred  days  after  their  birth  the  children  are  able  to  run 
about,  and  when  three  or  four  years  of  age  appear 


have  no  breasts  upon  their  chests,  but  only  hair  of  a  white  colour  at  the 
back  of  the  neck,  which  contains  milk.  One  hundred  days  after  their 
birth  the  children  commence  to  walk,  and  at  the  age  of  three  or  four 
years  they  have  attained 


have  no  paps  on  their  bosoms,  but  hair-roots  grow  on  the  back  of  their 
necks  ;  a  juice  is  found  in  the  white  ones.  The  children  are  suckled  a 
hundred  days,  when  they  can  walk  ;  by  the  fourth  year  they  are 


are  destitute  of  breasts  in  front  of  their  chests,  but  behind,  at  the  nape  of 
the  neck  (or  back  of  the  head),  they  have  hair-roots  (short  hair,  or  a 
bunch  of  hair,  or  a  hairy  organ),  and  in  the  midst  of  the  white  hair  it  is 
pleasing  to  the  taste  (or  there  is  juice).  They  nurse  their  young  for 
one  hundred  days,  and  they  can  then  walk.  When  three  or  four  years 
old  they  become 


308 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

629 

fcg 

77 

CH'ING 

Same  as  363.  f  Adult    (Medhurst, 

FULLY 

7xV 

p.  60).  To  become 

630 

A 

286 

JlN 

a  man. 
"     "     62.  1  (Hepburn,  p.  346.) 
A  grown-up  per 

GROWN, 

son,  Mi-grown. 

531 

•£* 

279 

I 

A  final  particle,  denoting  that  the 

TRULY. 

~^\ 

sense  has  been  fully  expressed, 

or  that   the   intention    is  very 

strong. 

532 

JiL 

385 

KIEN 

To  see,  to  know,  to  observe,  an 

SEEING 

opinion,  to  appear. 

{(Hepburn,  p.  115.) 

a 

633 

A 

286 

JlN 

A  man,  a  person, 
male    or    female, 

HUMAN  BEING, 

people,  mankind. 

they  are 

534 

jpg| 

403 

KING 

A  shy  horse,  to  terrify,  afraid, 

AFRAID, 

alarmed. 

and 

535 

m 

tf=^ 

676 

PI 

To  flee  from,  to  escape,  avoid,  to 
retire,  to  hide  away. 

FLEE 

636 

DM 

689 

P'lEN 

At  or  by  the  side,  deflected,  exces 
sive,  aside,  partial.  Before  verbs, 

TO  ONE  SIDE. 

must,  will. 

They 

637 

n 

1054 

WEI 

To  dread,  venerate,  respect,  awe, 
devotion  for,  dread,  timidity. 

VENERATE 

538 

"xf"* 

25 

CHANG 

A  line  of  ten  feet,  to  ] 

their 

639 

* 

142 

FU 

measure,  an  elder.                A 
To  help,  assist,  a  hus-  [  ,     A   . 
band,     a     man,    a     J  USDana- 
scholar. 

HUSBANDS 

(or  mates).    They 

540 

^* 

766 

SHIH 

Same  as  63. 

EAT 

^«^ 

the 

541 

8% 

198 

HIEN 

Saltish,     preserved,     salted, 

SALT- 

bitter. 

542 

•gy 

956 

TS'AO 

Plants  with  herbaceous  stems, 

PLANT; 

• 

herbs,  vegetation,  plants  in 

general. 

its 

643 

^ 

1Q81 

YEH 

Same  as  54. 

LEAVES 

644 

'M 

837 

SZ' 

"      "  55. 

RESEMBLE 

-L/ 

those  of  the 

545 

3jj) 

796 

SIE 

Deflected,  inclined,  depraved, 

SIE- 

corrupting. 

646 

8? 

170 

HAO 

Tall  herbs  ;  the  Artemisia  pe 

HAO 

dicularis  ;  Vitex,  or  Amar- 
anthus;  Tansy. 

(a  species  of  ab 
sinthe), 

547 

rffj 

719 

'RH 

Same  as  68. 

BUT 

648 

M 

348 

K'l 

Fume,  vapour,  steam,  breath, 

its 
ODOUR 

air,  spirit,  temper,  to  smell. 

is  more 

549 

^§* 

188 

HIANG 

Fragrant,  odoriferous,  sweet. 

FRAGRANT 

550 

!* 

1053 

WEI 

Taste,  flavour,  smell,  relish. 

and  its 

TASTE 

551 

198 

CHANG 

Same  as  541. 

SALTISH. 

THE   KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN.  399 


appear  fully  grown.  The  women  take  flight  at  sight  of  a  stranger,  and 
they  are  very  respectful  toward  their  husbands.  These  people  feed  upon 
a  plant  which  has  the  taste  and  odour  of  salt,  and  which  for  this  reason 
bears  the  name  of  the  "  salt-plant."  The  leaves  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  plant  which  the  Chinese  call  sie-hao,  which  is  a  species  of  absinthe. 


their  full  growth.  The  women  take  to  flight  rapidly  at  sight  of  a  stranger. 
They  have  much  respect  for  their  husbands.  A  fragrant  herb,  of  which 
the  leaves  resemble  those  of  the  plant  sie-hao  (a  species  of  absinthe),  and 
of  which  the  taste  is  saltish,  is  eaten  in  this  country. 


fully  grown.  Whenever  they  see  a  man,  they  flee  and  hide  from  him  in 
terror,  for  they  are  afraid  of  having  husbands.  They  eat  pickled  greens, 
whose  leaves  are  like  wild  celery ;  the  odor  is  agreeable  and  the  taste 
saltish 


fully  grown.  This  Is  true !  When  they  see  a  human  being,  they  are 
afraid,  and  flee  to  one  side.  They  venerate  (or  are  devoted  to)  their  hus 
bands  (or  mates). 

They  eat  the  "  salt-plant."  Its  leaves  resemble  (those  of  the  plant  called 
by  the  Chinese)  the  SIE-HAO  (a  species  of  absinthe  or  wormwood),  but 
its  odour  is  more  fragrant  and  its  taste  is  saltish. 


310 


INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

^ 

In  the  reign  of  the 

652 

jjfe 

525 

LIANG 

A  bridge,  a  beam,  self-reli 

LIANG 

^ 

ant,  the  principal,  the  Li 

dynasty,  under  the 

653 

3* 

1061 

WU 

ang  dynasty. 
Military,  martial,  warlike. 

emperor 

wu- 

554 

*3j* 

880 

TI 

To  judge,  a  god,  a  sovereign, 

TI 

•" 

Heaven,  supreme. 

In  the  years  des 

ignated  by  the  name 

655 

~jfc 

897 

T'lEN 

Heaven,  the  sky,  a  day,  sea 

TIEN 

^ 

son,  celestial,*  God. 

656 

B^ 

387 

KIEN 

To  examine  carefully,  an  of 

KIEN 

fice,  to  look  down  upon  as 

(Celestial  Protec 

a  god,  to  oversee. 

tion),  in  the 

657 

_f  .. 

562 

LUH 

Same  as  498. 

SIX- 

•^^ 

th 

558 

£fi 

634 

NIEN 

"      "     11. 

YEAR, 

559 

% 

1113 

YIU 

"      "     14. 

THERE  WERE 

560 

li* 

990 

TSIN 

To  increase,  to  grow,  to  at 

TSIN- 

*""* 

tach,  to  adopt. 

661 

^r 

620 

NGAN 

Peace,     rest,    tranquillity, 

NGAN 

562 

A 

286 

JlN 

peaceful,  calm,  quiet. 
Same  as  62. 

(the  name  of  a  place) 

MEN 

563 

iffi 

917 

TU 

To  ford,  to  cross  a  stream  or 

CROSSING 

fX-*^» 

sea,  to  go  through,  to  pass, 

the 

t>L_* 

a  ferry-boat. 

564 

w 

160 

HAI 

The  sea,  an  arm  of  the  ocean, 

SEA. 

a  large  river,  marine,  vast, 

great,  oceanic. 

565 

•1^ 

1047 

WEI 

Same  as    50. 

BECAUSE  OF 

1  ^*T 

the 

666 

H 

155 

FUNG 

"      "  453. 

WIND 

667 

ffi 

817 

su 

To  fell  timber,  a  place,  if,  as 

CAUSING 

to,  who,  what,  a  cause,  a 

them  to  be 

final  expletive. 

568 

HI 

683 

P'lAO 

A  whirlwind,  swayed,  whirled, 

BLOWNABOUT, 

/Jy-*A 

blown  about  or  rocked  by 

thev 

the  wind. 

mejr 

569 

M 

60 

CHI 

Same  as    20. 

REACHED 

670 

1095 

YIH 

"      "  194. 

A  CERTAIN 

i£» 

(or  the  same) 

671 

•ifi 

866 

TAO 

An  island  out  at  sea  ;  a  hill 

ISLAND 

on  which  birds  can  alight 

(or  possibly  "  sea- 

572 

& 

862 

TANG 

in  crossing  seas. 
To  ascend,  to  advance,  to  at 

coast  ").    They 
WENT 

—  ^* 

tain,  as  soon  as,  specially, 

at  the  time. 

673 

£p 

622 

NGAN 

A  shore,  bank,  or  beach  ;  the  edge 
or  bank  of  a  stream,  end  of  a 

ASHORE 

journey. 

where  there 

574 

"W 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

WERE 

575 

A 

286 

JAN 

"      "  62. 

PEOPLE 

's 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN.  3H 


In  the  year  507  A.  D.,  in  the  reign  of  the  Learn  dynasty,  a  Chinese  ves 
sel  which  was  sailing  the  ocean  was  driven  by  a  tempest  to  an  unknown 
island 


During  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Ou-ti,  of  the  Leang  dynasty,  in  the 
sixth  of  the  years  called  tien-kien  (507),  some  Chinese  sailors  of  Tsin-ngan 
(now  Fou-tcheou-fou  [Fo-kien]),  who  were  navigating  the  sea,  were  carried 
far  out  of  their  course  by  furious  winds.  They  landed  upon  an  island 


In  the  year  A.  D.  508,  in  the  reign  of  Wu-ti,  of  the  Liang  dynasty,  a 
man  from  Tsin-ngan  was  crossing  the  sea,  when  he  was  caught  in  a,  storm 
and  driven  to  a  certain  island.  On  going  ashore,  he  found  it  to  be  in 
habited. 


In  the  reign  of  the  LIANG  dynasty,  under  the  emperor  WU-TI,  in  the 
sixth  year  of  the  period  designated  by  the  name  TIEN-KIEN,  or  "  Celestial 
Protection"  (i.  e.,  in  507  A.D.),  some  men  of  TSIN-NGAN,  who  were  cross 
ing  the  sea,  were  driven  by  the  winds  to  a  certain  island  (or  the  same 
sea-coast).  They  went  ashore  and  found  the  inhabitants' 


312 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

576 

JjL 

437 

Kfl 

To  dwell,  dwellings,  residence, 

DWELLINGS. 

the  settled  parts. 

The 

577 

I5C 

641 

NCr 

Same  as  143. 

WOMEN 

578 

m 

956 

TSEH 

"     "  127. 

THEN 

579 

XftJ 

297 

Jtf 

"     "     59. 

RESEMBLED 

•^ 

the 

580 

III 

105 

CHUNG 

"      "     38. 

MIDDLE 

581 

|^| 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

KINGDOM 

582 

A 

286 

JiN 

"      "     62. 

PEOPLE, 

583 

ffi 

719 

'RH 

"      "     68. 

BUT 

their 

584 

=3 

1083 

YEN 

A    word,   sentence, 

LANGUAGE 

remark,     speech, 

's 

ZST- 

talk,  reports.            Conver- 

585 

7-:T)L 

pq 

1126 

Ytf 

To  talk  with,  to  con-      sation, 

WORDS 

verse,     to     tell,      discus- 

words,    conversa-       sion. 

tion,      discourse, 

language. 

586 

^ 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT 

587 

W 

425 

K'O 

To  be  willing,  to  permit,  able 

COULD 

to  do,  can,  may. 

be 

588 

|P^ 

193 

HIAO 

Light,  clear,  the  dawn,  intel 

UNDERSTOOD. 

ligent,  easy  to  perceive,  to 

make    to    understand,   to 

The 

comprehend. 

589 

M 

614 

NAN 

Same  as  142. 

MALES 

590 

iw 

956 

TSEH 

"     "  127. 

THEN 

591 

A 

286 

JiN 

"      "     62. 

had 
MEN 

'8 

592 

£jf 

735 

SHlN 

u      "  161. 

BODIES 

593 

m 

719 

'RH 

"      "     68. 

BUT 

694 

m 

329 

KEU 

A  dog,  petty,  contemptible,  a 

PUPPIES' 

puppy,  a  brat. 

595 

St 

876 

T'EU 

The  head,  the  front,  the  top, 

HEADS. 

,._ 

the  first,  the  beginning. 

596 

35 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEIR 

697 

SB 

771 

SHING 

A  sound,  a  voice  or  tone,  a 

VOICES 

note  in  music,  a  cry,  a  wail, 

language. 

598 

$tf 

297 

JU 

Same  as  59. 

RESEMBLED 

those  of 

599 

xC 

452 

K'ftEN 

A  dog,    especially    a    large 

DOGS 

one. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN.  313 


The  women  resembled  those  of  China,  but  the  men  had  a  figure  and  a 
voice  like  those  of  dogs.     The  Chinese  could  not  understand  their  lan- 


p 

0        guage. 

H 

Q 


of  which  the  women  resembled  those  of  China,  but  of  which  the  men  had 
dogs'  heads,  and  barked  like  dogs.  It  was  impossible  to  understand  their 
language. 


The  women  were  like  those  of  China,  but  their  speech  was  unintelligible. 
The  men  had  human  bodies,  but  their  heads  were  those  of  dogs,  and  their 
voices  resembled  the  barking  of  dogs. 


dwellings.  The  women  resembled  those  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  tChina), 
but  the  words  of  their  language  could  not  be  understood.  The  males 
had  human  bodies,  but  puppies'  heads,  and  their  voices  resembled  those 
of  dogs 


314 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

600 

* 

140 

FEU 

The  bark  of  a  dog,  to  bark,  to 
yelp,  to  howl,  as   canine 
animals  do. 

BARKING 

(or  howling). 

601 

S 

342 

K'l 

Same  as    12. 

THEIR 

602 

^ 

766 

SHIH 

"     "    63. 

EATING 

603 

^ 

1113 

YIU 

"     "     14. 

POSSESSED 

604 

/h 

795 

SIAO 

"      "  233. 

SIAO- 

605 

S 

874 

TEU 

A  wooden  trencher,  a  dish, 
pulse,  legumes,  to  measure 
out,  a  peck. 

TEU 

(little  beans), 

606 

3C 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEIR 

607 

^c 

270 

I 

"     "  77. 

CLOTHING 

608 

#n 

297 

Jff 

"      "  59. 

RESEMBLED 

609 
610 

611 
612 

± 

713 
96 

920 
1047 

PU 
CHUH 

T'U 
WEI 

"      "  74. 

To    beat    down    hard,   as  a 
threshing-floor,  to  ram  down 
the  earth,  to  make  chunam 
pavements  or  adobe  walls. 

Same  as  43. 
"      "  50. 

CLOTH 

(of  linen  or  cotton). 

BEATING 
DOWN 

EARTH 

they 

MADE 

613 

Hi 

969 

TS'IANG 

A  wall,  built  of  mud,  stone, 
or  brick. 

ADOBE  WALLS. 

614 

s 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEIR 

615 

2 

206 

KING 

Form,  figure,  shape,  contour, 
the  body,  manner,  style,  to 
appear. 

SHAPE 

was 

616 

ffl 

245 

HWAN 

To  revolve,  to  encircle,  to  en 
viron,  to  go  around,  a  circle, 
a  ball,  round. 

ROUND, 

and 

617 

S 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEIR 

618 

^ 

225 

HU 

An  inner  door,  a  door  having 
only  one  leaf,  a  hole,  an 
opening. 

DOORS 

619 

#B 

297 

Jtf 

Same  as  59. 

RESEMBLED 

620 

w 

875 

TEU 

A  hole,  a   burrow,  a  drain, 
loss,  waste,  damage,  to  dig  a 
hole. 

BURROWS. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  WOMEN. 


These  people  fed  upon  small  beans,  and  had  clothing  made  of  a  species 
of  linen  cloth  ;  and  the  walls  of  their  houses  were  constructed  of  earth, 
built  up  in  a  circular  form. 


These  islanders  fed  upon  small  legumes,  and  had  garments  of  a  species 
of  cloth,  and  constructed  houses  of  a  round  shape  from  beaten  earth,  with 
a  single  opening  as  an  entrance. 


Their  food  was  small  pulse;  their  garments  were  like  cotton.  The 
walls  of  their  houses  were  of  adobie,  round  in  shape,  and  the  entrance 
like  that  to  a  den. 


barking  (or  howling).  Among  their  food  was  SIAO-TEU  ("  little  beans  "  or 
kernels— possibly  an  attempt  to  both  transcribe  and  translate  the  Mexican 
word  CENTLI  1898  or  ciNTLi,1900  meaning  maize).  Their  clothing  resembled 
linen  (or  perhaps  cotton)  cloth.  Beating  down  the  earth,  they  made  adobe 
walls  of  a  round  shape,  the  doors  of  which  resembled  burrows. 


316 


AN  INGLOKIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

621 

622 

I 

1041 
735 

WAN 
SHAN 

Same  as    89. 
"      "  161. 

MARKED 
BODIES. 

623 

3t 

1041 

WAN 

Same  as    89. 

The 
MARKED 

624 

jfp 

735 

SHlN 

"      "  161. 

BODIES 

country,  in  the 

625 

yjp\ 

525 

LIANG 

"      "  552. 

LIANG 

^ 

dynasty  '8 

626 

S$ 

759 

SHI 

Time,   a  season,  an  hour,  a 

TIME, 

j 

period,  a  Chinese  hour,  a 

quarter  of  a  year,  while. 

627 

g|j 

1041 

WAN 

To  hear,  to  learn  by  report, 

WAS  RE 

hearing,    fame,    news,    to 

PORTED 

state  to,  small,  a  noise. 

628 

jg 

1082 

YEN 

Same  as  188. 

TRULY 

^ 

to  be 

629 

•>£ 

941 

TSAI 

"     "    27. 

SITUATED 

*=t^. 

from  the 

630 

H? 

1057 

WO 

The  Japanese,  yielding,  trim 

JAPANESE 

ming. 

631 

in 

491 

KWOH 

Same  as      5. 

COUNTRY 

632 

m 

930 

TUNG 

"      "     31. 

EAST- 

633 

^ti 

709 

POH 

"      "  108. 

NORTH 

634 

-t 

987 

TS'IH 

"      "  213. 

SEVEN 

635 

^p 

980 

TS'IEN 

"      "  468. 

THOUSAND 

636 

ii 

1121 

Ytf 

"      "    34. 

MORE 

637 

M 

518 

LI 

"      "     35. 

LI. 

Its 

638 

A 

286 

JAN 

"      "     62. 

PEOPLE 

fiJHfi 

's 

639 

fl 

884 

T'l 

"      "  481. 

WHOLE 

BODIES 

640 

'hf 

1113 

YIU 

"      "     14. 

HAVE 

641 

3c 

1041 

WAN 

"      "     89. 

MARKS 

642 

Ittt 

297 

jty 

"      "     59. 

LIKE 

643 

IP 

756 

SHEU 

A  wild  animal,   a   beast,   a 

WILD  BEASTS. 

hairy  brute,  a  gamekeeper, 
brutal,  violent. 

644 

3S 

342 

K'l 

Same  as  12. 

THEIR 

THE  LAND  OF   "MARKED  BODIES."  317 


Ven-chin  is  found  seven  thousand  li  from  Japan,  toward  the  north 
east. 

This  country  was  made  known  about  510  or  520  A.  D.,  its  inhabitants 
having  a  figure  similar  to  that  of  animals. 


The  land  of  the  Wen-schin  is  distant  from  Japan  in  a  northeasterly 
direction  about  seven  thousand  Chinese  miles.  The  bodies  of  these  people 
exhibit  all  kinds  of  figures,  such  as  those  of  animals  and  the  like. 


The  kingdom  of  Ouen-chin  was  made  known  (to  the  Chinese)  under  the 
dynasty  of  the  Liang  (502-587) ;  it  is  situated  seven  thousand  li  to  the 
northeast  of  Japan.  The  men  have  lines  (oucn)  upon  the  body  (chin)  like 
(certain)  animals. 


During  the  Leang  dynasty,  the  following  story  was  current  regarding 
Ouen-chin : 

They  live  more  than  seven  thousand  li  to  the  northeast  of  Japan.  They 
have  their  bodies  tattooed,  and  marked  like  those  of  certain  animals. 


WAN  SHAN,  OR  PICTURED  BODIES. 

During  the  Liang  dynasty  (A.  D.  502-556),  it  was  reported  that  about 
seven  thousand  li  to  the  northeast  of  Japan  there  was  a  country  whose 
inhabitants  had  marks  on  their  bodies,  such  as  are  on  animals. 


MARKED  BODIES. 

During  the  reign  of  the  Liang  dynasty  (502  to  556  A.  D.),  it  was  reported 
that  the  country  of  "  Marked  Bodies  "  was  situated  seven  thousand  li  and 
more  to  the  northeast  of  the  country  of  Japan.  Its  people  have  marks 
upon  their  bodies  like  (those  upon  ?)  wild  beasts. 


318 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

645 

H 

628 

NGOH 

The  forehead  ;  the  front,  or 

FRONT 

what  is  before  ;  a  fixed  or 

regular  number  or  quan 
tity  ;  what  ought  to  be  or 

(or  forehead) 

is  settled  by  law  ;  incessant. 

646 

Jt 

741 

SHANG 

To  go  up,  to  exalt,  upward, 

UPON 

top,   above,   facing,  high, 

ancient,   before,  superior, 

they 

honourable. 

647 

5 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as    14. 

HAVE 

648 

_' 

723 

SAN 

"      "  208. 

THREE 

649 

-<$r 

1041 

WAN 

"      "     89. 

MARKS. 

650 

^C 

1041 

WIN 

"     "     89. 

If  the 
MARKS 

g 

are 

651 

~fc 

839 

TA 

"      "     28. 

LARGE 

—  £-. 

and 

652 

H 

70 

CHIH 

To  look  ahead,  straight,  di 

STRAIGHT, 

rect,   true,  exactly,  a  per 

pendicular    stroke,    to 

653 

% 

38 

CHE 

straighten,  to  go  direct. 
Same  as      6. 

THESE 

654 

]3" 

484 

KWEI 

"      "  166. 

NOBLE  ; 

655 

jjr 

1041 

WAN 

"     "     89. 

but  if  the 
MARKS 

• 

are 

656 

/J> 

795 

SIAO 

"      "  233. 

SMALL 

657 

ffl 

458 

K'UH 

Crooked,  bent,  a  bend,  false, 

CROOKED, 

tortuous. 

658 

^ 

38 

CHE 

Same  as  6. 

THESE 

659 

Hi 

979 

TSIEN 

Light  in   estimation,  mean, 

IGNOBLE. 

low,  ignoble,  worthless,  to 

The 

660 

± 

920 

T'U 

disesteem,  to  deprecate. 
Same  as    43. 

LAND 

661 

^ 

822 

SUH 

"      "  420. 

COMMON 

±3rL 

PEOPLE 

662 

Ifc 

244 

HWAN 

Joy    expressed   by   the  1    H.  h_ 

are  MERRY, 

663 

554 

LOH 

voice,  jolly,  merry,  glad,       i    % 
pleased,  to  rejoice.           1    }L?f  " 
Pleasure,  quiet,  to  rejoice  f    "e^1" 
in,  to  take  delight  in,             ' 

and 
REJOICE  IN 

j> 

dissipation,  music.          J  merry- 

664 

W 

1065 

WITH 

Same  as  285. 

ARTICLES' 

665 

B 

157 

FUNG 

A  large  goblet,  full  cup,  abun 

ABUNDANCE 

dant,  plenteous,  fertile,  pro 

666 

ffi? 

719 

'RH 

lific,  plenty,  copious. 
Same  as    68. 

ALTHOUGH 

667 

HS 

979 

TSIEN 

"     "  659. 

POOR  IN 

668 

tf 

207 

HING 

"     "  245. 

QUALITY. 
TRAVELING 

THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES."  319 


They  traced  different  lines  upon  their  faces,  the  form  of  which  served 
to  distinguish  the  chief  men  of  the  nation  from  the  common  people. 

It  was,  for  the  rest,  a  fertile  country,  where  all  that  is  necessary  to  sus 
tain  life  might  be  found  in  abundance. 


They  have  three  lines  upon  the  forehead  ;  the  large  and  straight  indi 
cate  the  nobles,  the  small  and  crooked  the  common  people  of  the  nation. 


Those  who  have  three  straight  lines  upon  the  forehead  are  esteemed  (or 
considered  as  noble).  If  the  lines  are  small  and  crooked,  they  are  scorned. 
The  inhabitants  live  joyously.  The  various  products  are  abundant  and 
cheap. 

The  travelers  who  go  through  this  country 


Upon  the  forehead  they  have  three  marks  or  lines.  Those  which  have 
the  marks  large  and  straight  are  chiefs  ;  those  who  have  only  small  crooked 
marks  are  of  low  condition.  Their  nature  is  merry.  The  productions  of 
their  country  are  abundant  and  cheap.  The  traveler 


They  had  three  marks  on  their  foreheads.  Those  whose  marks  were 
large  and  straight  belonged  to  the  honorable  class,  while  the  lower  sort  of 
people  had  small  and  crooked  marks.  It  is  a  custom  among  this  people 
to  collect  a  great  variety  of  things  of  a  very  poor  sort  to  amuse  them 
selves.  Those  who  travel 


In  front  (or  upon  their  foreheads)  they  have  three  marks.  If  the 
marks  are  large  and  straight,  they  indicate  that  those  who  have  them  are 
of  the  higher  classes ;  but  if  they  are  small  and  crooked,  then  their  pos 
sessors  are  of  the  lower  classes.  The  people  of  the  land  are  of  a  merry 
nature,  and  they  rejoice  when  they  have  an  abundance,  even  of  articles 
that  are  of  little  value.  Traveling 


320 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

669 

%T 

429 

K'OH 

A  guest,   a  visitor,    an   ac 

VISITORS 

quaintance,  a  customer,  a 

stranger,  an  alien,  transi 

do 

tory,  foreign. 

670 

^9 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT 

671 

9 

964 

TSI 

To  take  in  both  hands  and 

PREPARE  FOR 

/f^t 

offer  to,  to  give,  to  send  a 

THEIR  JOUR 

present,  to  prepare  things 

NEY 

for  a  journey,  to  supply. 

672 

7[*m 

524 

LIANG 

Rations,  soldiers'  pay,  food, 

FOOD, 

f  . 

provisions,  taxes  in  kind. 

and  they 

673 

^tj 

1113 

YIU 

Same  as  14. 

HAVE 



their 

674 

S 

1064 

WUH 

"      "  84. 

DWELLING 

675 

^r 

1126 

YU 

The  part  of  the  house  covered 

SHELTER. 

by  the  eaves,  to  cover,  to 

shelter,   wide,  vast,  terri 

They  are 

tory. 

676 

$ft 

1059 

WU 

Same  as    85. 

DESTITUTE  OF 

677 

%£ 

77 

CH'ING 

"      "     86. 

FORTIFICA 

TIONS 

and 

678 

^B 

492 

KWOH 

"      "    87. 

WALLED 

•31 

CITIES. 

The 

679 

njWi 

491 

KWOII 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY 

1*^1 

's 

680 

jj 

1043 

WANG 

"      "  217. 

KING 

•  •  ' 

's 

681 

rJT 

817 

su 

"      "  567. 

RESIDENCE 

682 

Ig 

437 

KU 

"      "  576 

BUILDING 

^4r 

is 

683 

PH 

767 

SHIH 

To  adorn,  to  paint,  to  orna 

ADORNED 

ment,  to  gloss  over,  to  pre 

tend,  to  excuse,  a  facing, 

an  ornament. 

684 

\& 

278 

I 

Same  as    49. 

BY  MEANS  OF 

685 

& 

398 

KIN 

"      "  329. 

GOLD 

/in 

and 

686 

ffeR 

1101 

YIN 

"      "  330. 

SILVER 

687 

S^ 

15 

CHlN 

Whatever  is  noble,  precious, 

and 
PRECIOUS 

or   beautiful,   rare,  excel 

lent,  to  prize. 

and 

688 

JUg 

524 

LI 

Elegant,  fair,  beautiful,  flow 

BEAUTIFUL 

ery,  bright,  a  pair,  to  de 

pend  on,  to  tie,  a  beam,  a 

(objects) 

vOirfe. 

boat. 

689 

)p! 

292 

JAO 

Same  as  191. 

ABOUT 

fc—  • 

the 

690 

J5 

1064 

WUH 

"      "     84. 

DWELCING. 

THE  LAND  OF  « MARKED  BODIES."  321 


Their  towns  or  villages  were  unwalled.     The  dwelling  of  the  king  was 
ornamented  with  precious  things. 


(Not  translated.) 


have  no  need  to  furnish  themselves  with  provisions.  They  have  houses. 
The  cities  are  not  walled.  The  palace  of  the  king  is  ornamented  with 
gold  and  silver.  The  exterior  is  all  covered  (literally,  "  surrounded ") 
with  precious  substances  of  a  great  beauty.  The  inhabitants 


easily  finds  food  [M.  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  on  page  60  of  his  "  Eth 
nography,"  translates  this  passage  :  "  The  traveler  has  no  nee.d  to  carry 
food  with  him — the  country  furnishing  it  to  him  in  abundance  "].  The 
Ouen-chin  have  houses,  but  no  walled  cities.  The  habitation  of  their 
king  is  ornamented  with  gold,  silver,  and  jewels.  Surrounding  (this  habi 
tation) 


or  peddle  do  not  carry  any  provision  with  them. 

They  have  houses  of  various  kinds,  but  no  walled  towns.  The  palace 
of  the  king  is  adorned  with  gold,  silver,  and  jewels  in  a  sumptuous  man 
ner.  The  buildings  are  surrounded 


visitors  do  not  prepare  food  for  their  journeys,  and  they  have  the  shelter 
of  their  (the  inhabitants')  dwellings.  They  have  no  fortifications  or 
walled  cities.  The  residence  of  the  king  of  the  country  is  adorned  with 
gold  and  silver,  and  precious  and  beautiful  objects  about  the  dwelling. 


21 


322 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

691 

<& 

1047 

WEI 

Same  as  50. 

They 
MAKE 

* 

a 

692 

jtfi/f 

983 

TS'IEN 

The  moat  or  fosse  around  a 

DITCH 

^1 

town,  a  ditch  to  lead  water 

of  a 

in,  irrigation,  to  dig  out. 

693 

Jill 

478 

KWANG 

Broad,  extensive,  wide,  spa 

BREADTH 

cious,  large,  ample,  stout, 

to  enlarge. 

of 

694 

, 

1095 

YIH 

Same  as  194. 

ONE 

695 

ot 

25 

CHANG 

"      "  538. 

ROD 

'**' 

(of  teu  Chinese 

u^» 

feet),  which  is 

696 

~^~ 

769 

SHIH 

"     "    65.       Real,    solid, 

FILLED 

hard,  full,  compact,  to  fill, 

to  cram. 

697 

$ 

278 

I 

Same  as    49. 

BY  MEANS  OF 

698 

•w^ 

781 

SHUI 

"      "  494.  ) 

WATER- 

>•  Quicksilver. 

699 

V§t 

1101 

YIN 

"      "  330.  ) 

SILVER. 

When  it 

700 

m 

1124 

Ytf 

Rain,  a  shower,  to  rain. 

RAINS, 

701 

M'J 

956 

TSEH 

Same  as  127. 

THEN 

the  rain 

702 

#m 

549 

HIANG 

"      "  443. 

FLOWS 

703 

#* 

1118 

Ytf 

"     "  177.    As,  to,  to  be 

UPON 

come. 

the 

704 

ic 

781 

SHUI 

Same  as  494.  ) 
>  Quicksilver. 

WATER- 

705 

^: 

1101 

YIN 

"     "  330.  ) 

SILVER 

706 

;£ 

53 

CHI 

"      "    40.   "To  pass  from 

'S 

one  state  to  another." 

707 

_t 

741 

SHANG 

Same  as  646. 

SURFACE. 

In  their 

708 

uT 

762 

SHI 

"      "  331. 

MARKETS 

(or  bartering)  they 

709 

HFJ 

1149 

YUNG 

To  use,  to  employ,  to  cause, 

USE 

useful,  by,  with,  thereby. 

710 

3^ 

15 

CHAN 

Same  as  687.             "| 

PRECIOUS 

-^ 

Jewels, 

711 

5? 

663 

PAO 

Precious,    valuable,  [•   valu- 

GEMS. 

Jf^» 

a    gem,    a    coin,      ables. 

value,  noble.          J 

THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES." 


A  ditch  might  be  seen  there  which  appeared  to  be  filled  with  quick 
silver,  and  this  matter,  esteemed  in  commerce,  became  liquid  and  flowing 
when  it  had  imbibed  water  from  the  rain. 

M.  de  Guignes  adds,  from  another  source :  "  They  exposed  their  con 
demned  criminals  to  wild  beasts,  and  they  deemed  those  innocent  from 
whom  the  animals  took  flight." 


(Not  translated.) 


dig  a  ditch  one  chang  (ten  Chinese  feet)  long,  and  fill  it  with  quicksilver. 
When  it  rains,  the  water  runs  upon  the  quicksilver.  In  the  markets  (in 
the  place  of  money)  they  use  the  most  esteemed  fruits.  [NOTE. — M. 
Julien  has  evidently  mistaken  the  character  PAO,  "  a  gem "  (see  No. 
711),  for  the  very  similar  character  SHIH,  "fruit"  (see  No.  696),  and 
hence  has  erroneously  translated  the  last  word  "  fruits "  instead  of 
"  gems."— E.  P.  V.] 


there  is  a  ditch  of  ten  cubits  width,  which  is  filled  with  quicksilver. 
When  it  rains,  the  water  flows  upon  the  quicksilver.  The  transactions 
in  their  markets  are  made  by  means  of  precious  objects. 

M.  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys  adds,  in  his  "  Ethnography,"  page  60,  the 
following,  derived  from  the  "  NAN-SSE,"  i.  e. :  He  who  has  committed  a 
petty  crime  is  scourged.  He  who  rs  accused  of  a  crime  deserving  death  is 
thrown  to  wild  beasts  to  be  devoured.  If  the  accusation  is  calumnious, 
the  beasts  keep  at  a  distance  from  him,  it  is  said  (instead  of  devouring 
him) ;  then,  after  a  night  (of  trial),  he  is  set  at  liberty. 


with  a  moat,  over  ten  feet  broad.  When  it  is  filled  with  quicksilver,  and 
the  rain  is  allowed  to  flow  off  from  the  quicksilver,  the  water  is  then  re 
garded  in  the  markets  as  a  precious  rarity. 


They  make  a  ditch  of  a  breadth  of  one  rod  (of  ten  Chinese  feet,  or 
nearly  twelve  English  feet),  which  is  filled  with  "  water-silver  "  (i.  e.,  ice). 
When  it  rains,  then  the  rain  flows  upon  the  surface  of  the  water-silver. 
In  their  traffic  they  use  precious  gems  (or  valuables,  as  the  standard  of 
value,  instead  of  gold  or  silver). 


324 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


No. 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

712 

^ 

839 

TA 

Same  as  28. 

GREAT 

713 

H 

164 

HAN 

This    character   is    composed    of 
"water"  and  "hardship."    The 

HAN. 

Milky  Way.    The  large  branch 
of  the  Yang-tsz  River.    A  Chi 

nese;    relating  to  China.    The 

Han  dynasty,  which  was  named 
from  the  Duke  of  llan. 

714 

* 

839 

TA. 

Same  as    28. 

GREAT 

715 

$g 

164 

HAN 

"     "  713. 

HAN, 

•TV 

during  the 

716 

jjffi 

525 

LIANG 

"      "  552. 

LIANG 

^ 

dynasty's 

717 

H^F 

759 

SHI 

"      "  626. 

TIME, 

was 

718 

Sj 

1041 

WAN 

«<      i<  627. 

REPORTED  TO 

~** 

BE 

719 

i?!| 

1082 

YEN 

"      "  188. 

TRULY 

720 

?E 

M-* 

941 

TQA.I 

«     u    27. 

SITUATED 

from 

721 

~y^ 

1041 

WAN 

"      "     89. 

MARKED 

722 

% 

735 

SHlN 

"      "  161. 

BODIES' 

723 

HI 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

KINGDOM 

724 

3t 

930 

TUNG 

"      "     81. 

EAST 

725 

5£ 

1060 

WU 

"      "  383. 

FIVE 

726 

•=p 

980 

TS'IEN 

"      "  468. 

THOUSAND 

y~w 

and 

727 

§£ 

1121 

YtJ 

"      "     34. 

MORE 

728 

a 

518 

LI 

"      "     35. 

LI. 

Its  people  are 

729 

^ 

1059 

WU 

"      "     85. 

DESTITUTE  OF 

730 

^ 

698 

PING 

"      "     98. 

MILITARY 

731 

:fe 

489 

KWO 

A  kind  of  lance,  a  javelin,  a 

WEAPQNS, 

spear,  weapons,  war. 

and  do 

732 

*/j* 

717 

PUH 

Same  as  100. 

NOT 

733 

JAT* 

461 

KUNG 

"      "  101. 

WAGiE 

734 

^ 

45 

CHEN 

"      "  102. 

WAR. 

735 

A 

155 

FUNG 

"      "  453. 

Their 

MANNJERS' 

THE  GREAT  HAN  COUNTRY.          325 


At  a  distance  of  five  thousand  li  from  Ven-chin,  toward  the  east,  Ta- 
han  was  found.  The  inhabitants  of  this  country  had  no  military  weapons ; 
their  customs 


In  the  times  of  the  Leang  dynasty,  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century 
of  our  era,  the  Chinese  heard  of  a  land  which  lay  five  thousand  of  their 
miles  easterly  from  the  country  of  the  "Pictured  People,"  and  named  it 
"  Ta-han"  or  "  Great  China."  The  people  of  Ta-han  carried  no  weapons, 
and  knew  nothing  of  war  and  strife.  In  their  customs  and  usages,  the 
people  of  Ta-han,  on  the  whole, 


The  kingdom  of  Ta-han  was  made  known  (to  the  Chinese)  under  the 
dynasty  of  the  Leang  (502-558) ;  it  is  situated  about  five  thousand  li  to 
the  east  of  the  kingdom  of  Oueu-chin.  The  inhabitants  have  no  arms, 
and  do  not  wa";e  war.  Their  manners  and  their 


In  the  time  of  the  Leang  dynasty,  it  was  said  of  the  kingdom  of  Ta- 
han  :  This  kingdom  is  situated  to  the  east  of  the  country  of  the  Ouen-chin 
more  than  five  thousand  li.  Its  people  have  no  arms,  and  do  not  wage 
war.  Their  manners 


TA  HAN,   OR  GREAT   CHINA. 

It  was  reported,  during  the  Liang  dynasty,  that  this  kingdom  lay  more 
than  five  thousand  li  east  of  Wan  Sha"n.  The  inhabitants  have  no  sol 
diers  or  weapons,  and  never  carry  on  war.  Their  manners  and 


GREAT  HAN. 

During  the  reign  of  the  LIANG  dynasty,  Great  HAN  was  reported  to  be 
situated  five  thousand  LI  or  more  to  the  east  of  the  "  Marked  Bodies  " 
country.  Its  people  have  no  military  weapons,  and  do  not  wage  war. 


326 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


No. 
736 

Character. 

Page. 

Sound. 

DEFINITION. 

Translation. 

^ 

822 

SUH 

Same  as  420. 

RUDENESS 

is 

737 

n 

700 

PING 

Two  together,  both,  with,  and, 
even  with,  to  compare. 

COMPARED 

738 

n 

1125 

YO 

Same  as  369. 

WITH 

that  of  the 

739 

3C 

1041 

WAN 

"      "     89. 

MARKED 

740 

% 

735 

SHAN 

"      "  161. 

BODIES 

741 

m 

491 

KWOH 

"      "       5. 

COUNTRY 
the 

742 

m 

933 

TUNG 

"      "  372. 

SAME, 

743 

m 

719 

'RH 

"     "     68. 

BUT 

their 

744 

w 

1083 

YEN 

"      "  584. 

LANGUAGE 

'8 

745 

PH 

1126 

Ytf 

"      "  585. 

WORDS 
are 

746 

m 

281 

I 

To  divide,  different,  foreign, 
to  oppose,  a  difference. 

DIFFERENT. 

THE  LAND  OF   "MARKED  BODIES." 

In  all  the  foregoing  translations  the  character  SHIH  (No.  696, 
page  322)  has  been  rendered  "  filled."  Its  fundamental  meaning 
seems  to  be  "  fruit,"  from  which  the  secondary  signification  of 
"  solid,  hard,  compact,  full,  crammed,"  was  derived.  When  used 
as  a  verb,  it  seems  to  me  to  mean  "to  solidify,  to  harden,  to  pack 
together,  to  cram  "  ;  and,  while  it  is  applicable  to  the  process  of 
filling  a  confined  space  with  solid  substances  or  articles  closely 
packed  together,  I  doubt  whether  it  can  be  used  with  pro 
priety  to  express  the  filling  of  a  receptacle  with  a  liquid.  It 
therefore  appears  to  me  that  the  word,  when  used  as  a  verb, 
should  be  translated  "  to  harden,  to  solidify,  to  make  compact," 
rather  than  "  to  fill,"  and  that  the  description  of  the  country 
should  be  read  (punctuating  after  characters  Nos.  689,  695,  699, 
and  707): 

"  The  residence  of  the  king-  of  the  country  is  adorned  with 
gold  and  silver,  and  precious  and  beautiful  objects  about  it. 
The  dwellings  consist  of  excavations  of  a  breadth  of  one  rod. 
These  (dwellings)  are  made  solid,  hard,  compact,  or  impervious 


THE  GREAT  HAN  COUNTRY.          327 


DE 
GUIGNE8. 

were  essentially  the  same  as  those 
had  a  different  language. 

of  the  people  of  Ven-chin,  but  they 

NEU 
MANN. 

resembled  the  "Pictured  People." 
quite  different  languages. 

The  two  nations,  however,  spoke 

JULIEN. 

customs  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  kingdom  of  Ouen-chin,  but  the  Ian- 
guage  is  different. 

D'lIEKVET. 

are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Ouen-chin,  but  their  language  is  different. 

WILL 
IAMS. 

customs  are  the  same  as   those   of  the  Wan  Shan,   but  their  speech 
differs. 

VINING. 

The  rudeness  of  their  customs  is 
country  of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  but 
ferent. 

the  same  as  that  of  the  people  of  the 
the  words  of  their  language  are  dif- 

by  the  use  of  water-silver  [i.  e.,  ice].  When  it  rains,  then  the 
rain  flows  off  from  the  surface  of  the  water-silver." 

I  should  understand  that  Hwui  Shan  meant  to  say  that  the 
walls  and  roof  of  the  dwellings  were  made  solid  and  impervious 
to  either  air  or  water  by  means  of  ice.  The  houses  of  this  re 
gion  of  the  world  are  described  by  modern  travelers  as  consist 
ing  of  an  excavation,  with  low,  earthen  side-walls,  and  a  roof  of 
earth  thrown  over  beams  and  branches  used  for  its  support. 

If,  now,  water  was  poured  over  these  walls  and  the  roof,  it 
would  soon  freeze,  and  render  them  compact  and  impervious  to 
rain,  so  that  "when  it  rained,  then  the  rain  would  flow  off  over 
the  surface  of  the  ice." 

This  translation  suggested  itself  to  me  at  so  late  a  date  that 
I  have  not  had  time  to  consult  competent  Chinese  scholars  as  to 
the  possibility  of  so  rendering  the  passage.  I  have,  therefore, 
followed  former  translators  in  the  version  which  is  discussed  in 
Chapter  XIX.  I  believe,  however,  that  the  Chinese  text  is  sus 
ceptible  of  the  rendition  given  above,  and  that  such  a  ver 
sion  removes  all  difficulties  in  the  account,  and  brings  HwuL 
Shan's  description  into  strict  conformity  with  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  LENGTH    OF   THE    LI. — THE    NAME    "GREAT    HAN." 

The  direction  from  Japan  in  which  Fu-sang  lay — Variations  in  standards  of  meas 
ure — The  Chinese  li  about  one  third  of  a  mile  in  length — The  greater  length 
of  the  Japanese  li — Possibility  of  still  another  standard  in  Corea — Communi 
cation  between  Corea  and  Japan  and  between  Corea  and  China — Chinese  knowl 
edge  of  the  route  to  Japan  derived  from  Corean  sources — Fu-sang  farther  from 
"  Great  Han  "  than  Japan  is— Distances  stated  with  at  least  approximate  accu 
racy—The  country  of  "  Marked  Bodies  "  identified  as  the  Aleutian  Islands — Al 
lowances  for  changes  and  misunderstandings — Caesar's  account  of  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Britain — Maundevile's  repetition  of  the  story — "  Great  Han  "  identified 
as  Alaska — Land  found  in  the  regions  indicated  by  Hwui  Shan — Meaning 
of  the  character  "  Han  " — Nature  of  the  Chinese  characters— The  manner  in 
which  they  are  compounded  of  two  parts — Some  characters  in  which  the 
meaning  is  affected  by  that  of  both  parts — Application  of  the  character  "  Han  " 
to  a  swirling  stream  and  to  the  Milky  Way — Hence  its  possible  meaning  of 
"  dashing  water  " — Meaning  of  the  name  "  Alaska  " — The  breakers  of  the 
Aleutian  Islands — The  population — A  philological  myth — The  hypotheses 
upon  one  of  which  Hwui  Shan's  story  must  be  explained — The  explanation 
should  be  consistent. 

HAVING  thus  given  the  Chinese  accounts  of  the  land  of  Fu- 
sang,  and  of  the  countries  found  upon  the  route  from  China  to 
that  region,  together  with  the  arguments  of  former  writers  as  to 
their  location,  let  us  now  examine  the  question  for  ourselves. 

Fortunately,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  first  of  the  countries 
that  is  named  as  lying  upon  the  route.  Long  before  the  days  of 
Hwui  Shan,  the  Chinese  were  acquainted  with  this  kingdom  of 
Japan,  and,  when  it  was  mentioned  by  him,  there  was  no  neces 
sity  for  describing  its  location. 

At  a  distance  of  over  seven  thousand  li  to  the  northeast  of 
Japan,  it  was  stated  that  the  country  of  "  Marked  Bodies  "  was 
to  be  found.  More  than  five  thousand  li  to  the  east  of  this  the 
land  of  "Great  Han"  was  situated,  and  over  twenty  thousand 


THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  LI.  329 

li  easterly  from  this  last-named  country  lay  the  land  of  Fu-sang. 
As  it  is  expressly  stated,  however,  that  Fu-sang  lay  to  the  east  of 
China,  and  as  the  greater  part  of  the  route  from  Japan  to  Great 
Han  was  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  it  is  evident  that  Fu-sang 
must  have  lain  farther  south  than  Great  Han,  and  that  its  true 
bearing  from  this  last  country  was  southeasterly  rather  than 
east. 

With  these  explicit  statements  as  to  the  direction  of  the 
route,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  laying  it  down  upon  a  chart, 
provided  that  we  knew  the  exact  length  of  the  li. 

It  is  the  case,  however,  that  nearly  all  standards  of  measure 
were  more  or  less  indefinite  when  they  were  first  established,  and 
that,  even  after  having  been  fixed  with  some  degree  of  precis 
ion,  they  have  been  subject  to  change  in  the  course  of  cent 
uries.  The  chief  difficulty  is  found  in  the  earlier  stages  of  civili 
zation,  however.  Crawfurd,  for  instance,  in  speaking  of  the 
Javanese,  says  that,1138  in  countries  where  there  are  no  roads, 
where  the  principal  conveyance  is  by  water,  and  where  the  paths 
are  circuitous  and  little  frequented,  it  is  not  reasonable  to  sup 
pose  that  any  determinate  measure  of  considerable  distances 
should  exist.  Such  contrivances,  although  familiar  to  Europeans, 
are  the  result  of  much  improvement  and  civilization.  The  In 
dian  islanders,  in  traveling,  speak  of  a  day's  journey,  which,  with 
tolerable  uniformity,  may  be  reckoned  at  twenty  British  miles. 

In  another  place  he  states  that,1131  from  their  very  nature, 
the  measures  of  grain  among  the  Javanese  are  indefinite,  and 
hardly  insure  greater  accuracy  than  we  imply  ourselves  when 
we  speak  of  sheaves  of  corn.  In  the  same  district  they  are  tol 
erably  regular  in  the  quantity  of  grain  and  straw  they  contain  ; 
but  such  is  the  wide  difference  between  the  different  districts  or 
provinces  that  the  same  nominal  measure  is  often  twice — nay, 
three  times — as  large  in  one  as  in  another. 

This  difficulty  usually  ceases  to  exist,  however,  by  the  time 
that  the  state  of  civilization  is  reached  which  the  Chinese  had 
attained  in  the  fifth  century.  Long  before  that  time  their  stand 
ards  of  measure  had  apparently  become  so  well  established  that 
they  have  remained  to  the  present  time,  with  but  few  other 
changes  than  those  recently  made  by  the  Europeans. 

Bretschneider  ™  says  :  "  Having  often  had  the  opportunity  of 
comparing  distances  given  by  the  Chinese  with  our  measures,  I 


330  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

came  to  the  conclusion  that  we  make  no  considerable  error  in  tak 
ing  three  Chinese  li  of  our  days  as. equal  to  one  English  mile;  and 
it  can  be  proved,  from  ancient  itineraries  of  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries,  that  the  length  of  the  Chinese  li  has  not 
changed  since  that  time." 

The  "  Chinese  Repository  " 1016  says  that  there  is  great  difficulty 
in  estimating  the  Chinese  li,  or  mile.  It  appears,  by  the  "  His 
tory  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,"  that  the  measures  have  varied 
under  the  different  dynasties.  The  Chinese  have  never  been 
able  to  measure  distances  by  astronomical  observations.  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  they  have  ever  taken  the  trouble  to  measure 
roads.  On  those  which  are  prepared  for  the  emperor,  and  at  great 
expense,  the  number  of  li  is  written  up  all  along  the  road  ;  but  it 
is  a  fact  that  those  li  are  not  all  of  equal  length.  The  traveler, 
when  inquiring  the  distance  from  one  place  to  another,  is  told  so 
many  li,  and  it  is  often  added,  "  They  are  great  or  small."  It  is 
admitted  that  in  the  north  the  li  are  longer  than  in  the  south.  It 
would  appear  that  popular  tradition  has  determined  their  number. 
A  geography,  printed  by  order  of  government,  states  that  from 
Canton  to  Pekin  the  distance  is  8,185  li.  As  the  positions  of  Can 
ton  and  Pekin  are  known,  it  seems  that  they  might  serve  to  esti 
mate  the  Chinese  lij  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  windings  of 
the  road  are  included  in  those  8,185  li.  Now,  the  routes  in  China, 
both  by  land  and  water,  wind  without  end  ;  so  that  there  seems 
no  way  of  estimating  the  li  with  precision.  However,  it  is 
generally  believed  that  there  are  two  hundred  li  to  a  degree  of 
latitude. 

In  another  place  it  states  that 971  the  li,  or  mile,  is  an  uncer 
tain  measure.  Its  common  measure  is  31 6^  fathoms,  or  1,897£ 
English  feet,  and  it  is  the  usual  term  in  which  length  is  estimat 
ed.  The  Chinese  reckon  192J  li  for  a  degree  of  latitude  and 
longitude  (for  a  degree  of  a  great  circle — say,  65  miles — this  is 
1,918  feet)  ;  but  the  Jesuits  divided  the  degree  into  250  li,  each 
li  being  1,826  English  feet,  or  the  tenth  part  of  a  French  league, 
which  is  the  established  measure  at  present.  A  li,  according  to 
this  measurement,  is  a  little  more  than  one  third  of  an  English 
mile. 

A  long  article  on  the  true  length  of  this  standard  of  meas 
ure  1036  is  also  given,  in  which  the  same  general  conclusion  is 
reached — that  the  li  is  about  one  third  of  an  English  mile. 


THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  LI.  331 

Remusat,  in  a  note  upon  "  The  Pilgrimage  of  Fa  Hian,"15WT 
makes  the  statement  that  the  length  of  the  sheu,  or  cubit,  is 
variously  estimated  :  sometimes  at  two  chih  (0-610  metres)  ; 
sometimes  at  one  chih  and  two  tsun  (0*4575  metres).  Four  sheu 
make  one  hung  (bow),  and  three  hundred  hung  make  one  li. 
According  to  this  calculation  the  li  would  be  either  549  or  732 
metres. 

Prinsep  says  that S095  a  li  is  not  quite  one  third  of  a  mile  ;  for 
two  hundred  li  equal  a  degree  of  latitude,  or  some  sixty-nine 
statute  miles. 

Professor  Williams  states  that 2509  a  discrepancy  exists  regard 
ing  its  precise  length,  owing  to  the  various  measures  of  the 
chih.  It  is  usually  reckoned  at  1,825*55  feet,  English,  which 
gives  2*89  li  to  an  English  mile.  This  is  based  on  the  esti 
mate  of  200  li  to  a  degree ;  but  there  were  only  180  li  to  a  de 
gree  before  Europeans  came,  which  increases  its  length  to  2, 028 '39 
feet,  or  2'6  li  to  a  mile,  which  is  nearer  the  common  estimate  ; 
and  Summers2415  says  that  the  li,  or  Chinese  mile  =  316^  fath 
oms  =  1,897-J-  English  feet :  192£  li  =  I  degree  of  latitude  or 
longitude,  according  to  the  Chinese  ;  but  the  Jesuits  make  250 
li  =  1  degree,  each  li  being  =  1,826  feet,  or  ^  of  a  French  league. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  quote  other  authorities  upon  the 
subject ;  but,  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious,  it  seemed  best  to  give 
the  foregoing,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that,  after  all  that  has 
been  said  as  to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  true  length  of  the  lit 
there  is  really  but  little  disagreement  as  to  what  that  length 
was  before  the  coming  of  the  Jesuits,  and  that  if  it  be  estimated 
at  one  third  of  an  English  mile  the  result  will  be  very  close  to 
the  truth. 

The  Chinese  li  is  sometimes  stated  to  be  equal  to  three  hun 
dred  and  sixty  (double)  paces,  and  a  comparison  of  this  number 
with  the  one  thousand  (double)  paces  which  was  the  original  basis 
for  the  length  of  our  mile,  gives  substantially  the  same  result. 

Attention  should  be  called,  however,  to  the  fact  that,  just  as 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  the  lengths  of  the  English 
mile,  the  German  mile,  and  the  nautical  or  geographical  mile,  so 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  the  standards  of  distance 
used  in  Japan  and  China,  respectively,  and  there  is  some  reason 
for  thinking  that  still  another  standard  may  have  been  used  in 
Corea. 


332  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  Japanese  and  Coreans,  who  do  not  use  the  letter  "/," 
substitute  "  r  "  for  it,  and  pronounce  the  word  "  ri"  instead  of 
"  li"  The  same  character  is  used  by  them  when  writing  the 
word,  however,  that  is  used  by  the  Chinese  for  the  "  li.n 

Klaproth1651  says  that  the  ri  of  Corea,  which  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Mantchoos  in  China,  contains  only  three  and  a  half 
Japanese  matsis,  and,  as  the  Japanese  ri  contains  thirty-six 
matsis,  ten  Corean  ri*  are  hardly  equal  to  one  Japanese  ri. 

This  last  standard  is  equal  to  about  three  English  miles  ;  and 
if  Klaproth  is  correct  in  his  statement  that  the  Corean  ri  or  li  is 
the  same  as  the  Chinese,  its  length  is  about  one  third  of  a  mile. 
Oppert,  in  one  place,1999  says,  however,  that  thirty  Corean  li  equal 
three  English  miles ;  and  if  his  statement  can  be  relied  upon,  this 
reduces  the  Corean  li  to  about  one  tenth  of  a  mile. 

About  a  century  after  the  visit  of  Hwui  Shan,  Li  Yen-shau, 
who  copied  the  official  records  of  the  story  of  the  Buddhist  priest, 
also  gave  an  account  of  the  country  of  Japan,  in  which  (or  in 
the  copies  which  the  Chinese  now  have)  the  distance  from  the 
port  of  Lo-lang,  in  western  Corea,  to  Japan,  is  stated  to  be 
twelve  thousand  li.  As  the  actual  distance  to  the  capital  of 
Japan  is  not  more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles,  it  follows  either 
that  there  is  a  serious  error  in  his  account,  or  else  that  the  li  used 
as  a  standard  must  be  only  about  one  tenth  of  a  mile  in  length. 
This  statement  of  Li  Yen-shau's  has  been  the  cause  of  nearly 
all  the  misunderstanding  as  to  the  true  position  of  the  coun 
tries  described  by  Hwui  Shan.  No  other  instance  seems  to  occur 
in  the  Chinese  records  in  which  the  length  of  the  li  varies  mate 
rially  from  one  third  of  a  mile  ;  yet  from  this  single  instance,  of 
a  standard  apparently  only  one  tenth  of  a  mile  in  length,  used 
by  a  writer  who  lived  long  after  the  days  of  Hwui  Shan,  his 
whole  story  has  been  discredited,  and  an  effort  has  been  made  to 
show  that  the  distance  which  he  described  as  twenty  thousand  li 
was  in  reality  only  the  trifling  distance  between  the  island  of 
Saghalien  and  Japan. 

It  will  be  shown  in  one  of  the  following  chapters  that  the 
chief  early  intercourse  of  the  Japanese  was  with  the  people  of 
Corea.  These  in  turn  were  frequently  visited  by  the  Chinese. 
Klaproth1656  says  that  there  was  constant  communication  between 
the  two  countries,  and  that  Corea  paid  tribute  to  China  through 
out  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  Their  histories  also  show  that 


THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  LI.  333 

when  the  Chinese  visited  Japan  it  was  by  way  of  Corea.  It 
is  therefore  evident  that  the  Chinese  relied  upon  the  Coreans  for 
information  as  to  the  route  to  Japan,  and  for  assistance  in  reach 
ing  that  country,  and  nothing  can  be  more  probable  than  that 
Li  Yen-shau,  when  gathering  information  as  to  Japan,  obtained 
much  of  it,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  from  Corean  sources. 
Whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Corean  li  is,  or  ever  has  been,  only 
one  tenth  of  a  mile  in  length,  and  that  the  Chinese  borrowed  the 
description  of  the  route  given  by  the  Coreans,  without  making  the 
correction  for  the  difference  in  the  length  of  the  li  used  in  the 
two  countries,  or  whether,  as  is  indicated  by  a  discovery  of  M.  de 
Rosny,  mentioned  in  a  note  given  in  Chapter  XXXIV,  a  seri 
ous  error  was  made  by  the  Chinese  in  copying  from  their  early 
records,  by  which  they  doubled  the  distance,  must  be  left  to  the 
decision  of  competent  scholars  ;  but  that  the  true  explanation  of 
the  great  distance  that  is  named  will  be  found  either  in  one 
cause  or  the  other,  there  seems  little  room  to  doubt. 

Whatever  the  cause  of  the  error  in  the  description  of  the 
route  to  Japan  may  have  been,  Hwui  Shan,  when  describing  the 
length  of  his  journey,  to  the  representative  of  the  Chinese  em 
peror,  could  not  have  meant  by  the  word  li  anything  else  than 
the  distance  then  called  a  li  by  the  Chinese — that  is  to  say,  about 
one  third  of  an  English  mile.  He  certainly  can  not  be  blamed 
for  his  failure  to  foresee  that  a  century  after  his  death  his  story 
would  be  confused  with  another  account,  in  which  there  would 
be  either  a  serious  error  or  else  in  which  another  standard  of 
distance  would  be  used. 

Those  who  have  placed  Fu-sang  in  Japan  have  either  ignored 
so  many  difficulties,  or  disposed  of  them  so  satisfactorily  to  them 
selves,  that  the  trifling  discrepancy  that,  according  to  their  views, 
the  distance  from  Japan  to  Great  Han  was  twelve  thousand  li 
(of  a  length  never  used  elsewhere  in  Chinese  accounts),  while 
the  distance  from  Great  Han  to  Japan  (Fu-sang)  was  twenty 
thousand  li,  seems  unworthy  of  notice. 

In  addition  to  the  difficulty  which  a  number  of  former  in 
vestigators  have  found  in  determining,  approximately,  the 
length  of  the  li,  the  second  objection  is  raised  that  Hwui 
Shan,  or  the  mythical  Chinese  voyagers  who  have  been  sup 
posed  to  have  visited  the  country  of  Marked  Bodies  and  Great 
Han,  could  not  have  had  any  means  of  determining  with,  accu- 


334:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

racy  the  distances  which  they  traveled  or  the  direction  of  their 
voyage. 

Admitting  that  the  distances  and  the  direction  may  not  be 
accurately  given,  it  certainly  does  not  follow  that  they  are  not 
a  reasonable  approximation  to  the  truth.  Surely  there  was  no 
greater  difficulty  in  those  days  than  there  is  now  in  making  a 
rough  estimate,  with  reasonable  accuracy,  as  to  the  distance 
traveled  and  the  general  direction  of  the  course.  Of  all  the 
men  who  sail  the  seas,  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  one  who, 
if  he  had  pursued  a  southerly  course  of  a  thousand  or  twelve 
hundred  miles,  could  be  so  egregiously  mistaken  as  to  believe 
that  he  had  sailed  seven  thousand  miles  easterly ;  and  if  it  be  as 
sumed  that  Hwui  Shan  attempted  to  describe  his  journey  in 
good  faith,  it  certainly  ought  not  to  be  taken  for  granted  that 
he  was  liable  to  make  so  gross  a  blunder. 

Klaproth  says 1659  that  the  navigators  who  visit  the  Japanese 
Islands  estimate  even  the  distances  which  they  have  themselves 
traveled  only  approximately.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  they 
do  estimate  them  approximately,  and  would  not  be  likely  to  be 
guilty  of  such  stupidity  as  calling  south,  east,  and  thinking  one 
mile  to  be  seven. 

The  "  Chinese  Repository," 101T  when  referring  to  distances 
reckoned  in  "  days'  journeys,"  says  that  "  the  day's  journey  is 
usually  considered  one  hundred  tt,  a  little  more  or  less  "  ;  and  it 
is  not  improbable  that  the  Buddhist  traveler,  when  journeying 
along  the  shore  or  paddling  from  island  to  island,  estimated  each 
day's  journey  as  about  this  distance.  However  this  may  have 
been,  there  can  be  no  question  that  a  man  possessed  of  courage, 
persistency,  and  hardihood  sufficient  to  carry  him  through  a 
journey  of  forty-one  years,  in  countries  previously  unknown, 
can  hardly  have  lacked  the  amount  of  knowledge  necessary 
to  enable  him  to  distinguish  between  east  and  south,  or  be 
tween  one  mile  and  half  a  dozen.  When  he  says  that  the 
country  of  Marked  Bodies  lies  twenty-three  hundred  miles 
northeasterly  from  Japan,  we  may  grant  that  this  is  a  mere 
estimate.  Possibly  the  distance  was  only  two  thousand  miles, 
or  it  may  have  been  twenty-five  hundred  ;  the  course,  also,  may 
have  varied  a  few  degrees  from  northeast  ;  but  if  we  are  to  as 
sume  that  he  may  have  meant  a  country  less  than  five  hundred 
miles  from  Japan,  and  lying  directly  north,  we  assume  that  he 


THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  LI.  335 

was  either  grossly  ignorant  or  thoroughly  dishonest,  and  in  either 
case  it  would  be  useless  to  examine  his  story  further. 

Let  us  for  the  present,  however,  proceed  upon  the  assump 
tion  that  he  may  have  been  honest  and  intelligent,  as  he  must 
have  been  brave  and  resolute,  and  see  whether  his  story  is  or  is 
not  true. 

If  we  sail  from  Japan,  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  for  a 
distance  of  some  two  thousand  miles,  where  do  we  find  our 
selves  ?  Not  in  the  island  of  Jesso,  but  among  the  Aleutian 
Islands.  Do  these  islands  or  their  people  correspond  with  Hwui 
Shan's  account  ?  If  they  do,  we  have  a  strong  proof  that  his 
story  is  true.  If  they  do  not,  it  is  useless  to  look  elsewhere  for 
the  country  described  by  him,  and  his  story  may  be  dismissed 
as  false. 

Allowance  must  be  made,  however,  for  the  changes  that 
have  taken  place  in  the  fourteen  centuries  that  have  elapsed 
since  the  time  of  his  travels.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  all 
the  customs  mentioned  by  him  should  have  come  down  to  the 
present  day,  or  that  those  which  still  exist  should  be  found 
identical  in  all  respects  with  the  form  which  they  had  so  long 
ago.  It  is  also  to  be  presumed  that  those  which  have  survived 
will  be  found,  in  many  cases,  scattered  among  tribes  now  living 
at  some  distance  from  the  region  inhabited  by  their  ancestors 
fourteen  hundred  years  ago. 

Caesar's  account  of  the  people  of  Gaul  and  Britain  antedates 
by  only  some  four  centuries  Hwui  Shan's  story  of  the  lands 
visited  by  him  ;  but  if  we  had  no  other  means  of  proving  that 
Caesar  actually  visited  western  Europe  and  England  than  a  com 
parison  of  his  account  with  existing  customs,  his  credit  would 
suffer  as  has  our  Buddhist  priest's. 

When  speaking  of  the  people  of  Britain,  he  says  "'  that  they 
do  not  consider  it  right  to  eat  the  hare,  the  domestic  fowl,  or  the 
goose,  and  adds  that917  "  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  interior 
do  not  sow  grain,  but  live  upon  milk  and  flesh,  and  clothe  them 
selves  in  skins.  All  the  men  of  this  country  dye  themselves  with 
woad,  which  gives  them  a  bluish  colour,  and  makes  their  appear 
ance  in  battle  more  terrible.  Their  hair  is  long,  and  all  parts 
of  their  body  are  shaved  except  the  head  and  upper  lip.  Ten 
or  twelve  have  their  wives  in  common,  usually  brothers  with 
their  brothers,  or  parents  with  their  children  ;  but  the  offspring 


336  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

are  considered  the  children  of  him  by  whom  the  maiden  was 
first  espoused." 

It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  persistency  with  which  his 
torical  tales  survive,  and  of  the  fact  that  even  the  most  incredible 
are  frequently  founded  upon  some  warped  or  perverted  truth, 
and  hence  are  deserving  of  study  in  order  that  the  truth  which 
they  contain  may  be  separated  from  the  error,  that  Sir  John 
Maundevile,  returning  to  England  some  twelve  centuries  later, 
with  his  mind  filled  with  marvels — not  only  those  which  he  had 
himself  seen  in  the  Orient,  but  also  all  that  he  had  been  able 
to  gather  from  others  regarding  the  countries  still  farther  east 
— should  have  brought  back  to  Britain  the  story  which  had 
started  from  it  so  long  before.  The  tale  had  survived,  but  the 
location  of  the  land  had  been  forgotten,  and  hence  it  was  sup 
posed  to  be  situated  in  the  distant  East. 

leas  (( Bey0n(ie  that  Yle,  is  another  Yle,  where  is  gret  mul- 
tytude  of  folk  ;  and  thei  wole  not  for  nothing  eten  Flesche  of 
Hares,  ne  of  Hennes,  ne  of  Gees  ;  and  yit  thei  bryngen  forthe  y 
now,  for  to  seen  hem  and  to  beholden  hem  only.  But  thei  eten 
Flesche  of  alle  other  Bestes,  and  drynken  Mylk.  In  that  Centre 
thei  taken  hire  Doughtres  and  hire  Sustres  to  here  Wyfes,  and 
hire  other  Kynneswomen.  And  gif  there  ben  10  or  12  men  or 
mo  dwellynge  in  an  Hows,  the  Wif  of  everyche  of  hem  schalle 
ben  comoun  to  hem  alle,  that  duellen  in  that  Hows." 

Returning  again  to  the  account  of  the  Buddhist  traveler,  it 
will  be  seen  that  he  says  that,  about  sixteen  hundred  miles  east 
of  the  land  of  "Marked  Bodies,"  there  lay  a  country  called 
GREAT  HA^.  At  about  that  distance  east  of  the  center  of  the 
Aleutian  Islands,  Alaska  is  found  ;  and  if  his  story  is  true,  Great 
Han  was  located  in  or  near  Alaska. 

It  should  first  be  noticed  that  here  are  two  instances  in  which 
land  exists  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  just  where  he  says  it  is  to 
be  found.  A  glance  at  a  map  will  show  how  unlikely  it  is  that 
he  would  be  right  as  to  the  existence  of  land  in  a  certain  direc 
tion,  and  at  a  certain  distance,  if  his  story  were  but  a  figment  of 
the  imagination.  With  all  the  islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  to 
choose  from,  those  who  attempt  to  locate  Fu-sang.  elsewhere 
than  in  America,  can  do  so  only  by  ignoring  both  the  distance 
and  the  direction.  If  any  other  U  than  the  true  one  is  used, 
and  if  the  bearings  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan  are  preserved,  the 


THE  NAME  "GREAT  HAN."  337 

end  of  the  route  will  fall  into  the  fathomless  depths  of  the  Pa 
cific. 

The  name  of  the  easternmost  of  the  two  countries  is  given  as 
fa  TA  (Great),  g|,  HAN.  The  last  character  being  made  up  of 
two  parts,  meaning  respectively  "  water  "  and  "  hardship." 

Instead  of  being  composed,2390  as  is  frequently  supposed,  of  a 
vast  number  of  arbitrary  and  complicated  symbols,  the  charac 
ters  of  the  Chinese  language  are  compounded  of  very  simple 
elements,  which  carry  along  with  them  into  their  derivatives 
something  of  their  own  meaning,  while  each  generally  preserves 
its  figure  unchanged.  These  elementary  characters  supply  the 
place  of  an  alphabet ;  but  it  is  an  alphabet  of  ideas,  not  of 
sounds. 

The  earliest  Chinese  characters  were  evidently  pictorial ;  but 
pictures  could  not  be  made  which  would  clearly  express  all  ideas. 
Among  the  means  resorted  to,  for  obtaining  characters  to  express 
conceptions  that  could  not  be  indicated  by  a  simple  sketch,  was 
that  of  combining  two  familiar  pictures  to  give  rise  to  a  new 
idea,  sometimes  of  an  abstraction,  sometimes  the  name  of  a 
real  thing.2392  For  instance,  a  man  with  a  large  eye  represents 
"  seeing  "  ;  two  men,  "  to  follow  "  ;  three  men,  "  many  "  ; 1568 
two  men  on  the  ground,  "  sitting." 

All  other  means  failing,  the  present  great  mass  of  characters 
was  formed  by  a  principle  from  which  the  class  is  called  "pho 
netic";  because  in  the  characters  classed  under  it,  while  one 
part  (called  the  "  radical ")  preserves  its  meaning,  the  other  part 
(called  the  "  phonetic  "  or  "  primitive  ")  is  used  to  give  its  own 
sound  to  the  whole  figure.  This  part  does  sometimes,  however, 
8393  convey  also  its  symbolic  meaning  as  well  as  its  sound. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  influence  which  the  primitive  frequently 
exerts  upon  the  meaning  of  the  compound,  the  following  is 
given  :  1027 

jg,  TI,  means  low  or  mean  ;  when  compounded  with  the  radi 
cal  "  man,"  it  means  a  low  man,  a  base  fellow,  a  vagabond  ;  when 
with  "  heart,"  it  means  a  sordid  mind,  meanness  ;  when  with 
"hand,"  it  .means  underhanded,  crafty;  when  with  a  "tree," 
the  roots  ;  when  with  a  "stone,"  the  foundation  ;  when  with  a 
"  horn,"  to  put  the  horn  down,  to  gore  ;  when  with  an  "  eye,"  to 
look  down,  humble,  condescending  ;  when  with  a  "boat,"  per 
haps  the  bottom  of  the  boat  or  rudder ;  when  with  "  words," 
22 


338  AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

low  words,  vulgarisms,  slander ;  and  when  with  "  grain,"  ripe 
grain  that  bends  down. 

G.  T.  Lay,  in  an  article  in  the  "  Chinese  Repository,"  insists 
upon  the  importance  of  recognizing  the  influence  of  the  "  pho 
netic"  upon  the  meaning  of  the  character,  in  the  following 
words  : 104S 

"  The  Chinese  primitives  or  vocal  portions  may  not  be  ex 
changed  (for  others  of  the  same  sound)  without  producing  the 
greatest  change  in  the  sense.  Every  student  of  a  few  months' 
standing  knows  that  you  can  not  substitute  one  primitive  for  an 
other  without  producing  a  different  sense  ;  with  this  fact  before 
him,  will  any  man  have  the  hardihood  to  tell  me  that  the  primi 
tive  in  composition  serves  only  for  the  purposes  of  sound  ?  We 
acknowledge  that  Chinese  sometimes  exchange  these  primitives 
in  their  books,  and  more  frequently  in  their  petitions,  letters,  and 
private  documents,  and  thus  occasion  doubt  and  difficulties  which 
might  have  been  avoided.  The  number  of  substitutions  is  al 
ways  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  composer's  ignorance  of  the  written 
language.  Many  a  time  has  the  foreigner  mortified  the  pride  of 
the  native  by  showing  him  that  he  had  written  the  wrong  primi 
tive,  and  perhaps  not  less  frequently  has  the  native  repaid  the 
little  affront  by  pointing  out  a  similar  mistake  which  the  foreign 
er  had  made.  This  is  an  every-day  proof  that  the  Chinese  rec 
ognize  the  principle  that  the  primitive  has  a  meaning  as  well  as 
a  sound." 

There  are  at  least  five  or  six  hundred  common  Chinese  char 
acters  in  which  it  is  universally  admitted  that  the  meaning  of 
the  so  called  "phonetic"  is  preserved  in  the  compound  char 
acter. 

Let  us  see  whether  this  character  HAN  should  not  be  in 
cluded  in  this  class.  Professor  Williams  defines  the  word  as 
follows  :  "  The  Milky  Way  ;  the  large  branch  of  the  Yang-tsz' 
River  ;  a  Chinese  ;  relating  to  China ;  the  Han  dynasty,  which 
was  named  from  the  duke  of  Han." 

Its  most  common  use  at  present  is  in  the  meaning  "  Chinese." 
The  "  Land  of  Han  "  is  China,1363  and  hence  the  term  "  Great  Han  " 
has  been  considered  to  mean  either  "  Great  China,"  or  a  land 
inhabited  by  "  Great  Chinese."  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
the  term  "  Han "  was  first  applied  to  the  Chinese  as  subjects 
of  the  Han  dynasty,1363  which  took  its  name  from  its  founder, 


THE  NAME  "GREAT  HAN."  339 

the  duke  of  Han.  He  in  turn  derived  his  title,  like  many 
English  noblemen,  from  the  small  district  over  which  he  first 
ruled,  and  this  district  took  its  name  from  the  river  Han,  upon 
the  bank  of  which  it  was  situated. 

If  we  now  inquire  how  the  character  in  question  first  came 
to  be  applied  to  the  river  Han,  and  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the 
character  is  composed  of  two  parts,  meaning  "water"  and  "hard 
ship,"  it  is  readily  seen  that  it  may  have  been  adopted  as  the 
name  of  the  river  to  express  the  idea  that  its  leading  character 
istic  was  that  its  "  water  "  could  be  navigated  only  with  "  diffi 
culty,"  if  at  all.  The  Chinese  "  Historical  Classic,"  the  SHU 
KING,  as  translated  by  Mr.  James  Legge,  mentions  "  the  Han 
with  its  eddying  movements,"  1708  and  Professor  Williams  refers 
to 2533  the  swirling  waters  of  the  river  Han,  thus  showing  that 
the  two  parts  of  the  character  correctly  describe  the  stream. 

The  character  Han  also  means  the  Milky  Way.2628  And  here 
again  the  idea  of  foaming,  dashing  water  is  apparent ;  the  Milky 
Way  resembling  a  foaming  stream  among  the  stars. 

When  Hwui  Shan  reached  the  Aleutian  Islands,  or  Alaska, 
what  name  did  he  find  the  country  to  bear  ?  what  was  the  mean 
ing  of  the  name,  and  how  would  he  probably  attempt  to  tran 
scribe  it  in  Chinese  characters  ? 

It  is  stated  in  the  "  Chinese  Repository  "  that  1007  the  etymolo 
gies  of  the  Chinese  are  sometimes  deserving  of  notice  as  an  index 
of  their  habits  of  thought,  and  modes  of  combining  relative 
ideas  in  order  to  embody  a  new  one  ;  and  Professor  Williams  says 
that 2494  scholars  are  fastidious  as  to  the  introduction  of  merely 
phonetic  words  into  their  compositions,  and  prefer  to  translate 
everything  that  they  can. 

Hence,  the  probability  is  strong  that  Hwui  Shan  would  at 
tempt  both  to  translate  the  name,  and  to  adopt  a  character  which 
would  to  some  extent  describe  the  country. 

Dall  gives  the  following  statement  as  to  the  name  applied  by 
the  natives  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  the  adjoining  continent, 
and  as  to  its  meaning  : 1168 

"Alaska. — This  name,  now  applied  to  the  whole  of  our  new 
territory,  is  a  corruption,  very  far  removed  from  the  original 
word.  When  the  early  Russian  traders  first  reached  Unalashka, 
they  were  told  by  the  natives  that  to  the  eastward  was  a  great 
land  or  territory.  This  was  called  by  the  natives  Al-ak-shak,  or 


34:0  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Al-ay-ek-sa.  The  island  now  known  as  Unalashka  was  called 
Na-gun-alayeksa,  or  the  land  near  Alayeksa.  From  Alayeksa 
the  name  became,  by  corruption,  Alaksa,  Alashka,  Aliaska,  and 
finally  Alaska.  .  .  .  We  have  then  Alaska  for  the  territory,  Ali 
aska  for  the  peninsula,  and  Unalashka  for  the  island  ;  all  derived 
from  the  same  root,  meaning  a  GKEAT  country  or  continent" 

Pinart  also  states  that  among  the  Aleuts 2039  a  tradition  of  the 
people  is  mentioned,  in  which  they  say  that,  before  coming  to 
their  present  home,  they  lived  "  in  a  great  land,  which  was  also 
called  Alidkhskha — that  is  to  say,  *  a  continent.' " 

Coxe  also  mentions  the  acquaintance  of  the  Aleutian  Island 
ers  with  the  size  of  the  adjoining  continent,  in  the  following 
words  : 1123 

"  Glottof  did  not  land  till  he  reached  the  last  and  most  east 
ward  of  these  islands,  called  by  the  inhabitants  Kadiak  ;  from 
which  the  natives  said  it  was  not  far  to  the  coast  of  a  wide,  ex 
tended,  woody  continent." 

Hence,  when  Hwui  Shan  was  in  the  Aleutian  Islands,  he,  too, 
probably  heard  of  the  "  great  land,"  "  the  continent,"  to  the 
east ;  and  this  he  indicated  by  the  character  TA,  meaning  "great." 

That  the  character  is  used  with  this  meaning,  and  not  as  a 
mere  phonetic,  is  quite  conclusively  proven  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  twenty-eight  cases  in  which  it  is  used  by  Hiuen  Ts'ang,1616  in 
the  names  of  towns  or  districts  of  India,  it  is  invariably  a  trans 
lation  of  the  Sanskrit  "  Maha,"  having  the  same  meaning,  while 
m  the  twenty  cases  in  which  the  syllable  "  TA  "  is  transliterated, 
some  other  character  is  always  used.1617 

While  it  is  possible  that  he  may  have  meant  "China"  by  the 
character  "  Han,"  thus  intending  to  call  the  continent  "  Great 
China,"  and  so  indicate  the  fact  that  it  was  larger  than  China,  it 
seems  more  probable  that  he  meant  to  go  back  to  the  original 
meaning  of  the  character,  and  thus  indicate  that  it  was  a  great 
country  of  dashing  icater,  or  a  great  country  reached  with  diffi 
culty  by  water. 

This  would  be  very  appropriate,  as  Langsdorff  says  that 1699 
the  current,  or  the  influence  of  the  ebb  and  flood  tides,  is  very  vio 
lent  and  irregular  here  between  the  numerous  islands,  and  needs 
to  be  carefully  watched  by  every  sailor.  While  the  Encyclo 
paedia  Britannica  states  that 1292  the  Aleutian  Islands  are  bare  and 
mountainous,  and  their  coasts  are  rocky  and  surrounded  by 


THE  NAME  "  GREAT  HAN."  341 

breakers,  by  which  the  approach  is  rendered  exceedingly  dan 
gerous. 

Although  the  population  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  is  now 
very  small,  the  islands  were  once  thickly  peopled.  Langsdorff 
says,  for  instance,  that  170°  about  1770  the  population  of  Kadiak 
and  the  neighbouring  islands  was  estimated  at  fifty  thousand 
people. 

One  curious  indication  of  the  location  of  the  country  named 
"Han  "  is  found  in  the  Chinese  character  ^|,  of  which  the  Hok- 
kee'n  pronunciation  is  CHAY.  This  is  defined  as1864  "driftwood 
floating  down  a  river,  upon  which  they  fable  that  genii  ride  in 
order  to  float  into  the  Milky  Way,  or  Heavenly  River,  and  thus  get 
among  the  stars."  Here  is  evidently  a  myth  founded  upon  the 
character  "  Han,"  which  was  applied  by  Hwui  Shan  to  a  country 
far  to  the  northeast,  upon  which  driftwood  floating  in  the  Kuro- 
siwo,  or  gulf-stream  of  the  Pacific,  would  ultimately  be  thrown. 
After  the  existence  of  this  country  was  partly  forgotten,  some 
surviving  statement,  that  the  driftwood  floated  to  "  Han,"  was, 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  one  of  the  meanings  of  the  character 
is  "the  Milky  Way,"  supposed  to  mean  that  the  driftwood 
floated  to  this  Heavenly  River. 

Before  taking  up  the  account  of  the  lands  of  "Marked 
Bodies  "  and  "  Great  Han,"  and  examining  them  clause  by  clause 
to  see  whether  similar  accounts  are  given  by  other  travelers  to 
the  same  region,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  a 
thorough  examination  of  Hwui  Shan's  story  should  lead  to  some 
one  of  the  following  conclusions  : 

First. — His  story  is  entirely  false  ;  nothing  more  than  an 
effort  of  the  imagination  of  a  "  lying  Buddhist  priest." 

Second. — He  himself  had  not  visited  the  countries  which  he 
described,  but  he  had  heard  some  account  of  them  from  others 
who  had  visited  them,  and  he  attempted  to  repeat  their  stories. 

Third. — He  had  actually  visited  the  countries  described  by 
him,  and  he  attempted  to  give  a  truthful  account  of  his  travels. 

In  deference  to  the  views  of  those  scholars  who  see  in  every 
nursery  tale  and  every  history  a  myth  of  the  rising  sun,  a  fourth 
theory  might  be  added  :  that  the  story  of  Fu-sang  is  a  "  sun- 
myth."  This  Procrustean  theory  is  so  all-embracing — applying 
with  equal  force  to  "  Sing  a  Song  of  Sixpence  "  and  the  Iliad  ;  to 
the  history  of  Jacob  and  the  life  of  either  of  the  Napoleons — 


342  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

that  the  various  arguments  used  to  adapt  it  to  any  tale  what 
ever  might  be  applied  (even  with  special  force,  as  to  some  points) 
to  the  history  of  Fu-sang,  "  the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun."  A 
sprinkling  of  Sanskrit,  and  a  reference  to  the  clouds  surrounding 
the  rising  sun  as  "  cows  "  or  "  herds,"  would  make  the  argument 
complete. 

As  it  is  reasonable  to  presume,  however,  that  not  more  than 
nine  tenths  of  early  history  is  a  variation  upon  the  sun-myth 
theme,  let  us  assume  that  the  story  of  Fu-sang  is  among  the 
few  early  tales  that  have  some  claim  to  other  foundation. 

In  such  case  it  is  but  reasonable  to  ask  that  the  story  as  a 
whole  should  lead  to  some  one  of  the  three  conclusions  before 
mentioned.  A  portion  of  the  story  should  not  be  accounted  for 
by  one  hypothesis,  and  another  of  its  statements  by  a  different 
theory,  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  first.  It  is  not  proper,  for 
instance,  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no  such  land 
as  Fu-sang,  and  then  in  the  next  sentence  attempt  to  prove  that 
there  was  a  land  of  Fu-sang,  but  that  it  was  located  in  Japan. 

The  author  will  attempt  to  show  that  the  third  theory  is  the 
true  one.  It  is  not  necessary  to  remove  every  objection  ;  some 
difficulties  will  unquestionably  remain  unsolved.  But  the  true 
point  to  be  decided  is  as  to  which  one  of  the  possible  theories 
offers  the  fewest  and  least  serious  perplexities.  If  it  be  shown 
that  Hwui  Shan  describes  a  particular  region  in  America,  with 
its  characteristic  plants,  and  mentions  peculiar  customs  of  its 
people,  such  as  are  not  known  to  have  ever  existed  elsewhere  ; 
if  truth  after  truth  is  told,  of  a  nature  such  as  could  never  have 
been  imagined  if  America  had  not  actually  been  visited  —  a 
point  will  soon  be  reached  when  even  explanations  that  would 
otherwise  seem  improbable  may  be  accepted  in  regard  to  some 
few  difficulties  that  present  no  other  solution. 

If  it  requires  infinitely  more  explanation  to  account  for  Hwui 
Shan's  story  upon  either  the  first  or  second  theory  than  it  does 
upon  the  third,  then  the  third  may  be  considered  as  established 
with  reasonable  certainty.  In  the  following  pages  an  effort  will 
be  made  to  show  that  this  is  the  case. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND  OF  "  MAKKED  BODIES,"  AND  OF 

GEEAT  HAN. 

Necessity  of  examining  the  account  in  detail — The  resemblance  of  the  people  of  the 
two  countries — Their  customs — Their  languages — The  marks  upon  their  bodies 
— Tattooing  with  three  lines — Existence  of  the  custom  in  America — The  marks 
a  sign  of  the  position  of  their  bearer — The  merry  nature  of  the  people — Their 
feasts  and  dances — Their  hospitality — Hospitality  of  the  American  Indians — 
The.Iroquois — The  Esquimaux — The  Aleutians — Absence  of  fortifications — 
The  chiefs — The  decoration  of  their  dwellings — The  Haidah  Indians — Other 
Indian  tribes  from  British  Columbia  to  Alaska — Esquimaux  fondness  for 
ornamentation — Ditches — The  dwellings  of  the  people — Water-silver — Proof 
that  ice  is  meant — Quicksilver  —  No  country  ever  had  ditches  filled  with 
quicksilver — The  traffic  by  means  of  precious  gems — No  money  used — Value 
of  amber — The  peaceful  nature  of  the  people— The  punishment  of  crime — 
Summary  of  facts  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan — Application  of  the  doctrine  of 
chances — The  two  countries  bearing  the  name  of  Great  Han. 

MARSDEN,  in  his  edition  of  the  "  Travels  of  Marco  Polo," 1739 
states  that  while  much  ingenuity  has  been  shown,  on  the  one 
side,  in  pointing  out  what  seem  to  be  improbabilities,  defects, 
and  inconsistencies  in  his  work,  and,  on  the  other,  in  defend 
ing  it  upon  general  principles,  little  has  hitherto  been  done,  by 
editors  or  commentators,  toward  an  examination  of  the  particu 
lar  details,  with  the  view  of  bringing  them  to  the  test  of  mod 
ern  observation  ;  and  yet  it  is  upon  the  unexceptionable  evi 
dence  of  their  consistency  with  known  facts,  rather  than  the 
strength  of  any  argument,  that  the  reader  is  expected  to  ground 
his  confidence  in  the  intentional  veracity  of  the  author. 

This  criticism  seems  equally  true  in  regard  to  the  Chinese 
descriptions  of  eastern  lands  ;  and  this  chapter  will  therefore  be 
devoted  to  an  examination  of  "the  particular  details"  of  the 
account  of  the  Countries  of  Marked  Bodies  and  Great  Han,  in 
order  to  show  "  their  consistency  with  known  facts." 


344:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

I. — THE  RUDENESS  OF  THE  CUSTOMS  (of  the  people  of  the 
two  countries)  is  THE  SAME,  BUT  THEIR  LANGUAGES  ARE  DIF 
FERENT. 

Latham  says 170T  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
properly  so  called  (i.  e.,  of  Behring's  and  Copper  Islands),  of  the 
Rat  Islands,  of  the  Andreanowsky  Islands,  of  the  Prebulowiini 
Islands,  of  Unalaska,  and  of  Kadiak,  are  all  Esquimaux ;  a  fact 
which  numerous  vocabularies  give  us  full  means  of  ascertaining. 
In  respect  to  the  difference  of  speech  between  particular  islands, 
there  is  external  evidence  that  it  is  considerable.  The  people  of 
Atka  have  a  difficulty  in  understanding  the  Unalaskans,  and 
vice  versa.  Again,  the  Kadiak  vocabulary,  as  found  in  Lisiansky, 
differs  very  notably  from  the  Unalaskan  of  the  same  author ; 
indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  two  languages  are  mu 
tually  intelligible. 

Dall  states  that 1154  the  language  of  the  western  Innuit  differs 
totally  in  the  vocabulary  from  that  of  any  Indian  tribes,  while 
there  are  many  words  common  to  the  Greenlanders  and  the 
Behring's  Strait  Esquimaux.  On  the  other  hand,  the  words  of  the 
language  of  the  Aleutians  are  in  very  large  part  quite  dissimilar 
to  those  of  the  most  adjacent  Innuit.  There  is  more  difference 
in  this  respect  between  them  and  the  Innuit  of  Kadiak  than  ex 
ists  between  the  Greenlandic  and  Behring's  Strait  dialect.  Never 
theless,  the  Aleutian  language  is  clearly  of  the  Innuit  type,  and 
is  only  entitled  to  rank  as  a  branch  of  the  Orarian  stock. 

While  Langsdorff  repeats,  almost  verbatim,  the  words  of 
Hwui  Shan  :  "The  inhabitants  of  Kadiak  are  but  slightly  dif 
ferent  from  those  of  Unalaska.  In  general  the  people  are  some 
what  taller  and  more  robust,  but  otherwise  they  are  undeniably 
of  the  same  race.  The  language  is  different.  The  customs,  man 
ners,  methods  of  living,  means  of  sustenance,  and  the  clothing, 
however,  are  almost  exactly  the  same." 1709 

il.— THE  PEOPLE  HAVE  MARKS  UPON  THEIR  BODIES  LIKE 
WILD  BEASTS. 

It  does  not  seem  quite  certain  whether  Hwui  Shan  meant 
that  the  marks  were  like  those  upon  animals,  or  that  they  were 
pictures  of  wild  beasts,  or  merely  that  the  people  resembled 
animals  from  the  fact  that  their  bodies  were  marked. 

If  it  is  meant  that  the  marks  were  representations  of  wild 
beasts,  the  Haidah  Indians,  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Islands,  who 


CUSTOMS   OF  THE  LAND  OF  "  MARKED  BODIES."    345 

live  not  far  from  Alaska,  and  who  may  have  moved  from  a  still 
nearer  neighbourhood  during  the  last  fourteen  centuries,  ex 
actly  meet  the  description.  They  seem  to  be  intruders  in  their 
present  location,  as  Swan  states  that  there  is  a24'24  marked  differ 
ence  in  their  manners  and  customs  from  the  Indians  of  the  main 
land.  He  adds  that  a  singular 2423  custom  which  prevails  among 
them,  and  which  seems  to  be  a  distinctive  feature  of  this  tribe,  is 
that  of  tattooing  their  bodies  with  various  designs,  all  of  which 
are  fanciful  representations  of  animals,  birds,  or  fishes,  either  an 
attempt  to  represent  in  a  grotesque  form  those  which  are  known 
and  commonly  seen,  or  their  mythological  and  legendary  crea 
tions  ;  he  says  also  that 2422  each  of  the  people  will  have  on  some 
part  of  the  body  a  representation  in  tattooing  of  the  particular 
figure  which  constitutes  his  or  her  family  name  or  connection. 
The  chief  will  have  all  the  figures  tattooed  on  his  body  to  show 
his  connection  with  the  whole. 

If  it  is  merely  meant,  however,  that  the  people  resembled 
wild  beasts  rather  than  men,  because  their  bodies  were  marked 
or  tattooed,  it  is  not  necessary  to  look  farther  than  to  the  tribes 
now  living  in  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

Bancroft  says  that,101  were  these  people  (the  Esquimaux) 
satisfied  with  what  nature  has  done  for  them,  they  would  be 
passably  good-looking.  But  with  them,  as  with  all  mankind, 
no  matter  how  high  the  degree  of  intelligence  and  refinement 
attained,  art  must  be  applied  to  improve  upon  nature.  The  few 
finishing-touches  neglected  by  the  Creator,  man  is  ever  ready  to 
supply.  Arrived  at  the  age  of  puberty,  the  great  work  of  im 
provement  begins.  Up  to  this  time  the  skin  has  been  kept  satu 
rated  in  grease  and  filth,  until  the  natural  colour  is  lost,  and 
until  the  complexion  is  brought  down  to  the  Esquimaux  standard. 
Now  pigments  of  various  dyes  are  applied,  both  painted  out 
wardly  and  pricked  into  the  skin. 

John  Ledyard,  who  visited  Unalaska  with  Captain  Cook, 
stated  that,  among  the  people  whom  they  saw,108  both  sexes 
had  undergone  the  usual  face  painting  and  ornamentation  ;  and 
Langsdorff  mentions  that 1698  tattooing  was  very  customary  in 
former  times  in  the  Aleutian  Islands,  especially  among  the  women. 
They  punctured  the  chin,  the  neck,  and  the  arms. 

III. IN  FRONT  (OB  UPON  THEIR  FOREHEADS)  THEY  HAVE 

THREE  MARKS. 


346  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Richardson  says  : 105  "  The  women  tattoo  their  faces  in  blue 
lines,  produced  by  making  stitches  with  a  fine  needle  and  thread 
smeared  with  lamp-black."  Beechey  reports  that,  between 
Kotzebue  Sound  and  Icy  Cape,102  "  all  the  women  were  tattooed 
upon  the  chin  with  three  small  lines."  Armstrong  states  that,109 
at  Point  Barrow,  the  women  have  on  the  chin  a  vertical  line 
about  half  an  inch  broad  in  the  center,  extending  from  the  lip, 
with  a  parallel  but  narrower  one  on  either  side  of  it,  a  little 
apart.  Choris  assures  us  that,102  on  Behring's  Isle,  men  as  well 
as  women  tattoo  ;  many  men  having  the  face  tattooed.  Coxe 
mentions  that im  the  women  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  were  orna 
mented  with  different  figures  sewed  into  the  skin,  and  that  118° 
the  faces  of  the  women  of  the  Fox  Islands  were  marked  with 
blackish  streaks  made  with  a  needle  and  thread  in  the  skin  ;  and 
Bancroft  says  that 105  young  Kadiak  wives  secure  the  affection 
ate  admiration  of  their  husbands  by  tattooing  the  breast  and 
adorning  the  face  with  black  lines  ;  while  the  Kuskoquim  women 
sew  into  their  chin  two  parallel  blue  lines. 

This  custom  seems  to  have  spread  over  a  large  portion  of 
Northwestern  America. 

Ross  says  that  all  the  Esquimaux  women  met  by  him'162  were 
tattooed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  chiefly  on  the  brow,  and  on 
each  side  of  the  mouth  and  chin  ;  this  ornament  consisting  in 
lines  alone,  without  any  peculiar  figures,  and  thus  conforming 
to  the  usages  of  the  Northwestern  Esquimaux  of  America,  as  they 
have  been  described  by  different  voyagers. 

Mackenzie,  after  mentioning  that 1773  the  Chepewyans  have  a 
tradition  among  them  that  they  originally  came  from  another 
country,  inhabited  by  very  wicked  people,  and  had  traversed  a 
great  lake  which  was  narrow,  shallow,  and  full  of  islands,  where 
they  had  suffered  great  misery,  it  being  always  winter,  with  ice 
and  deep  snow,  adds  that Im  both  sexes  have  blue  or  black  bars 
of  from  one  to  four  straight  lines  on  their  cheeks  or  forehead, 
to  distinguish  the  tribe  to  which  they  belong.  He  also  asserts 
that 1775  the  men  of  both  the  Slave  and  Dog-rib  tribes  of  Indians 
have  two  double  lines,  either  black  or  blue,  tattooed  upon  each 
cheek,  from  the  ear  to  the  nose,  and  that  some  of  the  Kniste- 
naux  women 1771  tatoo  three  perpendicular  lines,  which  are  some 
times  double,  one  from  the  center  of  the  chin  to  that  of  the  under 
lip,  and  one  parallel  on  either  side  to  the  corner  of  the  mouth. 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES."    347 

Powers  remarks  that  the  Karok2058  squaws  tattoo  in  blue  three 
narrow  fern-leaves  perpendicularly  on  the  chin,  one  falling  from 
each  corner  of  the  mouth,  and  one  in  the  middle,  and  that  the 
Wintun2059  squaws  all  tattoo  three  narrow  lines,  one  falling 
from  each  corner  of  the  mouth,  and  one  between. 

IV. — IF  THE  MARKS  ABE  LARGE  AND  STRAIGHT,  THEY  INDICATE 
THAT  THOSE  WHO  HAVE  THEM  ARE  OP  THE  HIGHER  CLASSES  ; 
BUT  IP  THEY  ARE  SMALL  AND  CROOKED,  THEN  THEIR  POSSESSORS 
ARE  OP  THE  LOWER  CLASSES. 

Armstrong  states  that  at  Point  Barrow  some  of  the  wom 
en  103  "  have  two  vertical  lines  protruding  from  either  angle 
of  the  mouth  ;  which  is  a  mark  of  their  high  position  in  the 
tribe." 

V. THE    PEOPLE    OF   THE     LAND  ARE    OP   A   MERRY   NATURE, 

AND    THEY   REJOICE  WHEN  THEY    HAVE  AN   ABUNDANCE,  EVEN  OF 
ARTICLES    THAT   ARE   OF   LITTLE   VALUE. 

It  is  singular  that  nearly  every  traveler  to  Alaska  and  the 
Aleutian  Islands  has  mentioned  this  peculiarity  in  the  disposi 
tion  of  the  people,  by  which  they  are  clearly  distinguished  from 
the  taciturn  and  phlegmatic  tribes  occupying  other  portions  of 
the  American  Continent. 

Bancroft  states  that 109  the  Aleuts  are  fond  of  dancing. 
Langsdorff  asserts  that 169S  the  character  of  the  people  of  the 
island  of  Unalaska  is  in  general  kind  and  good-natured,  sub 
missive,  and  obedient.  Ball  states  m6  that  originally  the  Aleu 
tian  tribes  were  active  and  sprightly,  and  that,1172  like  most 
of  the  Innuit  tribes,  they  were  fond  of  dances  and  festivals, 
which,  like  those  of  Norton  Sound,  were  chiefly  celebrated  in 
December.  Food  was  then  plenty,  and  the  otter-hunting 
season  did  not  commence  till  a  little  later.1157  Whole  villages 
entertained  other  villages,  receiving  the  guests  with  songs  and 
tambourines.  Successive  dances  of  children,  naked  men  beating 
their  rude  drums,  and  women  curiously  attired,  were  followed 
by  incantations  from  the  shamans.  If  a  whale  was  cast  ashore, 
the  natives  assembled  with  joyous  and  remarkable  ceremonies. 
They  advanced  and  beat  drums  of  different  sizes.  The  carcass 
was  then  cut  up,  and  a  feast  held  on  the  spot. 

This  peculiarity  seems  to  be  shared  by  the  Kamtchatkans, 
for  it  is  stated  of  them  that 1641  they  pass  their  time  in  singing 
and  dancing,  and  in  relating  their  intrigues,  and  the  greatest 


34:8  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

misfortune   that  they   can   suffer  is   to   be   deprived  of  these 
amusements. 

VI. — TRAVELING  VISITORS  DO  NOT  PREPARE  FOOD  FOR  THEIR 

JOURNEYS,    AND    THEY     HAVE     THE    SHELTER    OF   THEIR    (THE    IN 
HABITANTS')  DWELLINGS. 

By  referring  to  the  seventeenth  chapter,  it  will  be  seen  that 
some  of  the  former  translators  of  this  passage  have  thought  that 
reference  was  made  to  "  a  fertile  land,  where  all  that  is  neces 
sary  to  sustain  life  may  be  found  in  abundance  ";  to  a  country 
where  "the  various  products  are  abundant  and  cheap,"  and 
where  "  the  travelers  who  pass  through  it  have  no  need  to  fur 
nish  themselves  with  provisions."  The  Marquis  d'Hervey  de 
Saint-Denys  renders  the  first  clause  of  the  paragraph  above 
quoted,  " The  traveler  easily  finds  food";  and  in  another  place 
translates  the  same  clause,  "  The  traveler  has  no  need  to  carry 
food  with  him  (the  country  furnishing  it  to  him  in  abundance)." 

The  version  of  this  passage  by  Professor  Williams  will  be 
seen,  however,  to  agree  in  its  main  features  with  that  given  by 
the  present  author. 

The  statement  of  the  Chinese  account  is,  that  "traveling 
visitors  do  not  prepare  food  for  their  journeys  ";  and  the  in 
ference  of  former  translators,  that  the  reason  is  that  "  the  coun 
try  furnishes  it  in  abundance,"  is  merely  an  inference,  and  hap 
pens  to  be  erroneous. 

The  true  reason  is,  that  the  people,  although  poor,  are  so  hos 
pitable  that  they  supply  travelers  freely  with  all  that  they  them 
selves  have.  This  complete  hospitality,  which  is  carried  to  such 
a  point  that  it  is  considered  to  be  a  right  of  the  traveler  to  share 
freely  of  all  that  may  be  found  in  the  dwellings  that  he  enters, 
and  that  there  is  no  thought  on  either  side  that  it  is  an  act  of 
mere  courtesy,  is  characteristic  of  the  aborigines  of  the  Ameri 
can  Continent ;  as  it  existed  throughout  all  of  North  America, 
at  least,  and  was  probably  found  in  South  America  also  ;  while 
it  is  doubtful  whether  the  same  universal  and  complete  hospi 
tality  has  existed  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

So  accustomed  were  all  or  nearly  all  of  the  tribes  of  America 
to  this  hearty  welcome  in  every  house  that  they  entered,  that 
Mr.  Stephen  Badger,  in  a  letter  to  the  Massachusetts  His 
torical  Society,  published  in  1798,  complains  that  "6  the  Indians 
are  strangely  disposed  and  addicted  to  wander  from  place  to 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES."    349 

place,  and  to  make  excursions  into  various  parts  of  the  country, 
and  sometimes  at  no  small  distance  from  their  proper  homes, 
without  anything  on  hand  for  their  support  in  their  perambula 
tions,  as  for  this  they  depend,  with  unanxious  concern,  upon  the 
charity  and  compassion  of  others. 

Morgan  says  that1936  one  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  In 
dian  society  was  the  spirit  of  hospitality  by  which  it  was  per 
vaded.  Perhaps  no  people  ever  carried  this  principle  to  the 
same  degree  of  universality  as  did  the  Iroquois.  Their  houses 
were  not  only  open  to  each  other,  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  of 
the  night,  but  also  to  the  wayfarer  and  the  stranger.  Such 
entertainment  as  their  means  afforded  was  freely  spread  before 
him,  with  words  of  kindness  and  of  welcome.  He  states  again 
that,1919  among  the  Iroquois,  hospitality  was'  an  established 
usage.  If  a  man  entered  an  Indian  house  in  any  of  their  vil 
lages,  whether  a  villager,  a  tribesman,  or  a  stranger,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  women  therein  to  set  food  before  him.  An  omis 
sion  to  do  this  would  have  been  a  discourtesy  amounting  to  an 
affront.  If  hungry,  he  ate  ;  if  not  hungry,  courtesy  required 
that  he  should  taste  the  food  and  thank  the  giver.  This  would 
be  repeated  at  every  house  he  entered,  and  at  whatever  hour  in 
the  day.  As  a  custom  it  was  upheld  by  a  rigorous  public  senti 
ment.  The  same  hospitality  was  extended  to  strangers  from 
their  own  and  from  other  tribes.  Upon  the  advent  of  the  Euro 
pean  race  among  them  it  was  also  extended  to  them.  Quotations 
follow  from  "  Smith's  History  of  Virginia,"  from  the  Rev.  John 
Heckewelder,  from  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  from  many  others,  to 
show  that  this  hospitality  is  universal  among  the  Indian  tribes. 

In  another  place  1937  Morgan  gives  the  following  anecdote  in 
illustration  of  the  difference  between  the  hospitality  of  the  In 
dians  and  that  of  the  whites  : 

Canassatego,  a  distinguished  Onondaga  chief,  who  flourished 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  said,  in  a  conversation  with 
Conrad  Weiser,  an  Indian  interpreter  :  "  You  know  our  prac 
tice.  If  a  white  man,  in  traveling  through  our  country,  enters 
one  of  our  cabins,  we  all  treat  him  as  I  do  you.  We  dry  him  if 
he  is  wet,  we  warm  him  if  he  is  cold,  and  give  him  meat  and 
drink  that  he  may  allay  his  hunger  and  thirst ;  and  we  spread 
soft  furs  for  him  to  rest  and  sleep  on.  We  demand  nothing  in 
return.  But  if  I  go  into  a  white  man's  house  at  Albany,  and  ask 


350  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

for  victuals  and  drink,  they  say,  '  Where  is  your  money  ? '  And 
if  I  have  none,  they  say,  '  Get  out,  you  Indian  dog  I '  " 

Mackenzie  speaks  particularly  m2  of  the  generosity  and  hos 
pitality  of  the  Knistenaux  ;  and  Ross 216S  mentions  several  in 
stances  2164  in  which  he  had  "  ample  proof  of  the  hospitality  "  2163 
of  the  Esquimaux  whom  he  met. 

To  return  to  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  :  Dall  mentions 
a  case  of  great  kind-heartedness  shown  to  him  by  two  of  the 
natives  of  Alaska.1152  He  says  again  of  the  Aleutians  that1171  hos 
pitality  was  one  of  their  prominent  traits. 

Quoting  from  Veniaminoff,  he  says 1169  that  it  is  the  custom  of 
the  Aleutians  for  the  successful  hunter  or  fisher,  particularly  in 
times  of  scarcity,  to  share  his  prize  with  all,  not  only  taking  no 
large  share,  but  often  less  than  the  others  ;  and  if  he  has  forgotten 
any  one  at  the  distribution,  or  any  one  arrives  too  late,  he  shares 
the  remainder  with  him.  All  those  in  need  of  assistance  hasten 
to  meet  the  returning  hunter  at  the  landing,  and  sit  down  silently 
by  the  shore.  This  is  a  sign  that  they  ask  for  aid  ;  only  the 
infirm  or  orphans  send  persons  to  represent  them  :  and  the  hunt 
er  divides  his  prize,  without  expecting  thanks  or  restitution. 

Continuing  his  quotations  from  the  same  authority,  he  adds  : 1161 

"  The  Aleuts  are  not  inhospitable,  but  they  practice  hospital 
ity  in  their  own  way.  They  meet  all  strangers  at  the  landing- 
place,  though  rarely  saluting  them  by  word  or  sign,  except 
where  they  have  learned  the  custom,  daily  becoming  more  uni 
versal,  from  the  Russians.  If  the  stranger  has  a  relative  or  inti 
mate  friend,  he  goes  to  him  ;  if  not,  no  one  will  invite  him,  but 
all  are  ready  to  receive  him  :  he  can  choose  his  quarters  himself. 
Then  he  is  entertained  in  the  best  manner  ;  the  woman  of  the 
house  takes  care  of  his  clothing,  mending  his  kamlayka,  or  what 
ever  stands  in  need  of  repair  ;  but  she  is  not  obliged  to  receive 
him,  as  was  formerly  customary.  They  never  think  of  asking 
their  guest  for  anything,  but  let  him  stay  as  long  as  he  may  ; 
they  even  provide  him  with  food  of  every  kind  when  he  departs" 

The  duplication  by  Veniaminoff,  in  the  clause  in  italics,  of  the 
statement  given  in  the  Chinese  account,  should  be  particularly 
observed. 

Bancroft  says  that109  the  Aleuts  are  given  to  hospitality  ;  and 
Coxe  mentions  that 1124  when  the  natives  of  the  Fox  Islands  are 
on  a  journey,  and  their  provisions  are  exhausted,  they  beg  from 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND  OF   "MAKKED  BODIES."    351 

village  to  village,  or  call  upon  their  friends  and  relations  for 
assistance. 

VII. — THEY  HAVE  NO  FORTIFICATIONS  OB  WALLED  CITIES. 

This  is  so  well  known  to  be  true  of  the  Aleutians  and  Alas 
kans,  that  no  quotations  upon  the  subject  will  be  necessary. 

VIII. THE     RESIDENCE     OF    THE    KING    (OR    KINGS)    OF    THE 

COUNTRY  IS  ADORNED  WITH  GOLD  AND  SILVER  AND  PRECIOUS 
AND  BEAUTIFUL  OBJECTS  ABOUT  THE  DWELLING. 

First,  as  to  the  ruler,  Bancroft  states  that,110  in  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands,  every  island,  and,  in  the  larger  islands,  every  village, 
has  its  toyon,*  or  chief,  who  decides  differences,  is  exempt  from 
work,  and  is  allowed  a  servant  to  row  his  boat,  but  in  other  re 
spects  possesses  no  power. 

The  houses  of  the  chiefs  are  not  now  decorated  in  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands  as  described  in  the  account,  but  some  remnants  of 
such  decoration  still  exist  in  Alaska,  and,  by  going  a  little  way 
down  the  American  coast,  we  find,  among  the  Haidah  Indians 
(who,  as  has  already  been  stated,  seem  to  be  intruders  in  their 
present  position,  and  who  may  have  migrated  from  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands  or  their  neighbourhood  during  the  last  fourteen 
hundred  years),  carvings  and  decorations  which  recall  the  de 
scription  given  above. 

As  it  is  mentioned,  a  little  farther  on  in  the  account,  that,  in 
their  barters,  precious  gems  are  used  (as  the  standard  of  value, 
instead  of  gold  and  silver),  it  is  evident  that,  at  the  time  when 
the  residence  of  the  chief  was  adorned  with  gold  and  silver, 
these  metals  were  used  merely  as  ornaments.  After  their  value 
as  the  medium  of  exchange  with  foreign  nations  was  learned,  it 
is  not  likely  that  the  outside  of  any  dwelling  would  long  be 
covered  with  them,  and  they  would,  therefore,  soon  be  replaced 
with  other  decorations. 

Swan,  in  his  account  of  the  Haidah  Indians,  gives  an  engrav 
ing  which  he  says  8422  is  intended  to  represent  one  of  the  carved 
posts  or  pillars  which  are  raised  in  front  of  the  houses  of  the 
chiefs  or  principal  men.  These  pillars  are  sometimes  from  fifty 
to  sixty  feet  high,  elaborately  carved,  at  a  cost  of  hundreds  of 

*  This  word,  which  is  found  with  the  same  meaning,  and  with  but  slight 
changes  in  sound,  throughout  Eastern  Asia,  and  in  the  Aleutian  Islands  and 
Alaska,  is  a  proof  of  an  early  communication  between  the  two  continents. — E. 
P.  V. 


352  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

blankets  ;  some  of  the  best  ones  even  costing  several  thousand 
dollars  :  consequently,  only  the  most  wealthy  individuals  of  the 
tribe  are  able  to  purchase  the  best  specimens.  These  pillars  are 
carved  out  of  a  single  cedar-tree,  the  back  hollowed  so  as  to  re 
lieve  the  weight  when  raising  it  in  a  perpendicular  position. 
They  are  deeply  and  firmly  set  in  the  earth,  directly  in  front  of 
the  lodge,  and  a  circular  opening  near  the  ground  constitutes  the 
door  of  entrance  to  the  house.  The  Chimsean  Indians,  at  Fort 
Simpson,  and  the  Sitka  tribes,  have  this  style  of  carved  posts, 
but  they  set  them  at  a  short  distance  from  the  front  of  their 
houses.  The  figures  carved  on  these  posts  are  the  family  totems, 
or  heraldic  designs  of  the  family  occupying  the  house  ;  and  as 
these  Indians  build  large  wooden  lodges,  capable  of  containing 
several  families,  the  carvings  may  be  said  to  indicate  the  family 
names  of  the  different  occupants.  The  chief  or  head  man  owns 
the  house,  and  the  occupants  are  his  family  and  relatives. 

Dall  mentions  similar  1162  high  posts,  curiously  carved,  as  being 
frequently  erected  before  the  houses  of  the  Thlinkeets,  and  says 
that  they  are  sometimes  placed  directly  in  front,  so  that  an  en 
trance  is  made  through  the  block  or  log,  which  is  often  of  enor 
mous  size. 

The  Niskah  or  Naas  Indians,  of  British  Columbia,  have  elabo 
rately  carved  poles  in  front  of  many  of  their  houses.  Some  of 
the  houses  have  their  fronts  built  in  the  form  of  an  animal's 
head.  The  front  of  one  of  their  houses  is  described  as  shaped 
like  a  wolf's  head,  the  nose  being  the  porch,  and  the  mouth  the 
door.14"4  A  chief's  rank  is  marked  by  the  height  of  the  pole 
erected  in  front  of  his  house  (on  which  the  crest  which  distin 
guishes  his  division  of  the  tribe  is  carved) ;  and  no  offense  leads 
to  more  frequent  quarrels  than  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  a 
chief  to  put  up  a  pole  higher  than  his  rank  warrants.1423 

Fondness  for  ornamentation  is  shown  by  both  the  Alaskans 
and  Aleuts,  their  boats  being  frequently1173  inlaid  very  prettily 
with  lozenge-shaped  pieces  of  gypsum. 

The  same  love  for  such  ornamentation,  which  led  to  the  deco 
ration  of  their  houses,  is  still  shown  in  many  smaller  matters. 
Langsdorff  says  that 1697  the  Aleutian,  who  but  seldom  has  an  op 
portunity  of  obtaining  a  piece  of  good  wood  a  few  inches  in  diam 
eter,  when  he  obtains  a  suitable  piece,  occupies  himself  for  weeks 
together  in  shaping  it  into  a  board  so  made  that,  when  it  has 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND  OF  "MARKED  BODIES."    353 


been  soaked  in  water  for  some  little  time,  it  can  be  bent  evenly 
and  uniformly.  He  then  attempts  to  gradually  bring  together 
the  two  corners  of  the  little  board,  which  he  has  previously 
given  the  form  of  a  semi-oval,  and  sew  them  together  with  sinew- 
thread,  by  which  means  a  pyramidical  cap  is  made.  If  he  is 
successful  in  this  work,  which  is  not  always  the  case,  for  the 
board  often  either  breaks  or  bends  unevenly,  he  paints  it  with 
coloured  earth  and  ocher,  brought  from  the  far  distant  crater  of 
the  volcano,  and  adorns  it  with  figures  labouriously  carved  from 
walrus-tusks,  without  any  tools  worthy  of  the  name.  He  also 
decorates  it  with  glass  or  amber  beads,  obtained  from  the  Rus 
sians,  and  with  the  bristles  from  the  muzzle  of  the  sea-lion,  which 
to  a  certain  extent  take  the  place  of  the  ornamental  plumes  used 
by  Europeans  ;  the  Aleutians  placing  a  high  value  upon  a  bunch 
of  these  bristles — which  are  the  trophies  of  a  successful  hunter 
— as  each  sea-lion  has  but  four. 

IX. — THEY  MAKE  A  DITCH  OF  A  BKEADTH  OF  ONE  ROD  (of 
ten  Chinese  feet,  or  nearly  twelve  English  feet),  WHICH  is  FILLED 

WITH  WATER-SILVER.  WHEN  IT  RAINS,  THEN  THE  RAIN  FLOWS 
UPON  THE  SURFACE  OF  THE  WATER-SILVER. 

As  the  Chinese  seldom  punctuate  their  writings,  it  is  uncer 
tain  whether  the  clause  "  ABOUT  THE  DWELLING,"  which  in  the 
present  translation  was  used  as  the  closing  member  of  the  pre 
ceding  phrase,  may  not  really  be  the  opening  clause  of  the  pres 
ent  sentence ;  in  which  case  the  ditch  above  mentioned  should 
be  considered  as  surrounding  the  house  or  houses,  either  of  the 
ruler  or  of  the  people. 

Coxe  says  that  the  inhabitants  of  some  of  the  Aleutian  Isl 
ands  lm  live  in  holes  dug  in  the  earth,  but  elsewhere  ""  explains 
his  meaning  more  clearly  by  saying  that  their  1121  dwellings  are 
hollowed  in  the  ground,  and  covered  with  wooden  roofs,  resem 
bling  the  huts  in  the  peninsula  of  Kamtchatka.  These  are  de 
scribed  as  1643  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  earth,  or  by  a  palisade. 
Langsdorff  states  that M96  the  dwellings  of  the  Unalaskans  consist 
of  pits,  which  are  covered  with  a  roof  of  earth  thrown  over  them, 
upon  which,  after  they  have  stood  for  a  few  years,  high  grass 
grows,  so  that  a  village  then  resembles  a  European  church-yard 
with  high  grave-mounds.  He  adds  that,1701  although  the  dwell 
ings  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kadiak  are  in  most  respects  like  those 
of  the  Unalaskans,  they  differ  somewhat,  from  the  fact  that  more 
23 


354:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

wood  is  used  in  their  construction.  These  houses,  half-buried 
in  the  earth,  although  without  stoves,  are  warm  enough  in  the 
winter  to  protect  their  inhabitants  from  the  cold. 

It  is  evident  from  these  quotations  that  the  earth,  excavated 
within  the  walls  of  the  dwelling,  is  thrown  up  about  them  out 
side  and  upon  the  roof.  Those  who  have  had  occasion  to  erect 
tents  know  that  one  of  the  most  essential  precautions  to  secure 
comfort  is  to  dig  a  small  trench  about  them,  to  carry  away  any 
rain  that  may  fall ;  and  in  a  country  so  intolerably I1M  rainy  as 
is  Alaska,1163  it  would  seem  as  if  a  ditch  about  the  houses  were 
an  absolute  necessity.  Hayden  describes  the  cabins  or  huts  of 
the  Arikaras 1463  in  very  much  the  same  language  as  that  used 
above  in  picturing  the  dwellings  of  the  Alaskans,  and  adds  : 
"  Around  the  house,  on  the  outside,  a  small  trench  is  dug,  to  carry 
away  the  rain."  No  such  ditches  are  described  as  existing  in 
Alaska,  however,  although  Petroff  states  that  203°  storms  and  tides 
often1  inundate  the  swampy  shore  on  which  their  partly  sub 
terranean  dwellings  are  built,  and,  filling  them  with  water,  drive 
the  inmates  out ;  while  Dall  also  concurs  in  the  statement  that "" 
their  underground  houses  are,  in  summer,  full  of  water. 

It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  Hwui  Shan  meant  to  say  that 
the  ditch  or  ditches  surrounded  the  houses.  All  that  can  be  de 
rived  with  certainty  from  his  words  is,  that  somewhere  in  the 
country  he  saw  one  or  more  ditches  filled  with  a  substance  suf 
ficiently  remarkable  to  be,  in  his  opinion,  worthy  of  mention. 

He  describes  this  substance  as  "water-silver."  Now,  although 
this  term  usually  means  quicksilver  119°  (and  it  has  therefore  been 
so  translated  by  all  others),  yet  here  it  seems  to  be  impossible 
that  it  can  have  been  used  otherwise  than  as  a  descriptive  phrase 
for  ice.  We,  who  see  every  year  the  wonderful  transformation 
of  water  into  a  solid  crystalline  substance,  easily  forget  the  sur 
prising  nature  of  the  change  to  one  who  has  not  been  accustomed 
to  it.  The  king  of  Siam  could  believe  all  the  marvelous  tales 
of  foreign  lands  that  were  told  to  him,  until  this  transformation 
was  mentioned.  Then  his  credulity  was  taxed  too  far,  and  he 
announced  his  disbelief,  and  the  reasons  for  it.  "  Water,"  said 
he,1038  "  is  a  fluid,  and  a  fluid  is  not  a  compact  body  ;  therefore, 
water  can  never  appear  in  a  compact  form,  and  all  the  fables 
about  ice,  snow,  and  hail  are  unworthy  of  credit." 

Now,  although  ice  is  occasionally  formed  in  Northern  China, 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES."    355 

the  temperature  is  seldom  low  enough 986  to  form  it  at  Canton  ; 
and,  as  it  is  seen  throughout  the  most  of  China  and  other  coun 
tries  of  Southern  Asia,  it  is  merely  a  thin  and  easily  melted  cake, 
differing  widely  from  the  glittering  and  immensely  thick  mass 
which  is  formed  in  the  ditches  in  the  Aleutian  Islands.  It  is 
therefore  not  surprising  that  Hwui  Shan  should  have  spoken  of 
the  great  thickness  of  ice  seen  in  this  country.  The  character 
CHI,*  in  the  phrase,  may  possibly  be  used,  not  in  its  most  common 
sense,  as  a  mere  particle  indicating  the  relations  to  each  other  of 
the  words  between  which  it  is  placed,  but  in  its  original  sense 
as  a  verb,  meaning 2412  "  to  proceed,  to  go  to," 1305  "  to  proceed 
to,"  or,  as  Professor  Williams  defines  it,  "to  pass  from  one 
state  to  another,"  and  it  seems  not  impossible  that  Hwui  Shan 
may  have  meant  that  the  rain  passed  from  the  state  of  a  fluid 
into  that  of  the  "  water-silver."  The  passage  is  very  obscure, 
and  many  educated  Chinamen  have  confessed  that  they  were 
unable  to  decide  with  certainty  as  to  its  meaning. 

Had  it  been  the  intention  to  say  that  the  ditches  were  filled 
with  quicksilver,  there  is2531  a  character1866  (^,  HUNG)  meaning 
quicksilver,  which  could  have  been  used  instead  of  the  compound 
"water-silver."  This  would  have  placed  the  meaning  beyond 
question,  and  the  nature  of  the  Chinese  language  is  such  that 
it  will  hardly  permit  two  characters  to  be  used  when  one  would 
fully  express  the  meaning. 

It  is  possible  that  the  original  term  may  have  been  "icy- 
silver,"  as  ;J^,  PING,  ice?™  differs  by  only  one  dot  from  7]^,  SHUI, 
water.  It  seems  more  likely,  however,  that  Hwui  Shan  wished  to 
distinguish  between  this  hard,  solid,  transparent  ice  of  the  Arctic 
regions,  and  the  thin  crusts,  scarcely  deserving  the  name,  which 
were  all  that  could  be  seen  in  China  ;  and,  in  order  to  do  so,  he 
used  a  compound  analogous  to  a  number  of  others  existing  in 
Chinese.  Quartz  crystal  is,  for  instance,  called2574  SHUI-TSING, 
"  water  -  crystal,"  or2578  SHUI-YUH,  "water-gem."  This  last 
term  was  also  applied  to  glass,2658  "because  it  is  clear  as  water 
and  hard  as  a  gem,"  when  that  substance  was  first  introduced  in 
China  a  few  centuries  ago.  "Water-silver"  is  as  appropriate 
and  natural  a  term  for  ice  as  the  other  compounds  above  named 
are  for  the  substances  to  which  they  are  applied. 

It  should  be  again  insisted  that  Hwui  Shan  is  fairly  entitled 

*  See  chap,  xvii,  character  No.  706. 


356  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

to  that  translation  of  his  account  which  will  make  his  story  con 
form  with  the  truth,  provided  that  such  a  translation  is  possible. 
If  he  were  relying  upon  his  imagination,  innumerable  statements 
would  be  made  which  no  possible  ingenuity  could  harmonize 
with  the  truth.  If  "  water-silver  "  is  translated  "  ice,"  all  diffi 
culties  vanish,  and  his  account  becomes  simple  and  truthful.  If 
it  is  translated  "  quicksilver,"  we  become  involved  in  manifest 
absurdities,  as,  for  instance  :  "  When  the  ditch  is  filled  with  quick 
silver,  and  the  rain  is  allowed  to  flow  off  from  the  quicksilver, 
the  water  is  then  regarded  in  the  markets  as  a  precious  rarity." 
This  should  not  be  understood  as  an  imputation  upon  the  schol 
arship  of  the  late  Professor  Williams,  the  depth  of  whose  learn 
ing,  and  whose  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Chinese  language 
are  too  well  known  to  need  mention.  .His  translation  is  quoted 
merely  as  showing  the  utter  absurdity  of  the  whole  passage  if 
"  water-silver  "  is  translated  by  its  usual  equivalent  of  "  quick 
silver."  There  never  was  a  country  in  which  there  was  a  ditch 
filled  with  quicksilver.  If  such  a  country  had  ever  existed,  rain 
water  flowing  upon  it,  and  then  flowing  off  from  it,  would  not 
be  in  any  way  affected  by  it ;  and  if  the  water  were  affected  by 
it,  it  could  not  be  considered  in  the  markets  as  a  precious  rarity, 
as  an  unlimited  amount  of  water  could  have  been  permitted  to 
flow  over  it.  Can  it  be  believed  that  any  sane  man  would  ever 
have  told  so  absurd  a  story  ? 

X. — IN   THEIR    TEAFFIC    THEY    USE    PEECIOUS    GEMS  (or   Valu- 

ables — as  the  standard  of  value — instead  of  gold  or  silver). 

As  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Langs- 
dorff  stated  that m3  no  money  was  current  in  the  country.  Yeni- 
aminoff  116°  describes  the  custom  of  bartering  existing  among  the 
Aleuts,  and  says  that  "  it  is  of  great  age,  and  has  been  preserved 
without  change."  Dall  mentions 1165  amethysts,  zeolites,  tourma 
lines,  garnets,  spinel,  agates,  carnelians,  variegated  marble,  hy- 
pochlorite  (commonly  used  for  ornaments  by  the  natives,  resem 
bling  jade,  and  sometimes  called  malachite),  and  fossil  ivory,  as 
existing  in  Alaska. 

Langsdorff  says  that1704  a  species  of  mussel-shell,  the  sea- 
tooth  (Dentdlium  entails),  which  is  called  tache,  or  heikwa,  is 
very  highly  prized  by  -the  Aleutians,  and  even  now  is  in  great 
request.  Bancroft  states  that 106  at  times  amber  is  thrown  up  in 
large  quantities  by  the  ocean  on  the  south  side  of  Kadiak,  gen- 


CUSTOMS   OF  THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES."    357 

erally  after  a  heavy  earthquake,  and  that  at  such  times  it  forms 
an  important  article  of  commerce  with  the  natives.  Dall 1159  also 
speaks  of  their  fondness  for  amber,  and  states  that  among im  the 
relics  forwarded  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  from  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands,  was  one  rude  amber  bead,  evidently  of  native  make, 
on  a  sinew  thread.  The  amber  was  obtained  from  the  lignite 
beds,  which  are  reported  on  the  islands  of  Amchitka,  Atka,  and 
Unalaska,  and  may  exist  elsewhere.  We  know  that  amber  was 
held  in  great  esteem  by  the  early  natives,  and  extraordinary 
value  set  upon  it.  This  bead,  therefore,  may  have  represented 
in  value  a  good  many  sea-otter  skins. 

Amber  is  among  the  articles  included  by  the  Chinese  under 
the  general  term  "gems,"  and  its  value  in  China  was  formerly 
very  great.9™ 

XI. — THEY  (the  people  of  Great  Han)  HAVE  NO  MILITARY 

WEAPONS,  AND  DO  NOT  WAGE  WAR. 

This  well  characterizes  the  peaceful  Esquimaux,  and  is  a 
statement  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  make  with  truth  regard 
ing  any  of  the  tribes  of  Northeastern  Asia. 

XII. HE  WHO  HAS  COMMITTED  A  PETTY    CRIME  IS   SCOURGED. 

HE  WHO  IS  ACCUSED  OF  A  CRIME  DESERVING  DEATH  IS  THROWN 
TO  WILD  BEASTS  TO  BE  DEVOURED.  IF  THE  ACCUSATION  IS  CA 
LUMNIOUS,  THE  BEASTS  KEEP  AT  A  DISTANCE  FROM  HIM,  IT  IS  SAID 

(instead  of  devouring  him)  ;  THEN,  AFTER  A  NIGHT  (of  trial),  HE 

IS  SET  AT  LIBERTY. 

This  statement  was  copied  by  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint- 
Denys  from  the  Chinese  "History  of  the  South."  Ma  Twan- 
lin,  for  some  reason,  did  not  think  it  best  to  include  it  in  his 
account.  The  white  bears  and  other  large  wild  beasts,  which 
once  existed  in  the  Aleutian  Islands,  have  long  been  extinct. 
No  trace  of  the  custom  above  referred  to  can  therefore  now  be 
found  in  those  islands,  and  the  most  that  could  be  expected  to 
have  survived  to  the  present  day  would  be  some  dim  trace,  to 
be  found  among  the  nearly  allied  tribes  of  Kamtchatka  or 
Alaska. 

The  author  fancies  that  he  has  seen  an  account  of  the  aban 
donment  to  wild  beasts,  by  the  Alaskans,  of  some  alleged  witch 
es  ;  but  if  so,  he  is  unable  to  find  it  again.  Possibly  the  night 
of  trial  through  which  their  medicine-men  pass  before  assuming 
the  office,  when,  alone  in  the  forest  or  plains,  they  wait  for  their 


358  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

guardian  spirit  to  appear  to  them  in  the  guise  of  some  wild  ani 
mal,  may  be  a  trace  of  the  ancient  custom. 

Something  of  the  kind  may  still  exist  in  Kamtchatka,  as  it 
is  stated  that  those  who  have  committed  a  theft 1642  are  released, 
for  the  first  offense,  by  returning  what  they  have  taken,  and  by 
living  isolated  from  dealings  with  their  countrymen,  without 
being  able  to  expect  any  help  from  them. 

If  it  be  considered  that  any  difficulties  in  the  foregoing  ac 
count  are  not  satisfactorily  explained,  let  it  be  asked  again, 
Which  one  of  the  possible  theories  upon  the  subject  is  accom 
panied  by  the  fewest  and  least  serious  difficulties  ? 

Is  it  possible  that  Hwui  Shan  could  have  told  the  following 
truths,  except  as  the  result  of  an  actual  visit  to  America  by  way 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands  ? 

1.  Land  was  to  be- found  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  some  twenty- 
three  hundred  miles  northeasterly  from  Japan. 

2.  Some  sixteen  hundred  miles  farther  east,  land  was  again 
to  be  found. 

3.  The  journey  could  be  continued  easterly,  for  some  six 
thousand  miles  at  least,  and  land  would  still  be  found. 

4.  The  second  of  the  countries  mentioned  by  him  was  known 
as  a  "  great "  land  ;   and  it  not  only  lay  east  of  the  first  coun 
try,  but  was  so  extensive  that  it  also  lay  to  the  east  of  China. 

5.  The  people  of  the  first  two  countries  were  alike  in  their 
customs,  but  their  languages  were  different. 

6.  The  people  of  the  first  of  the  countries   tattooed    their 
bodies. 

7.  They  had  the  custom  of  tattooing  some  portion  of  the 
face  with  three  lines. 

8.  These  lines  indicated  the  position  of  their  owner  in  the 
tribe. 

9.  The  people  were  of  so  merry  and  joyous  a  nature  that  the 
fact  was  worthy  of  notice. 

10.  They  were  so  hospitable  as  to  furnish  their  visitors,  not 
only  with  shelter,  but  also  with  food  for  their  journeys. 

11.  They  had  no  fortifications  or  walled  cities. 

12.  They  had  no  military  weapons  and  did  not  wage  war. 

13.  The  dwellings  of  their  chief  men  were  curiously  adorned, 
externally. 

14.  The  ditches  in  their  land  were  filled  with  some  singular 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  LAND   OF   "MARKED  BODIES."    359 

substance  to  which  the  term  "  water-silver "  could  be  applied, 
and  this  substance  was  in  some  way  connected  with  the  rain. 

15.  Gold  and  silver  were  not  used  as  the  standards  of  value, 
but  their  place  was  filled  by  "  gems." 

If  it  be  assumed  that  there  is  just  one  chance  out  of  two 
that  each  one  of  these  statements  would  be  true  as  to  any  newly 
discovered  land,  then  the  probability  that  they  would  all  be  true 
is  as  one  to  the  fifteenth  power  of  two,  or  one  to  over  thirty-two 
thousand,  a  proportion  which  makes  it  practically  impossible 
that  the  story  can  have  been  imaginary.  It  will  readily  be  ad 
mitted  that  there  is  no  more  than  one  chance  out  of  two  that  any 
one  of  the  fifteen  statements  above  referred  to  would  be  true  of 
an  unknown  region,  and  it  is  evident  that  of  some  of  them  the 
chance  is  not  one  in  a  dozen.  The  probability  that  such  a  story, 
if  invented  by  one  who  knew  nothing  of  the  region,  would  prove, 
upon  exploration,  to  be  true,  instead  of  being  one  in  thirty-two 
thousand,  is  really,  therefore,  but  one  in  millions,  and  it  is  easier 
to  accept  almost  any  difficulty,  as  to  one  or  two  of  the  points, 
than  to  believe  that  the  account  was  imaginary,  or  that  it  related 
to  any  other  country. 

D'Hervey  (see  Chapter  XII)  has  clearly  explained  the  difficulty 
into  which  earlier  writers  had  been  led  by  confounding  the  two 
regions  called  Ta  Han,  or  Great  Han — one  to  the  north  of  China 
(and  hence  on  the  Asiatic  Continent),  and  the  other  to  the  east 
or  northeast  (and  hence  on  the  American  Continent).  This  con 
fusion  between  the  two  countries,  which  caused  de  Guignes  and 
other  writers  to  look  upon  the  Asiatic  Continent  for  Hwui  Shan's 
Great  Han  country,  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  desperate 
attempts  to  locate  Fu-sang,  also,  somewhere  else  than  in  America. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  COUNTRY  LYING   IN  THE   REGION  INDICATED   BY   HWUI    SHAN. 

The  direction  from  China,  Japan,  and  Great  Han  in  which  Fu-sang  lay  —  The 
trend  of  the  American  Pacific  coast  —  The  distortion  of  the  common  maps  — 
Mexico  lies  in  the  region  indicated  —  The  nations  inhabiting  Mexico  in  the 
fifth  century  —  Their  language  —  Traces  of  their  beliefs  and  customs  existing 
one  thousand  years  later—Aztec  traditions—  The  Toltecs—  Their  character— 
Their  civilization  —  The  time  of  their  dispersion  —  Their  language  —  The  Pacific 
coast  —  The  evidence  of  place-names  —  The  Aztec  language  —  Limits  of  the 
Mexican  empire  —  The  name  of  the  country—  The  city  of  Tenochtitlan  —  The 
application  of  the  name  "Mexico"  —  First  applied  to  the  country  —  Early 
maps  —  Late  application  of  the  name  to  the  city  —  Pronunciation  of  the  word 
—  Similar  names  throughout  the  country  —  Meaning  of  the  syllable  "  co  "  — 
Varying  explanations  —  Real  meaning  of  the  term  —  "  The  Place  of  the  Centu 
ry-plant  "  —  Meaning  of  the  syllable  "  ME  "  —  Meaning  of  the  syllable  "  xi  "  — 
Its  meaning  in  other  compounds  —  Other  abbreviations  —  Appropriateness  of 
the  designation  —  The  god  Mexitli  —  Proof  that  he  was  the  god  of  the  century- 
plant  —  Reason  that  the  Spaniards  were  misled  as  to  the  meaning  of  "  Mexico." 

HAVING,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  country  referred  to  by  Hwui  Shan  under  the  name  of 
"  Great  Han  "  was  located  in  the 


let  us  continue  the  examination  of  his  story,  and  endeavour  to 
identify  the  land  which  he  calls  the  country  of  Fu-sang.^ 

His  first  reference  to  it  is  as  follows  : 

I.  —  FU-SANG  is  SITUATED  TWICE  TEN  THOUSAND  LI  OR  MORE 

TO  THE  EAST  OF  THE  GREAT  HAN  COUNTRY.      THAT   LAND  IS  ALSO 
SITUATED    TO    THE    EAST    OF   THE   MlDDLE*  KlNGDOM    (China). 

Attention  should  first  be  called  to  a  fact,  already  noticed,  that, 
as  the  greater  part  of  the  route  from  Japan  to  the  Great  Han 
country  bears  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  the  route  from  the 
land  of  Great  Han  to  a  country  lying  to  the  east  of  China  can 
not  be  directly  east,  but  must  lie  somewhat  southerly. 

Probably  but  few  realize  how  the  western  coast  of  America 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI   SHAN.         361 

trends  toward  the  east.  We  are  so  accustomed  to  consider  the 
top  of  our  maps  as  the  north,  and  the  bottom  as  the  south,  and  to 
think,  half  unconsciously,  that  a  perpendicular  line  upon  the  map 
represents  a  true  north  and  south  line,  that,  when  we  see  the 
usual  maps  of  North  America  drawn  upon  the  customary  projec 
tion,  in  which,  in  order  to  represent  the  rounding  surface  of  the 
earth  upon  a  plane  surface  with  as  little  distortion  as  possible, 
the  westerly  meridians  are  drawn  sloping  from  near  the  center  of 
the  upper  margin  of  the  map  toward  the  lower  left-hand  corner, 
we  forget  that  these  sloping  lines  are  the  true  meridians,  and 
learn  to  consider  the  western  coast  of  America  as  bearing  almost 
north  and  south.  If  Hwui  Shan  had  said  that  the  land  six  thou 
sand  miles  beyond  Alaska  lay  to  the  south  of  that  country,  prob 
ably  no  one  would  have  thought  of  objecting  that  it  lay  also  to 
the  east ;  and  yet  it  is  quite  as  true  to  say  that  Mexico  lies  to  the 
east  of  Alaska  as  it  is  to  say  that  it  lies  to  the  south.  A  map  of 
the  northern  half  of  the  hemisphere  including  the  North  Pa 
cific  Ocean,  drawn  upon  the  customary  projection,  in  which 
the  meridians  passing  through  the  western  coast  of  America 
are  placed  upon  the  right  side  of  the  map,  instead  of  on  the 
left,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  see  them,  will  help  to  fix  the 
true  direction  of  the  coast  in  the  mind,  and  will  also  show  how 
natural  it  would  have  been  for  Hwui  Shan  to  consider  his  jour 
ney  beyond  Alaska  as  a  continuation  of  the  same  general  course 
which  he  had  been  pursuing,  and  not  as  an  abrupt  turn  at  right 
angles  from  the  east  to  the  south.  (See  Frontispiece.)  It  is 
difficult  for  us  to  realize  that  San  Francisco  lies  farther  east  of 
the  westernmost  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  than  Portland,  Maine, 
lies  east  of  San  Francisco,  and  that,  in  going  from  California  to 
Panama,  the  route  trends  so  much  toward  the  east  that  its  termi 
nus  is  found  to  be  upon  nearly  the  same  meridian  as  Washington. 

If  a  voyage  of  some  six  thousand  miles  (making  a  due  allow 
ance  for  the  sinuosity  of  the  coast,  and  for  a  slight  but  natural 
exaggeration  by  a  traveler  who  had  no  means  of  measuring  the 
distance  accurately)  were  made  from  Alaska,  in  an  easterly  di 
rection,  but  trending  toward  the  south,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the 
journey  the  destination  would  lie  easterly  from  China,  where 
would  the  traveler  find  himself  ? 

A  few  moments'  study  of  a  map  will  answer  the  question 
clearly  and  unmistakably  :  on  the  coast  of  Mexico. 


362  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

If  a  traveler  had  made  this  journey  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
fifth  century,  A.  D.,  what  tribe  of  people  would  he  have  found 
upon  the  Pacific  coast  of  Mexico,  what  language  was  then 
spoken  there,  what  were  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people, 
what  was  their  state  of  civilization,  and  by  what  name  was  the 
country  then  known  ? 

Here,  unfortunately,  except  for  the  account  given  by  Hwui 
Shan  himself,  we  are  compelled  to  rely  upon  tradition,  supple 
mented  only  by  a  few  scanty  hieroglyphical  records,  and  by 
vague  recollections  of  more  complete  accounts  which  once  exist 
ed  ;  upon  the  ruins  scattered  about  the  country,  and  upon  cus 
toms  and  arts,  which  had  evidently  come  down  from  distant 
generations,  which  were  found  to  exist  in  the  land  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  conquest.  It  is  surprising,  however,  to  find  how 
much  of  the  history  of  Mexico  at  the  time  spoken  of  may,  on 
close  and  careful  study,  be  vaguely  discerned  through  the  mists 
of  the  intervening  centuries. 

M.  Lenoir  very  justly  observes  that 1726  there  necessarily  ex 
isted  a  great  affinity  between  the  customs,  arts,  and  beliefs  of  the 
Mexicans,  at  the  time  of  their  conquest  by  the  Europeans,  and 
those  which  existed,  when  the  population  of  Guatemala  flour 
ished,  and  Palenque  and  Mitla  were  founded.  We  may,  there 
fore,  by  first  examining  the  religion,  the  customs,  the  arts,  and 
even  the  literature,  of  the  Mexicans  during  the  reign  of  Monte- 
zuma,  hope  to  obtain  some  knowledge  of  these  earlier  tribes, 
even  though  the  Mexicans  seem  to  have — to  a  great  extent — 
forgotten  them,  and  to  have  been  ignorant  in  regard  to  the 
state  of  civilization  which  had  been  reached  by  the  nations  who 
were  the  founders  of  their  arts  and  sciences. 

There  is  no  question  that  several  races  of  conquerors  suc 
ceeded  one  another  in  the  Mexican  empire,  and  that  they  had  suc 
cessively  adopted  the  religion  and  the  customs  of  the  vanquished 
people  ;  and  it  may  be  again  repeated  that  it  is  indisputable  that 
some  traces  of  the  primitive  religion  and  customs  must  have  sur 
vived,  and  that  a  mixture  of  the  old  and  the  new  religion  must 
have  occurred,  as  was  the  case  in  the  history  of  Christianity 
when  it  overcame  paganism. 

According  to  the  traditions  of  the  Aztecs,  they  migrated 
during  the  eleventh 1601  or  twelfth lm  century  to  the  region  where 
they  dwelt  at  the  time  of  the  conquest.  When  they  reached 


THE   COUNTRY  INDICATED   BY  HWUI  SHAN.         363 

this  country 1226  they,  according  to  Humboldt,  found  the  pyramidal 
monuments  of  Teotihuacan,  of  Cholula,  or  Cholollan,  and  of  Pa- 
pantla.  They  attributed  these  immense  works  to  the  Toltecs,  a 
powerful  and  civilized  nation  which  had  lived  in  Mexico  for  five 
hundred  years  ;  they  used  hieroglyphic  writing,  and  knew  the 
length  of  the  year  more  exactly  than  the  greater  part  of  the 
nations  of  the  Old  World.  The  Aztecs  did  not  certainly  know 
whether  other  tribes  had  lived  in  the  country  of  Anahuac  before 
the  Toltecs.  In  regarding  the  "  Houses  of  God  "  of  Teotihuacan 
and  Cholollan  as  the  work  of  this  last  nation,  they  assigned  to 
them  the  greatest  antiquity  of  which  they  had  any  knowledge. 
It  is  possible,  nevertheless,  that  they  were  constructed  before  the 
invasion  of  the  Toltecs— an  event  which,  according  to  some 
writers,  occurred  in  the  year  648  of  our  era. 

Humboldt  also  states,  in  another  place,1601  that  the  Toltecs 
preceded  the  Aztecs,  in  the  country  of  Anahuac,  by  more  than 
five  centuries,  and  differed  from  them  by  that  love  for  the  arts, 
and  that  religious  and  peaceful  character,  which  distinguished  the 
Etruscans  from  the  first  inhabitants  of  Rome. 

M.  Lenoir  says  that 1727  the  Toltecs,  who  inhabited  this  part 
of  America  toward  the  seventh  century,  and  who,  according  to 
tradition,  had  a  mild  and  gentle  religion,  and  offered  only  flowers 
and  fruits  to  their  gods,  were  displaced  successively  by  the 
Chichimecs  and  the  Aztecs,  whose  ferocious  and  sanguinary  relig 
ion  was  practiced  by  the  nation  over  whom  Montezuma  ruled 
at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest.  According  to  the  Mexican 
tradition,  the  Toltecs  who  inhabited  the  land  of  Anahuac  were 
far  advanced  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  After  their  migration  to 
the  Bay  of  Campeche  and  Honduras,  their  country  was  occu 
pied  by  the  Chichimecs,  a  warlike  and  ferocious  nation,  but  one 
whose  people  profited  by  the  presence  of  some  Toltecs  who  still 
remained  in  their  old  home,  and  acquired,  from  them,  a  knowl 
edge  of  agriculture  and  the  arts. 

Bancroft  also  refers  to  "the  old-time  story,  how  the  Tol 
tecs  in  the  sixth  century  appeared  on  the  Mexican  table-land  ; 
how  they  were  driven  out  and  scattered  in  the  seventh  century ; 
how,  after  a  brief  interval,  the  Chichimecs  followed  their  foot 
steps  ;  and  how  these  last  were  succeeded  by  the  Aztecs,  who  were 
found  in  possession." 

The  preceding  quotations  fix  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the 


364  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Toltecs  in  the  land  of  Mexico  as  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  century. 
The  traditions  are  too  vague  and  unreliable,  however,  and  the 
scanty  paintings  which  confirm  them  too  brief  and  uncertain  as  to 
their  precise  meaning,  to  permit  the  exact  century  to  be  deter 
mined  with  accuracy.  No  writer  fixes  the  date  later  than  the 
sixth  or  seventh  century,  but  many  set  it  much  earlier. 

The  Mexican  historian,  the  Abbe  Domenech,316  places  the 
Toltecs'  arrival  in  New  Spain  about  the  third  century  before  the 
Christian  era. 

The  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  says  that624  the  uncer 
tainty  regarding  the  origin  of  the  Toltec  race  prevents  the  fix 
ing,  with  any  surety,  of  the  epoch  when  they  appeared  upon  the 
shores  of  Mexico  ;  everything  leads  to  the  belief,  however,  that 
it  was  during  the  century  before  the  Christian  era,  or  in  the 
first  century  after  Christ.  A  date  mentioned  by  him,  of  which 
he  does  not  undertake  to  guarantee  the  authenticity,  appears  to 
fix  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  tribes  speaking  the  Nahuatl 
language  as  in  the  year  279  B.  c. 

According  to  Bancroft,417  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the  Tol 
tecs  in  Huehue  Tlapallan  is  given  by  Ixtlilxochitl,  in  his  first 
Toltec  Relation  (p.  322),  as  2,236  years  after  the  creation,  or  520 
years  after  the  flood.  That  is,  it  occurred  long  before  the 
Christian  era.  In  other  places  (pp.  206  and  459)  the  same  author 
represents  the  Toltecs  as  banished  from  their  country,  and  mi 
grating  to  Huetlapan,  in  California,  on  the  South  Sea,  in  387  A.  D.  ; 
and  this  last-named  date  is  repeated  by  Gallatin  (in  Schoolcraft's 
"Arch.,"  vol.  v,  p.  96)  and  Muller  ("Reisen,"  tome  iii,  p.  97). 

As,  according  to  Gallatin,1402  we  may  safely  conclude  that, 
within  a  few  years  after  the  conquest,  there  did  not  exist  a 
single  historical  painting  in  which  events  prior  to  the  fifteenth 
century  were  faithfully  recorded  under  their  proper  date,  it  is 
impossible  to  arrive  at  any  positive  conclusion  as  to  the  exact 
time  when  the  Toltec  empire  was  founded  ;  but  we  can  rely 
with  much  confidence  on  the  general  conclusion,  stated  by  Ban 
croft,  that 195  as  the  Nahua  nations  were  living  when  the  Span 
iards  found  them,  so  had  they  probably  been  living  for  at  least 
ten  centuries,  and  not  improbably  for  a  much  longer  period. 

We  are,  therefore,  carried  back  to  about  the  days  of  Hwui 
Shan,  and  have  reason  to  believe  that  if  he  had  made  the  jour 
ney  to  Mexico  he  would  have  found  there  either  the  Toltecs, 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY   HWUI  SHiN.         365 

or  some  nation  speaking  substantially  the  same  language,  and 
having  many  of  the  arts  and  customs  which  were  possessed  by 
the  Toltecs  of  later  days. 

The  quotations  already  given  show  that245  the  Aztecs  derived 
their  system  of  hieroglyphics  from  the  Toltecs,  and  that  the 
civilization  of  the  latter  was  far  superior  to  that  of  their  suc 
cessors.  According  to  tradition,  it  was195  during  the  Toltec 
period  of  Nahua  culture  that  husbandry  and  all  the  arts  pertain 
ing  to  the  production  and  preparation  of  food  were  brought  to 
the  highest  degree  of  perfection,  and  similar  traditions  exist  as 
to  all  other  arts  known  to  the  Mexicans  at  the  time  of  the  con 
quest. 

The  indications  which  we  have,  all  agree  178°  that  the  ancient 
Toltecs  and  the  seven  tribes  of  Nahuatlacas,  or  Nahuas,  had  the 
same  origin,  and  spoke  the  same  language,  which  was  the  Mexi 
can,  Kahuatl,  or  Aztec.  Buschmann  says  : 862  "  That  the  Aztecs 
were  of  a  common  origin  with  the  Toltecs,  Acolhuas,  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Mexico,  is  shown  by  the  language  common  to  all 
and  still  known  as  the  Aztec,  although  the  people  are  prefer 
ably  and  more  usually  called  Mexicans." 

Similar  statements  are  made421  by  Bancroft,356  McCulloh,1843 
Bandelier,611  and  all  other  authorities  that  have  referred  to  the 
subject. 

It  might  be  thought,  however,  that  the  quotations  which  have 
been  given  refer  only  to  the  region  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
city  of  Mexico,  and  that  a  different  state  of  affairs  may  have 
existed  upon  the  shore  of  the  Pacific.  It  is  found,  however,  that 
the  Toltecs  colonized  that  coast,  and  that  the  Aztec  language 
was  spoken  upon  nearly  the  whole  of  the  western  border  of  the 
country  of  Mexico. 

Ixtlilxochitl,433  in  Kingsborough  (vol.  ix,  p.  214),  mentions  a 
Toltec  party  that  emigrated  to  the  Michoacan  region,  and  dwelt 
there  for  a  long  time.  Sahagun  (tome  iii,  let.  x,  pp.  145-146)  refers 
to  a  Toltec  migration  as  an  issue  from  the  same  region.  Veytia 
(tome  ii,  pp.  39-40)  speaks  of  Toltecs  who  founded  colonies  all 
along  the  Pacific  coast,  and  gradually  changed  their  language 
and  customs.  Gallatin  361  says  that  Copan  was  a  colony  of  Tol 
tecs  ;  and  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  says  that  the  Pipiles, 
a  tribe  speaking  the  Mexican  language,  occupied  a  portion  of 
Guatemala  655  before  the  great  emigration  of  the  Toltecs  in  the 


366  Atf  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

eleventh  century ;  and  he  also  states  that,762  in  that  part  of  Ana- 
huac  which  lay  upon  the  sea-shore,  north  and  south,  and  particu 
larly  upon  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  Nahuatl  (Mexican 
or  Aztec)  language  was  found  as  the  native  dialect,  and  that  7W 
the  Xinca  language  of  Guatemala  was  probably  a  corrupt  dia 
lect  of  the  Mexican. 

Between  the  east  and  southeast  from  Zacatecas,909  Hervas 
(vol.  iii,  p.  64)  sets  the  Mazapili,  who,  according  to  him,  proba 
bly  spoke  a  dialect  of  the  Aztec  language.  He  also  says  that 1541 
this  language  extended  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Mexican 
empire,  and  quotes  the  statement  of  Herrera,  that  it  was  spoken 
in  Nicaragua  and  in  Guatemala. 

A  glance  at  a  map  of  Mexico,  by  one  having  even  a  slight 
acquaintance  with  this  tongue,  will  show  that  the  names  of 
places  are  nearly  all  Aztec,  even  in  regions  of  the  country  in 
which  other  languages  are  spoken.  The  map  given  by  Orozco 
y  Berra,2007  at  the  end  of  his  "  Geografia,"  and  reproduced  by 
M.  Malte-Brun,1780  shows  that  the  Aztec  or  Mexican-speaking 
tribes  had  possession  of  the  entire  Pacific  coast  of  Mexico,  from 
latitude  16°  40'  (just  south  of  Acapulco)  to  latitude  25°  20' 
,  (about  half-way  between  Mazatlan  and  Guaymas) ;  but  Mexican 
names  will  be  found  far  beyond  these  limits. 

It  has  been  generally  admitted  that2102  the  presence  through 
out  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Spanish  peninsula,  of  topographical 
names  significant  in  the  Euskarian  language,  and  evidently  de 
rived  from  it,  makes  it  a  safe  inference  that  this  language  had 
formerly  a  similar  extension  ;  and  the  same  course  of  reasoning 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Mexican  language  must  once 
have  been  spoken  in  nearly  all  portions  of  the  present  republic 
of  Mexico. 

To  account  for  this,154  says  Bancroft,  we  have,  if  other  causes 
are  not  sufficient,  the  unknown  history  and  migrations  of  the 
Nahua  people  during  the  centuries  preceding  the  Toltec  era. 

The  Aztec  language  was,  and  is,  according  to  Alexander  von 
Humboldt, 863  the  most  widely  extended  of  any  in  Mexico.  It  is, 
as  he  states,  "at  the  present  day  extended  from  37°  north  lati 
tude  to  Lake  Nicaragua,  over  a  length  of  four  hundred  leagues." 

Buschmann 885  adds  that  the  first  reasons  that  present  themselves 
are  not  sufficient  to  explain  the  intensity  of  the  extension  of 
Aztec  place-names  :  the  thick  setting  of  such  names  in  provinces 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI  SHAN.         367 

in  which  other  tongues,  chiefly  or  only,  were  spoken,  or  their 
dispersion,  although  more  sparsely,  to  great  distances — from  the 
extreme  north  of  Mexico  nearly  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
kingdom  of  Guatemala.  As  an  example  of  the  strong  setting 
of  Aztec  names  in  provinces  in  which  other  languages  ruled, 
Oaxaca,  Michoacan,  and  the  whole  northerly  half  of  Guatemala, 
may  be  mentioned. 

Even  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  however,  the  Az 
tec  civilization  and  the  Aztec  language  ruled  throughout  a  great 
portion  of  the  country.  Bancroft  says  that 365  the  Nahua,  Aztec, 
or  Mexican,  the  language  of  Mexican  civilization,  was  spoken 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  Montezuma's  empire,  extend 
ing  from  the  plateau  of  Anahuac,  or  valley  of  Mexico,  as  a 
center,  eastward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  along  its  shores 
from  above  Vera  Cruz  east  to  the  Rio  Coatzacoalcos,  westward 
to  the  Pacific,  and  upon  its  border  from  about  the  twenty-sixth 
to  the  sixteenth  parallel ;  thus  forming  an  irregular  but  continu 
ous  linguistic  line  from  the  Gulf  of  California  southeast,  across 
the  Mexican  plateau  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  of  more  than  four 
hundred  leagues  in  extent.  Again,  it  is  found  on  the  coast  of 
Salvador  and  in  the  interior  of  Nicaragua,  and  it  also  had  some 
connection  with  the  languages  of  the  nations  of  the  north. 

Solis,  speaking  of  the  limits  of  the  empire  of  Mexico  at  the 
time  of  the  conquest,  says  2342  its  length  from  east  to  west  was 
more  than  five  hundred  leagues,  and  its  breadth  from  north  to 
south  was  in  some  places  fully  two  hundred  leagues. 

On  the  east  it  was  bounded  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and 
extended  along  its  shores  from  Panuco  to  Yucatan.  On  the 
west  it  touched  upon  the  other  sea,  and  looked  out  upon  the 
Asiatic  Ocean  (or  the  Gulf  of  Anian),  from  Cape  Mendocino 
as  far  as  to  the  limits  of  New  Galicia.  On  the  south  it  was 
bounded  by  the  South  Sea,  from  Acapulco  to  Guatemala,  and 
even  insinuated  itself  through  Nicaragua  into  that  isthmus  or 
stretch  of  land  which  both  divides  and  unites  the  two  Americas. 
On  the  northern  side  it  reached  to  the  district  of  Panuco,  and 
included  that  province. 

Orozco  y  Berra  2006  states  that  the  Mexican  empire,  when  it 
reached  its  greatest  extension,  included  a  part  of  the  State  of 
Mexico  ;  those  of  Puebla  and  of  Vera  Cruz  on  the  east ;  on  the 
west  the  greater  part  of  the  country  between  the  Zacatula  River 


368  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  and  that  on  the  south  it  was  bounded 
by  the  river  Coatzacoalcos. 

Clavigero  1053  says  that  it  extended  toward  the  southwest  and 
south  as  far  as  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  and  Bancroft  says  that  it 428 
reached  the  Pacific  coast,  along  which  it  extended  from  Zaca- 
lotlan  to  Tututepec. 

As  to  the  identity  of  the  civilization  of  the  other  inhabitants 
of  Mexico  with  that  of  the  Aztecs  or  Mexicans,  properly  so 
called,  we  have  the  express  statement  of  Gomara,521  that  "  speak 
ing  of  the  Mexicans,  is  to  speak  in  general  of  all  New  Spain." 

Such  information  as  we  have,  therefore,  confirms  us  in  the 
conclusion  that  if  Hwui  Shan  had  visited  the  Pacific  coast  of 
Mexico  during  the  latter  half  of  the  fifth  century,  he  would  have 
found  there  a  nation  of  the  same  blood  as  that  from  which  the 
Aztecs  of  Cortez's  day  descended,  and  one  speaking  substan 
tially  the  same  language  as  that  which  was  found  to  be  current 
at  the  time  of  the  conquest  :  a  nation  resembling  the  Aztecs  in 
many  of  their  manners  and  customs,  but  of  a  milder,  gentler 
nature  ;  free  from  the  horrors  of  the  superstitious  rites  to  which 
the  Aztecs  of  later  times  abandoned  themselves,  and  (unless  the 
greater  civilization  that  is  mentioned  by  tradition  was  wholly 
the  result  of  Hwui  Shan's  visit)  more  advanced  in  many  of  the 
essential  arts  of  civilization. 

The  question  now  arises  as  to  the  name  of  this  country. 
Had  it  any  general  name  ?  If  so,  what  was  it,  and  what  was  its 
meaning?  It  is  well  known  that  the  country  is  now  called 
"  Mexico  ";  but  it  appears  to  be  quite  generally  thought  that  this 
term  was  properly  the  name  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  that  it 
was  not  until  after  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  that  it  over 
spread  the  immense  region  now  so  designated.  This  statement 
is  made  by  Bancroft 451  and  Buschmann,883  and  was  undoubtedly 
repeated  by  them  from  some  of  the  older  historians  of  the  coun 
try.  The  weight  of  evidence  is  strongly  against  this  conclusion, 
however.  It  is  stated,  time  and  again,  by  the  best  authorities, 
that  the  real  name  of  the  city  was  not  Mexico,  but  Tenochtitlan, 
or  some  very  similar  term,  different  authors  giving  the  variations 
Temixtitlan,1200  Tenuchtitlan,1200  Tenuthtitlan,2349  Tenustitan,2600 
Temixtitan,1102  Tenuxtitan,1782  Tenuchtitan,2603  Temixitan,1091  Te- 
mistitan,1605  Tenoxtitlan,1605  Temihtitlan,1605  Themisteton,451  Timi- 
tistan,451  and  Tenuchitlan.451 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI  SHN.        369 

Torquemada MT  ("Monarq.  Ind.,"  tome  i,  p.  293)  says  ex 
plicitly  :  "  The  natives  do  not  call  it  (the  city)  Mexico,  but  Te- 
nuchtitlan."  Gage 1376  states  that  "the  old  and  first  name  of  the 
city,  according  to  some  historians,  was  Tenuchtitlan  "  ;  and  Solis 
says,8349  "  The  great  city  of  Mexico  was  formerly  known  by  the 
name  of  Tenuthtitlan,  or  by  a  similar  name,  which  is  given  a 
little  different  pronunciation  by  others."  Even  Buschmann,  who 
claims  that  the  term  Mexico  was  originally  applied  to  the  city, 
and  not  to  the  country,  states  in  other  places  that882  "the  Mexi 
cans  themselves  appear  to  have  called  it  Tenochtitlan  in  prefer 
ence,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it  (Tlatelulco  not  having  been  included 
in  that  designation 884),  and  it  appears  that  the  Spaniards  first 
made  the  name  Mexico  general."  Diaz  120°  says  that  Temixtitlan, 
or  Tenuchtitlan,  was  the  proper  name  of  the  city,  but  adds  that 
"Mexico"  was  certainly  also  an  old  appellation,  which  the  elder 
Indians  rejected  after  the  conquest,  but  which  was  afterward 
accepted  by  the  younger  generation  of  Indians. 

It  certainly  can  not  take  long  to  decide  whether  the  "  elder 
Indians  "  or  the  "  younger  generation  "  best  knew  the  true  Aztec 
designation  of  the  city.  "  Tenochtitlan  "  so  evidently  occurred 
in  the  name,  that  many  of  those,  who  think  the  term  Mexico  to 
have  been  also  connected  with  it,  give  the  compound  "  Mexico- 
Tenochtitlan  " 248  as  the  true  appellation.461 

In  order  to  explain  this  double  name,  Herrera  stated  that 1689 
the  old  residence  of  the  Aztecs,  Tenuchtitlan,  had  two  large 
divisions,  of  which  one  was  called  Tlatelulco  and  the  other 
Mexico.  Gage1380  makes  the  same  statement,  and  adds  that, 
because  the  imperial  palace  was  in  this  last-named  portion  of 
the  city,  the  whole  city  was  also  sometimes  called  Mexico,  al 
though  that  was  not  its  original  name.  Solis451  is  of  opinion 
that  Mexico  was  the  name  of  the  ward — Tenochtitlan  being  ap 
plied  to  the  whole  city;  from  which  Bancroft  concludes  that  the 
compound  Mexico-Tenochtitlan  would  signify  the  ward  Mexico 
of  the  city  Tenochtitlan,  but  adds  that  it  was  but  gradually  that 
the  Spanish  records  began  to  add  Mexico  to  Tenochtitlan,  and 
that  in  the  course  of  time  the  older  and  more  intricate  name 
disappeared. 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  states,  however,  that 731  the  city  was 
divided  into  four  quarters,  sections,  or  wards,  instead  of  two, 
and  that  the  names  of  these  were  Teopan,  Atzacualco,  Moyotlan, 
24 


370  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  Quepopan.  Bandelier 503  copies  this  statement,  spelling  the 
last  name  "  Cuepopan,"  and  translating  the  four  terms  in  their 
order,  "Place  of  God,"  "House  of  the  Heron,"  "Place  of  the 
Mosquito,"  and  "Place  of  the  Dike." 

The  term  "  Mexico "  was  first  heard  by  Europeans  when 
Grijalva  landed  on  the  coast  in  May,  1518,  as  the  designation  of 
a  country  rich  in  gold.1688  Diaz  says  that  when  the  Spaniards 
asked  where  the  Indians  obtained  their  gold  and  jewels,1197  "  they 
pointed  toward  the  place  of  sunset,  and  said  Culhua  and  Mex 
ico"  In  another  place m6  he  states,  "  They  could  not  give  us 
more  gold,  but  in  a  land  far  away  toward  the  setting  sun  it 
might  be  found  in  abundance.  Then  they  said  Culba,  Culba, 
and  Mexico,  Mexico  /  but  we  did  not  understand  the  meaning  of 
these  words."  Prescott 2072  and  Zamacois 2586  repeat  the  statement. 

Can  it  be  believed  that  these  Indians,  when  they  pointed  to 
ward  the  land  from  which  their  gold  was  obtained,  referred  to  a 
ward  of  the  city  of  Tenochtitlan  ? 

The  early  map-makers  seem  to  have  been  for  a  long  time  un 
decided  as  to  whether  the  term  Mexico  was  the  name  of  the  city 
or  of  the  country,  and  they  usually  compromised  by  so  giving  the 
name  that  it  might  be  understood  either  way.  The  two  oldest 
maps  of  America,1689  have  the  name  "  Mexico  "  written  in  rather  an 
uncertain  manner  some  distance  back  in  the  country,  and  do  not 
indicate  whether  they  would  have  it  understood  to  mean  a  prov 
ince  or  a  city.  In  "  Apiano,  Cosmographica,"  1575,  is  a  map, 
supposed  to  be  a  copy  of  one  drawn  by  Apianus,  in  1520,  on 
which  the  name  "  Themisteton  "  is  given  apparently  to  a  large 
lake  in  the  middle  of  Mexico  ;  451  Fernando  Colon,  in  1527,  and 
Diego  de  Ribero,  1529,  both  give  the  word  "  Mexico  "  in  small 
letters,  inland,  as  if  applied  to  a  town,  although  no  town  is  desig 
nated  ;  Ptolemy,  in  "Munster,"  1530,  gives  "  Temistitan "  ; 
"Munich  Atlas,"  No.  VI,  supposed  to  have  been  drawn  be 
tween  1532  and  1540,  "  Timitistan  vel  Mesicho"  ;  Baptista  Ag- 
nese,  1540-'50,  "Timitistan  vel  Mesico  "  ;  Ramusio,  1565,  "  Mex 
ico";  "Mercator's  Atlas,"  1569,  "Mexico,"  as  a  city,  and  "Te- 
nuchitlan  "  ;  Michael  Lok,  1582,  "Mexico"  ;  in  Hondius,  about 
1595,  in  Drake's  "  World  Encompassed,"  the  city  is  "  Mexico," 
and  the  gulf,  "  Baia  di  Mexico"  ;  Hondius,  in  "Purchas,  His 
Pilgrimes,"  Laet,  Ogilby,  Dampier,  "  West-Indische  Spieghel," 
Jacob  Colon,  and  other  seventeenth  century  authorities,  give 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI   SHAN.         371 

uniformly  to  the  city,  or  to  the  city  and  province,  but  not  to  the 
country  at  large,  the  name  as  at  present  written. 

M.  Nicolas  Schotter,  in  connection  with  an  essay  regarding 
Americus  Vespucius,1091  exhibited  to  the  Congress  of  Americanists, 
at  Luxemburg,  in  1877,  a  remarkable  map  of  the  world,  which  is 
"  a  reproduction  upon  a  plane  surface  of  a  silver  globe,  which 
made  part  of  a  chalice  which  the  Duke  Charles  IV,  of  Lorraine, 
brought  from  Germany,  and  which  is  now  deposited  in  the 
library  at  Nancy."  Neither  .tjie  name  of  the  maker  nor  the  date 
of  his  work  is  known,  although  it  is  seen  that  the  German  car 
tographer  gave  to  the  southern  part  of  the  continent  of  America 
the  name  of  " New  America,"  to  Mexico  that  of  "New  Spain," 
and  that  all  the  remainder  of  North  America  is  represented  as 
being  an  integral  part  of  Asia,  bearing  the  names  of  "  Asia  Ori- 
entalis,"  "  Asia  Magna,"  and  "  India  Orientalis."  The  Indian 
Ocean  is  represented  as  extending  from  the  eastern  coast  of 
Africa  to  the  shores  of  South  America.  Its  southeastern  part, 
however,  bears  the  names  of  the  "  Ocean  of  Magellan,"  and  of 
the  "Pacific  Sea,"  proving,  beyond  controversy,  that  the  globe 
in  question  was  made  after  the  year  1520. 

LTpon  this  map  the  capital  of  New  Spain  bears  the  name  of 
"Temixitan,"  while  the  term  "Mexico"  is  found  to  the  south 
west,  not  far  from  the  Pacific  Ocean.  To  the  northwest  again 
occurs  the  name  "  Messigo,"  while  not  more  than  a  dozen  names 
in  all  are  given  within  the  territory  now  covered  by  the  country 
of  Mexico. 

It  appears  from  these  references  that  it  was  not  until  about 
half  a  century  after  the  date  of  the  conquest  that  the  map-makers 
felt  certain  that  they  were  right  in  applying  the  term  Mexico  to 
the  city  rather  than  to  the  country,  and  that  in  the  earlier  maps 
the  indications  are  that  it  was  thought  that  it  might  be  the  name 
of  the  land. 

The  Bishop  Juan  de  Zumarraga  dates  a  letter,2602  in  1529,  from 
"Tenuxtitlan  "  ;  again,  in  1530,  he  speaks  of  "this  great  city  of 
Tenuchtitan,"  and  signs  the  same  document,  "  Given  in  the  said 
city  of  Tenuxtitan."  In  1529  he  dates  one  of  his  letters  from 
"  Mexico-Tenustitan  "  260°  and  in  it  says,  "  The  Calzonzi  of  Micho- 
acan  was,  next  to  Montezuma,  the  most  powerful  king  of  all 
Mexico."  Here,  only  a  few  years  after  the  conquest,  the  term 
Mexico  is  used  not  as  the  name  of  the  city  or  of  a  province,  but 


372  *AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

as  the  name  of  the  whole  country,  embracing  even  Michoacan, 
which  was  not  subject  to  Montezuma.  In  a  work,  published 
in  1522,  the  following  passage  occurs,  "  They  have  conquered  a 
city  called  Temistitan."  464  Here,  again,  in  one  of  the  first  refer 
ences  to  the  city  that  appeared  in  Europe,  there  is  no  hint  that 
its  name  was  Mexico. 

Cortez  certainly  had  a  favourable  opportunity  to  learn  the 
name  of  the  city  that  he  had  conquered.  Time  and  again  he 
refers  to mo  "  the  great  city  of  Temistitan"  ;  and  in  one  place 
he  adds,1102  "  Before  I  describe  this  great  city  and  the  others 
already  mentioned,  it  may  be  well,  for  the  "better  understanding  of 
the  subject,  to  say  something  of  the  configuration  of  Mexico  in 
which  they  are  situated,  it  being  the  principal  seat  of  Muteczuma's 
power.  This  province  is  in  the  form  of  a  circle,  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  lofty  and  rugged  mountains,  its  level  surface  com 
prising  an  area  of  about  seventy  leagues  in  circumference." 

Summing  up  the  evidence,  it  appears  that  the  name  "  Mexico  " 
was  first  heard  as  the  designation  of  the  country  from  which  the 
Indians  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  obtained  their  gold  ;  that  Cortez 
applied  the  name  to  the  valley  in  which  the  capital  city  and 
many  others  were  situated,  while  de  Zumarraga  applied  it  to  the 
whole  region,  including  Michoacan  ;  that  the  elder  Indians  did 
not  recognize  it  as  the  name  of  their  city,  and  that  all  its  wards 
or  divisions  had  other  names  ;  that  in  the  earlier  maps  and 
accounts  the  name  of  the  city  is  given  (with  variations  of  spell 
ing)  as  Tenochtitlan  ;  and  that  it  gradually  passed  through  the 
compound  "  Mexico-Tenochtitlan  "  to  "  Mexico,"  taking  about 
half  a  century  to  make  the  change.  During  all  this  time,  how 
ever,  the  term  "  Mexico  "  was  steadily  applied  to  the  country  sub 
stantially  as  it  is*  still  applied. 

No  other  term  is  given  in  any  place  as  the  name  of  the  coun 
try  ;  and  if  the  land  had  any  general  name  by  which  it  was 
known,  that  name  must  have  been  "  Mexico." 

This  was  neither  pronounced  "  Mec-si-co,"  nor,  as  the  Span 
iards  pronounce  it,  "  Mejico,"  with  the  "  j "  sounding  like  the 
German  "ch"  or  Greek  "x"  ;  but  "Me-shi-co,"  the  "x"  being 
pronounced  like  "  sh  "  in  English 357  or  "  ch  "  in  French.2036 

Numerous  place-names,  either  fromf the  same  root  or  from  one 
very  similar,  will  be  found  scattered  over  the  country.  The  Abbe" 
Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  -mentions  Mexilla 626  (evidently  from  Me- 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI  SHlN.         373 

xi -\-the  Aztec  place-termination  "tlan"),  Meztitlan™1  (from 
Mez  -f-  the  terminations  "  ti "  and  "  tlan  "),  Iztacmixtitlan 737  (from 
Iztac=  white  -\-mix  -f-  the  terminations  "ti"  and  "tlan"), 
Mixiuhcan™  (from  Mi-xiuh  +  the  termination  "can"),  and 
Mixco  752  (from  Mix  +  the  place-termination  "  co  ").  Bancroft 
mentions  "  Mexi-caltzinco  "  and  "  Mexiuh-tlan,"  42°  and  a  glance 
at  a  map  of  the  country  will  also  show  the  forms  "Mixtan," 
"  Mextitlan,"  and  "  Mexcala."  If  these  words,  or  the  majority 
of  them,  have  a  common  root,  it  is  evident  that  its  meaning 
must  be  applicable  in  some  way  to  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
region  known  as  Mexico. 

The  last  syllable,  "  co,"  serves  as  a  suffix 869  to  many  place- 
names,  2173  and  "  signifies  in  or  within  that  which  is  signified  by 
the  noun  "  (Parades,  p.  39)  ;  or  possibly  it  conveys  the  broader 
meaning  of  the  region,  "  in  "  which  it  is  situated,  or  "  at "  or 
"near"  that  which  is  signified  by  the  preceding  syllables.  Ex 
amples  of  its  use  are  found  in  "  Soconusco,"  ^  (formerly 
"Xoconochco"887),  "  Matlatzinco," 8M  "  Tenantzinco,"  87°  "Azca- 
potzalco,"  88°  "  Xochimilco,"  881  "  Tezcuco,"  "  Acapulco," 1963  etc. 

The  meaning  of  the  remainder  of  the  word  "  Mexico,"  or  of 
the  entire  word,  has  been  stated  in  many  different  ways  by  the 
various  authors  who  have  attempted  to  explain  it.  McCulloh 
says  that1842  the  etymology  of  Mexico  is,  "Place  of  Mextli? 
the  name  Mextli  being  a  synonym  of  Huitzilopochtli,  the  desig 
nation  of  their  god  of  war.  He  borrows  this  statement  from 
Clavigero,  and  is  followed  by  Pimentel,2035  Buschraann,882  Tyler,322 
Bancroft,247  and  others. 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  states  that,662  according  to  several 
authors,  the  Mexicas,  or  Mexicans,  derived  their  name  from  one 
of  their  first  chiefs,  Mecitl,  or  "  the  Hare  of  the  Aloes."  Saha- 
gun  says  that 22C9  the  name  Mexicatl  was  formerly  pronounced 
Mecitl,  formed  from  me  or  metl,  which  signifies  the  maguey r,  and 
from  citli,  a  hare.  This,  therefore,  should  be  written  Mecicatl  • 
but  the  change  of  c  to  x  has  produced  the  corruption  Mexicatl. 
It  is  said  that  this  name  was  given  to  the  people  because  the 
Mexicans,  when  they  first  arrived  in  the  country,  had  a  chief  or 
lord  named  Mecitl,  who  at  the  moment  of  his  birth  was  surnamed 
Citli  (or  the  Hare). '  As,  moreover,  a  large  leaf  of  the  maguey 
was  given  to  him  for  a  cradle,  he  was  therefore  called  Me-citl,  as 
if  to  say,  the  man  raised  in  this  maguey  leaf.  When  he  had 


3T4  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

grown  up  he  became  priest  of  their  idol,  and  in  this  quality  he 
had  relations  with  the  demon — a  thing  which  insured  him  respect 
in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects,  who,  according  to  the  account  of  the 
elders,  adopted  the  name  of  this  high-priest, 'and  were  called  Mex 
ica,  or  Mexicatl. 

Herrera  says  1689  that,  according  to  some,  "  Mexico  "  means  a 
spring  ;  and  this  statement  is  often  copied  :  but,  upon  reference  to 
the  Aztec  or  Mexican  dictionaries,  it  will  be  found  that  there  is 
no  word  in  the  language  having  any  such  meaning  which  bears 
even  the  most  distant  resemblance  to  the  term  "Mexico." 

Bancroft  has  the  following  on  the  subject  : 451  "  A  number 
of  derivations  have  been  given  to  the  word  Mexico,  as  mexitli, 
( navel  of  the  maguey '  ;  metl-ico,  f  place  amidst  the  maguey ' ; 
meixco, '  on  the  maguey  border ' ;  mecitli, '  hare ' ;  metztli, '  moon ' ; 
amexica,  or  mexica,  '  you  of  the  anointed  ones.'  The  significa 
tion,  'spring'  or  *  fountain,'  has  also  been  applied.  ,But  most 
writers  have  contented  themselves  by  assuming  it  to  be  identical 
with  the  mexi,  mexitl,  or  mecitl,  appellations  of  the  war-god, 
Huitzilopochtli,  to  "which  has  been  added  the  co,  an  affix  imply 
ing  locality  ;  hence  *  Mexico '  would  imply  the  place  or  settle 
ment  of  Mexico,  or  Mexicans.  This  war-god,  Huitzilopochtli,  as 
is  well  known,  was  the  mythic  leader  and  chief  deity  of  the  Az 
tecs,  the  dominant  tribe  of  the  Nahua  nation.  It  was  by  this 
august  personage,  who  was  also  called  Mexitl,  that,  according 
to  tradition,  the  name  was  given  them  in  the  twelfth  century, 
and  in  these  words,  '  Inaxcan  aocmoamotoca  inam  azteca  ye  am 
mexica,' '  Henceforth  bear  ye  not  the  name  Azteca,  but  Mexica.'  " 

Torquemada  32°  ("Monarq.  lud.,"  tome  i,  p.  293),  referring  to 
the  principal  god  of  the  Aztecs,  which  had  two  names,  Huitzilo- 
puchtli  and  Mexitly,  says  that  this  second  name  means  "  Navel 
of  the  Maguey." 

Clavigero  gives  the  following  account  :1061  "  There  is  a  great 
difference  of  opinion  between  different  authors  as  to  the  etymol 
ogy  of  the  word  Mexico.  Some  derive  it  from  Metztli,  'the 
moon,'  because  they  saw  the  moon  reflected  in  the  lake  as  the 
oracle  had  predicted.  Others  declare  that  Mexico  means  'at 
the  fountain  or  spring,'  because  they  found  a  spring  of  good 
water  upon  its  site.  But  these  two  derivations  are  too  violent, 
and  the  first  is  not  only  violent,  but  also  ridiculous.  I  thought 
at  one  time  that  the  name  should  be  Mexicco,  which  would  mean 


THE   COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWTJI  SHlN.         375 

*  in  the  center  of  the  magueys,'  or  Mexican  aloe-plants  ;  but, 
from  the  study  of  the  history  of  these  people,  I  have  been  un 
deceived,  and  have  become  convinced  that  Mexico  means  'the 
place  of  Mexitli  J  (or  Huitzilopochtli — who  was  the  Mars  of  the 
Mexicans),  because  of  the  sanctuary  there  built  to  him  ;  hence 
Mexico  means  to  the  Mexicans  the  same  that  Fanum  Martis 
meant  to  the  Romans.  From  words  of  this  description,  when 
compounded,  the  Mexicans  take  away  the  final  letters  tl.  The  co 
that  is  added  is  equivalent  to  our  preposition  in.  The  word 
Mexicaltzinco  means  the  place  of  the  house  or  temple  of  the  god 
Mexitli :  so  that  Huitzilopochco,  Mexicaltzinco,  and  Mexico,  the 
names  of  the  three  places  which  were  successively  inhabited  by 
the  Mexicans,  mean  substantially  the  same  thing." 

Professor  J.  G.  Mtiller,  commenting  upon  these  various  state 
ments,  says: 1964 "  If  we  inquire  concerning  the  meaning  of  'Mex 
itli  '  and  '  Mexico,'  we  find  the  singular  answers  that  '  Mexitli ' 
means  'the  god  of  Mexico,'  and  that  'Mexico'  means  'the 
city  of  Mexitli.'  The  name  of  the  place  called  Huitzilopochco, 
and  the  name  of  the  god  Huitzilopochtli,  might  be  explained  in  a 
similar  way  by  their  connection  with  each  other,  or  the  name  of 
Tenoch,  the  mythical  founder  of  Tenochtitlan,  by  its  connection 
with  the  name  of  that  city.  Clavigero  was  therefore  wrong 
when  he  was  induced,  by  this  course  of  reasoning  in  a  circle,  to 
withdraw  his  earlier  view,  according  to  which  '  Mexico '  meant 
'  in  the  midst  of  the  maguey,'  or  the  Mexican  aloe.  The  Mexi 
can  word  for  maguey  is  '  metl,'  from  which  the  final  consonants 
'  tl,'  as  is  the  custom  in  the  case  of  that  termination  in  the  Mexi 
can  language,  are  dropped  when  the  word  is  compounded  with 
others.  This  gives  a  very  good  explanation  of  the  name  'Mex 
ico.'  The  usual  name  of  the  city  in  olden  times  was  '  Tenoch 
titlan,'  meaning  '  the  prickly  pear  upon  the  stone ' ;  and  this  w^as 
also  the  hieroglyph  of  the  city,  it  being  clearly  an  emblem  of  the 
wandering  multitude  who  at  first  were  oppressed  with  many 
troubles.  Soon,  however,  the  place  became  a  '  Mexico,'  a  place 
in  the  midst  of  magueys — the  plants  which  were  the  richest  of  all 
in  their  blessings  to  the  Mexicans,  for  they  furnished  them  with 
their  favourite  drink,  called  '  octli,'  and  also  with  a  species  of 
hemp,  and  with  paper." 

Having  given  this  full  account  of  the  views  of  others,  the 
present  author  now  hopes  to  show  that  the  real  meaning  of  the 


376  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

term  Mexico  is  "Place  of  the  Century-plant."  The  name  of  the 
agave,  or  century-plant,  in  the  Aztec  language  is  metl,  mi  and,  as 
already  explained,1987  nouns  ending  in  tl  lose  that  termination  in 
compounds  and  derivatives.  The  syllable  me  is  sometimes  used 
as  the  plural  termination  of  nouns,1403  and  it  is  in  a  few  cases  in 
terchanged  with  ma,  the  root  of  maitl,**  or  maytlj**  the  hand  ; 
as,  for  instance,  inT  the  word  meaning  to  carry  a  burden  on  the 
shoulders,  which  is  sometimes  written  mama  190T  and  sometimes 
meme.im  With  these  exceptions,  however,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  syllable  me  occurs  in  any  Aztec  word,  except  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  name  of  the  agave.  There  is  no  question  as  to 
the  power  of  the  termination  co,  and  the  misunderstandings  as  to 
the  meaning  of  the  whole  word  have  all  arisen  from  the  difficulty 
of  explaining  the  syllable  xi.  The  only  explanation  that  has  been 
given  is  that  of  Clavigero,  who,  by  writing  the  word  "  Me-xic-co," 
derived  the'  middle  syllable  from  xic^-tli,  "  the  navel."  This  is 
not  a  satisfactory  derivation,  however,  and  it  is  surprising  that  no 
one  has  noticed  that  the  syllable  xi  is  the  abbreviated  represent 
ative  of  the  word  xihuitl,615  or  xiuitl,mi  meaning  an  herb  or 
plant.1928  In  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  Mexican  language, 
the  tl  would  be  dropped  in  the  compound,  and  the  abbreviation 
of  the  remaining  xiui  to  xi  is  less  violent  than  that  which  takes 
place  in  the  Mexican  language  in  many  other  cases.  Buschmann, 
who  is  one  of  the  leading  authorities  upon  the  subject  of  the  Az 
tec  language,  and  whose  soundness  of  judgment  is  universally 
recognized,  speaks  as  follows  regarding  a  case  of  much  greater 
abbreviation  : 872 

"  I  may  be  permitted  to  call  it  great  boldness  to  point  out 
the  letter  x  in  the  forms  maxtlatl  and  maxtli  as  the  last  trace 
of  the  verb  xeloa.  As  it  is  found  there  in  close  connection, 
both  with  the  following  consonant  and  the  preceding  syllable, 
it  would  at  first  sight  seem  that  it  should  be  regarded  as  a 
middle  letter  of  a  word.  That  an  etymologist  should  venture 
such  an  unheard  of  conjecture  as  that  above  made,  has  only 
become  possible  through  the  unlimited  power  of  induction, 
proceeding  cautiously  step  by  step.  In  these  two  examples, 
which  I  have  treated  with  etymological  accuracy,  I  have  taken 
a  glance  into  the  dark  history  of  word  destruction  (or  abbre 
viation)  into  which  the  tribes  throughout  the  whole  of  North 
America  have  plunged  in  lawless  licentiousness ;  the  Aztec 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  I1WUI  SHAN.         377 

idiom  to  a  less  degree  than  others,  but  still  more  than  has  been 
believed.  Only  one  example  of  a  simple  kind  need  be  cited: 
Niltze,  which  Molina  gives  as  an  exclamation,  *  ho  !  halloa  ! '  is 
an  abbreviation  of  nopiltzine,  my  son  (from  pilli  =  son,  no  =  my, 
tzin,  the  reverential  form — applied  here  rather  as  an  endear 
ment — and  e,  the  sign  of  the  vocative)." 

In  one  case  the  syllables  mexi  (used  with  the  same  meaning  as 
in  Mexico)  are  abbreviated  so  that  the  xi  appears  as  x,  s,  or  z. 
This  is  in  the  word  usually  written  mexcalli,  but  also  appearing  as 
mexical,  mescal,  mezcal,  mezcale,  mescali,  mescale,  and  mizcal™ 
the  name  of  the  maguey-plant  (i.  e.,  the  metl,pita,  agave,  Ameri 
can  aloe,  or  century-plant — for  these  different  terms  are  all  ap 
plied  to  the  same  plant,1508  or  to  mere  varieties  of  what  is  essen 
tially  the  same  plant),  or  of  a  plant  of  similar  growth,  and  a  name 
which  is  also  applied  to  a  spirituous  liquor  distilled  from  its 
juice.  Sahagun  also  defines  the  words  as  "  the  cooked  leaves  of 
the  aloe." 

It  may  be  stated,  by  the  way,  that  the  concluding 'syllable  of 
this  word  is  evidently  a  form  of  qualli,  good,908  which  is  perhaps  a 
participle  of  qua,  to  eat,  mjeaning  that  which  one  can  eat.873  Hence 
the  word  mexical,  mezcal,  or  mexcalli,  would  mean  the  good  or 
edible  century-plant,  or  that  part  of  the  century-plant  which  can 
be  eaten  or  drunk  when  suitably  prepared  for  the  purpose.  This 
is  surely  a  more  appropriate  etymology  than  that  suggested  by 
Buschmann,  who  thinks  it  to  be  from  metz-calli,  meaning  the 
house  or  temple  of  the  moon.886 

Returning  to  the  word  "  Mexico  "  :  In  the  Maya  language  of 
Yucatan  we  find  the  word  xihuitl  abbreviated  to  xiu.m  In  the 
Aztec  language  we  find  the  name  of  the  Mexican  balsam-tree 1496 
to  be  hoitzilo-xitl,1497  and  there  is  no  other  possible  etymological 
explanation  of  the  termination  of  this  word  than  that  it  is  a 
corruption  of  xihuitl.  The  form  xitl,  when  followed  by  a  word 
with  which  it  was  compounded,  would  be  reduced  to  xi,  as  we 
have  it  in  "Me-xi-co." 

Fortunately,  however,  we  are  able  to  give  a  number  of  Mexi 
can  words  which  can  not  be  explained  in  any  other  way  than 
by  considering  the  syllable  xi  as  the  representative  of  the  word 
xihuitl.  This  word  is  almost  the  only  one  in  the  Mexican  lan 
guage  which  has  two  or  more  radically  distinct  meanings.  It, 
however,  means  not  only  an  herb  or  plant,  but  also  has  the 


378  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

meanings 1928  "  a  year,"  "  a  comet,"  and  "  a  turquoise."  Now, 
we  find,  in  Molina's  Aztec  Dictionary,1926  the  following  words  : 

"  Ximmictia,  to  choke  or  smother  the  plant  of  wheat,  or 
anything  similar. 

"  Ximmatlaliztli,  a  sapphire,  a  precious  stone. 

"  Xippachoa,  to  cover  anything  with  herbs,  or  to  choke  the 
plant  of  wheat,  or  anything  similar." 

In  these  words  the  doubled  consonants  indicate,  merely,  that 
the  preceding  vowel  is  short,  and  it  is  necessary  to  reject  one  of 
the  two  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  true  etymology.  The  root 
mic,  which  occurs  in  the  first  word,  conveys  the  idea  of  death, 
and  is  connected  with  miqui,  to  die  ; 868  tia  is  a  verbal  termina 
tion.  Mictia  means  "  to  kill,"  and  xi-mictia,  if  we  are  right  as 
to  the  meaning  of  the  first  syllable,  would  mean  "  to  kill  a 
plant."  This  is  practically  the  definition  given  by  Molina.  The 
third  word  is  compounded  from  xi  and  the  verb  pachoa^ 
meaning  "  to  rule  over,  to  govern,  to  set  upon  eggs  like  a  hen." 
Here,  again,  the  idea  of  overshadowing,  or  covering  over,  ex 
pressed  by  pachoa,  when  combined  with  the  idea  of  plants  or 
herbs  expressed  by  xi,  produces  the  definitions  given  in  the  dic 
tionary. 

In  the  second  case,  the  syllable  xi  means  a  turquoise  ;  liztli 
is  a  grammatical  termination,  and  the  matla  of  xi-matla-liztli  is 
connected  with  the  word  matla-lin,ms  meaning  "an  obscure 
green  colour."  The  whole  word,  therefore,  means  a  turquoise  of 
an  obscure  green  colour. 

In  these  cases  there  seems  no  possibility  of  doubt  as  to  the 
fact  that  xi  is  an  abbreviation  of  xihuitl.  Two  other  cases  may 
be  cited  in  which  this  word  is  abbreviated  to  tz  and  z,  just  as,  in 
the  different  forms  of  mexcalli,  it  is  reduced  to  x,  s,  or  z.  Otti 
is  the  Aztec  name  for  India  rubber,1916  while  metzolli  means 1914 
"the  marrow  or  soft  part  of  the  maguey."  Here  me  means 
the  maguey,  olli  the  soft  elastic  portion,  and  the  tz  can  mean 
nothing  else  that  plant.  We  also  find  meztallotl™*  "the  white 
heart  of  the  maguey  before  it  throws  out  its  shoot,"  and  metol- 
lotl,m*  "the  marrow  or  soft  part  of  the  maguey."  It  is  difficult 
to  explain  why  the  inserted  z  in  the  first  word  does  not  affect  the 
meaning,  on  any  other  theory  than  that  it  means  plant.  Another 
case  in  which  the  termination  huiil  is  dropped  in  a  compound 
is  seen  in  the  word  quammaitl™  " a  branch  of  a  tree,"  of  which 


THE   COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI  SHAN.         379 

the  part  maitl  means  a  hand  or  arm — in  this  case,  a  branch — 
while  the  syllable  qua  can  be  nothing  else  than  the  abbreviated 
representative  of  the  word  quahuitl,  a  tree. 

From  these  illustrations,  drawn  from  the  Mexican  language, 
it  appears  to  be  established  beyond  any  reasonable  question  that 
the  term  "Me-xi-co"  (pronounced  by  the  Aztecs  Me-shi-co) 
means  "the  Place  of  the  Agave-plant,"  or  "the  Region  of  the 
Century-plant.  That  this  is  an  appropriate  designation,  and  one 
which  would  very  naturally  be  given  by  any  people  coming  into 
the  country  from  beyond  its  borders,  will  be  admitted  by  all 
who  have  visited  it. 

The  plant  is  peculiar  to  the  country  ;  it  grows  throughout 
nearly  all  portions  of  the  land  ;  its  peculiarities  are  such  as  to  in 
stantly  attract  attention  ;  and,  as  will  be  explained  in  the  follow 
ing  chapter,  it  may  be  claimed  to  be  of  greater  value  to  the 
inhabitants  than  any  and  all  other  plants  growing  in  the 
country. 

There  is,  therefore,  reason  to  believe  that  if  Hwui  Shan  visited 
the  region  which  he  claimed  to  have  explored,  he  reached  the 
country  now  known  as  Mexico,  and  then  probably  called  by  the 
same  name  ;  this  appellation,  as  we  have  seen,  being  derived  from 
that  of  the  most  useful  and  remarkable  plant  which  is  found  there. 

The  connection  between  the  term  Mexico  and  the  name  of 
the  god  Mexitli)  or  Huitzilopoclitli,  may  be  explained  by  suppos 
ing  him  to  have  originally  been  a  deification  of  the  century- 
plant. 

"  They  manufactured  so  many  things  from  this  plant  called 
maguey,324  and  it  is  so  very  useful  in  that  country,  that  the  devil 
took  occasion  to  induce  them  to  believe  that  it  was  a  god,  and 
to  worship  and  offer  sacrifices  to  it."  ("  Spiegazione  delle  Tavole 
del  codice  Mexicano,"  in  Kingsborough's  "Mex.  Antiq.,"  vol.  v, 
pp.  179-180.) 

His  name  of  Huitzilopochtli — which  has  been  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  Huitzitzilin,  or,  as  Molina  spells  the  word,  Vitzitzi- 
/m,1930  "  the  humming-bird,"  and  the  root  opoch,  found  in  the 
word  opochmaitl™  " the  left  hand"  (maitl  meaning  "hand")> 
and  which  he  was  said  to  have  been  given  because  he  had  a  fringe 
of  humming-birds'  feathers  adorning  his  left  leg — seems  rather 
to  have  been  derived  from  Huitzla™ "  a  thorny  place  or  a 
thorny  plant,"  and  the  root  poch,  with  the  termination  tli,  as 


380  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

found  in  tel-pochtli™  "a  youth,"  and  icli-poclitli^  "  a  maiden," 
and  to  have  meant  "the  Ever-youthful  One  of  the  Thorny 
Plant." 

The  termination  pochtli  occurs  in  the  name  of  the  god 
0-pochtli,  protector  of  fishermen  2239  (perhaps  originally  A-pochtli, 
"the  Youthful  One  of  the  Water"),  and  it  here  evidently  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  left  hand.  That  the  termination  pochtli 
was  not  an  essential  part  of  Huitzilopochtli's  name  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that 744  the  place  in  which  his  temple  was  situated  was 
called  Huitzillan,  a  compound  formed  from  Huitzil  with  the 
place-termination  tlan. 

Bancroft  states321  that  Huitzilopochtli  was  the  son  of  the 
goddess  of  plants,  and  that  his  connection  with  the  botanical 
kingdom  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  was  specially  worshiped  at 
three  ancient  yearly  feasts,  which  took  place  exactly  at  those 
periods  of  the  year  that  are  the  most  influential  for  the  Mexican 
climate  :  the  middle  of  May,  the  middle  of  August,  and  the  end 
of  December. 

The  theory,  that  he  was  originally  a  deification  of  the  century- 
plant,  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  he  was  considered  as  the 
god  of  vegetation,  by  whose  power  it  was  annually  revivified.1965 
We  also  find  the  word  Vitzyecoltia™™  (which  by  many  other 
authors  would  be  spelled  Huitzyecoltia,  Molina  always  using  v  or  u 
before  a  vowel  to  indicate  the  sound  of  the  English  w,  which 
other  writers  indicate  by  the  letters  hu)  defined  as  meaning 
"  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  the  vine."  The  syllable  yec  is  from 
the  root  of  yec-tli,  meaning  "  good."  The  last  five  letters  form 
a  verbal  termination.  The  syllable  vitz  can  mean  nothing  else 
than  a  thorn  or  thorny  plant,  and  must  have  originally  referred 
to  the  century-plant — which  was  the  one  from  which  the  Mexi 
cans  obtained  their  "  wine,"  which  was  the  only  intoxicating 
liquor  with  which  they  were  acquainted ;  and  the  plant  is  therefore 
frequently  referred  to  by  early  authors  as  the  "  vine  "  of  the 
country.  The  Mexicans  certainly  had  no  feast  dedicated  to  the 
grape-vine,  as,  although  it  occurs  in  the  country  (as  will  be 
shown  in  Chapter  XXII),  it  is  seldom  referred  to,  and  they  never 
made  wine  from  grapes.1- 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  found  the  following  statement 
in  Sahagun  : 2m  "  New  wine  made  from  the  maguey  is  called 
uitz-tli."  This  seems  to  remove  all  possibility  of  doubt  of  the 


THE  COUNTRY  INDICATED  BY  HWUI  SHlN.         381 

connection  of  the  verbal  root  variously  spelled  uitz,  vitz,  and 
huitz,  with  the  century-plant. 

The  name  Camaxtle,lS5&  or  Camaxtli™  under  which  this  god 
was  worshiped  by  the  Tlascaltecs,  seems  to  have  been  formed 
from  the  prefix  ca  (meaning  unknown)  and  a  variant  of  the 
name  Mexitli.  This  people  also  knew  him  by  the  name  of  Mix- 
couatl™*  in  which  another  variation  of  the  same  word  may  be 
seen. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  word  "  Mexico  "  means  "  the  Place 
of  the  Century-plant,"  it  could  also  be  used  with  the  meaning  of 
"  the  Place  of  Mexi-tli "/  Mexi-tli  being  (as  above  explained) 
nothing  but  a  name  for  the  personified  or  deified  century-plant. 
Now,  in  the  center  of  the  city  of  Tenochtitlan,  there  was  a  large 
square  containing  the  temple  in  which  the  god  Huitzilopochtli, 
or  Mexitli,  was  worshiped.  This  square  and  its  temple  would 
be  called  "  Mexico,"  meaning  (in  this  connection)  "  the  Place  of 
the  God  Mexitli,"  and  this  fact  explains  how  it  was  that  the 
name  was  thought  to  apply,  first,  to  a  ward  of  the  city,  and, 
later )  to  the  whole  city  ;  why  it  was  that  many  of  the  Spaniards 
supposed  it  to  be  applicable  to  a  limited  area  only,  instead  of  to 
the  whole  country,  and  why  they  failed  to  learn  its  original  sig 
nification. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  BED  PEARS. 

Connection  between  the  name  of  the  country  and  that  of  the  "  tree  " — Application 
to  smaller  plants  of  the  Chinese  character  translated  "tree'' — Application 
of  the  term  "  tree  "  to  the  century -plant — Description  of  the  metl,  maguey, 
agave,  aloe,  or  century -plant — The  leaves  of  the  fu-sang — Disagreement  of  dif 
ferent  texts — The  t'ung  tree — Evidence  of  corruption  in  the  text — Conject 
ure  as  to  original  reading — Similarity  of  the  young  sprouts  to  those  of  the 
bamboo — Their  edibility — Thread  and  cloth  from  the  fiber  of  the  plant — 
The  finer  fabric  made  from  it — Variation  in  the  texts — Manufacture  of  pa 
per — The  red  pear — The  prickly-pear — Resemblance  of  the  century-plant  to 
the  cacti — Preserves  made  from  the  prickly-pears — Confusion  in  the  Mexican 
language  between  milk  and  the  sap  of  the  century-plant — The  Chinese  "  lo," 
or  koumiss — The  liquor  made  from  the  sap  of  the  century -plant — Its  resem 
blance  to  koumiss — Indians  never  use  milk — Confusion  in  other  Indian  lan 
guages  between  sap  and  milk — Meaning  of  the  name  fu-sang — Variations  in 
the  characters  with  which  it  is  written — The  spontaneous  reproduction  of  the 
century-plant — The  decomposition  of  the  character  "  sang  " — The  tree  of  the 
large  wine-jar — The  tree  having  a  great  cloud  of  blossoms — Blooming  but 
once  in  a  thousand  years — The  Chinese  name  of  the  prickly-pear — Eitel's 
definition  of  the  term  "  fu-sang  " — Professor  Gray's  statement. 

HAYING  thus  settled,  as  far  as  it  is  now  possible  to  do  so,  the 
character  of  the  nation  which  Hwui  Shan  would  have  found  in 
the  region  indicated  by  him,  if  he  actually  took  the  journey 
which  he  claimed  that  he  had  made,  and  having  attempted  to 
determine  the  name  of  the  country,  and  its  meaning,  let  us  now 
continue  the  examination  of  his  story. 

II. — THAT  REGION  HAS  MANY  FU-SANG  TREES,  AND  IT  is  FROM 

THESE  TREES  THAT  THE  COUNTRY  DERIVES  ITS  NAME  OF  Fu-SANG. 

THE  LEAVES   RESEMBLE ?  AND  THE  FIRST    SPROUTS  ARE  LIKE 

THOSE  OF  THE  BAMBOO.  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  COUNTRY  EAT 
THEM  AND  THE  (or  A)  FRUIT,  WHICH  IS  LIKE  A  PEAR  (in  form), 
BUT  OF  A  REDDISH  COLOUR.  THEY  SPIN  THREAD  FROM  THEIR 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS. 


383 


BARK,  FROM  WHICH  THEY  MAKE  CLOTH  OF  WHICH  THEY  MAKE 
CLOTHING  ;  THEY  ALSO  MANUFACTURE  A  FINER  FABRIC  FROM  IT. 
.  .  .  THEY  MAKE  PAPER  FROM  THE  BARK  OF  THE  FU-SANG.  .  .  . 
THEY  HAVE  THE  RED  PEARS  KEPT  UNSPOILED  THROUGHOUT  THE 
YEAR. 

One  of  the  first  points  to  attract  the  attention  is,  that  there  \ 
is  a  connection  between  the  name  of  the  country  and  that  of  a 
species  of  "  tree  "  which  grows  there.  It  has  already  been  shown 
that  there  is  a  similar  connection  between  the  name  "  Mexico  " 
and  the  agave,  or  century-plant.  It  might  be  claimed,  however, 
that  this  is  not  a  "  tree." 

In  reply  to  this  objection,  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  probable 
that  the  century-plant  would  be  included  by  the  Chinese  under 
the  general  term  MUH,  fa  which  is  here  translated  "  tree,"  this 
character  being  used  by  the  Chinese  not  only  as  the  radical  of 
trees,  but  also  of  shrubs. 2491  Fig.  10  contains  illustrations  of  two 


iJfc/ 


FIG.  10. — Two  plants  classified  in  the  'En-YA,  under  th'c  heading  MUH,  or  "  trees." 

plants  which  in  the  'Rii-YA  (a  book  written  by  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  scholars  of  the  Han  dynasty,  between  B.  c.  202  and 
A.  D.  25)  are  included  under  this  general  heading  of  MUH,  or 
"trees."  It  is  evident  that,  if  these  insignificant  plants  can 
properly  be  included  in  that  term,  the  century-plant — the  flower 
ing-stalks  of  which  sometimes  tower  to  a  height  of  forty 2373  or 
fifty 2372  feet,  throwing  out  branches  on  every  side,2373  and  being 


384  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

sufficiently  solid  to  be  used  as  beams,2370  of  which  houses  are  built 
in  many  places  ;  222°  these  stalks  being  said  to  make  "  very  good 
rafters,"  and  being  also  used  as  fuel,11 — can  hardly  be  excluded, 
either  on  the  ground  of  size  or  of  lack  of  woody  consistency. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  term  "  tree  "  was  usually  applied  to 
the  century-plant  by  <  the  early  writers.  Acosta,  for  instance, 
says :  "  "  The  maguey  is  the  tree,  of  marvels,  to  which  the  Indians 
are  accustomed  to  ascribe  miracles,  inasmuch  as  it  gives  them 
water,  wine,  oil,  vinegar,  honey,  syrup,  thread,  and  a  thousand 
other  things.  It  is  a  tree  which  the  Indians  of  New  Spain  es 
teem  very  highly.  .  .  .  The  wood  of  this  tree  is  hollow  and  soft, 
and  is  used  for  preserving  a  fire,  for  it  burns  slowly  like  a  match 
lock,  and  keeps  the  fire  for  a  long  time,  and  I  have  seen  the  In 
dians  use  it  for  this  purpose." 

So,  too,  Gage  says  : 1379  "  About  Mexico,  more  than  in  any 
other  part,  groweth  that  excellent  tree  called  metl" ;  and,1377 
"There  are  also  mantles  made  of  the  leaves  of  a  tree  called 
metV  Bartram  also  speaks  of  "  a  forest "  of  agaves,  and  ex 
plains  :  55°  "  I  term  it  a  forest,  because  their  scapes,  or  flower- 
stems,  arose  erect  near  thirty  feet  high." 

It  is  therefore  manifest  that  Hwui  Shan  is  not  alone  in  his 
application  of  the  term  "  tree  "  to  the  century -plant. 

Before  examining  his  description  of  the  plant,  or  tree,  from 
which  the  country  took  its  name,  it  will  be  best  to  note  what  is 
said  by  other  writers  regarding  the  plant  which,  if  Mexico  is 
identified  with  Fu-sang,  must  have  been  the  "  f  u-sang  tree  "  of 
Hwui  Shan. 

Prescott  says  : 2066  "  The  miracle  of  nature  was  the  maguey r, 
whose  clustering  pyramid  of  flowers,  towering  above  their  dark 
coronals  of  leaves,  were  seen  sprinkled  over  many  a  broad  acre 
of  the  table-land.  Its  bruised  leaves  afforded  a  paste  from  which 
paper  was  manufactured  ;  its  juice  was  fermented  into  an  in 
toxicating  beverage,  pulque,  of  which  the  natives  to  this  day 
are  excessively  fond  ;  its  leaves  further  supplied  an  impenetrable 
thatch  for  the  more  humble  dwellings  ;  thread,  of  which  coarse 
stuffs  were  made,  and  strong  cords,  were  drawn  from  its  tough 
and  twisted  fibers  ;  pins  and  needles  were  made  of  the  thorns  at 
the  extremity  of  its  leaves  ;  and  the  root,  when  properly  cooked, 
was  converted  into  a  palatable  and  nutritious  food.  The  agave, 
in  short,  was  meat,  drink,  clothjng,  and  writing-materials,  for  the 


THE   FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS.         385 


FIG.  11. — A  century-plant  in  blossom. 


386  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Aztec  !     Surely,  never  did  nature  inclose  in  so  compact  a  form 
so  many  of  the  elements  of  human  comfort  and  civilization  '. " 

Clavigero,  in  his  "  History  of  Mexico,"  has  epitomized  the 
uses  of  the  various  kinds  of  agaves  of  that  country  in  the  fol 
lowing  language  :  237° 

"  Some  species  furnish  protecting  inclosures,  and  afford  im 
passable  hedges  to  other  objects  of  cultivation.  From  the  juice 
of  others  are  extracted  honey,  sugar,  vinegar,  pulque,  and  ardent 
spirits.  From  the  trunk  and  the  thickest  part  of  the  leaves, 
roasted  in  the  earth,  an  agreeable  food  is  obtained.  The  flower 
ing-stalks  serve  as  beams,  and  the  leaves  as  roofs  for  houses.  The 
thorns  answer  for  lancets,  awls,  needles,  arrowheads,  and  other 
cutting  and  penetrating  instruments.  But  the  fibrous  substance 
of  the  leaves  is  the  most  important  gift  of  the  agaves  of  Mexico. 
According  to  the  species,  the  fiber  varies  in  quality  from  the 
coarsest  hemp  to  the  finest  flax,  and  may  be  employed  as  a  supe 
rior  substitute  for  both.  From  it  the  ancient  Mexicans  fabri 
cated  their  thread  and  cordage  ;  mats  and  bagging  ;  shoes  and 
clothing  ;  webs  equivalent  to  cambric  and  canvas  ;  the  ham 
mocks  in  which  they  were  born,  and  in  which  they  reposed  and 
died,  and  the  paper  on  which  they  painted  their  histories,  and 
with  which  they  adored  and  adorned  their  gods.  The  value  of 
these  agaves  is  enhanced  by  their  indifference  to  soil,  climate, 
and  season  ;  by  the  simplicity  of  their  cultivation,  and  by  the 
ease  with  which  their  products  are  extracted  and  prepared.  It 
is  not,  therefore,  surprising  that  the  ancient  Mexicans  used 
some  part  or  preparation  of  these  plants  in  their  civil,  military, 
and  religious  ceremonies,  and  at  marriages  and  deaths  ;  nor  that 
they  perpetuated  an  allusion  to  their  properties  in  the  name  of 
their  capital."  107S 

Fig.  11  is  a  cut  of  a  century-plant,  adapted  by  the  engraver 
from  a  photograph,  by  Mr.  Taber  of  San  Francisco,  of  a  plant 
now  (December,  1884)  in  blossom  in  that  city.  The  represen 
tation  of  the  flowering-stalk  is  much  better  than  that  of  the 
leaves  about  its  base. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  various  Chinese  authorities  differ 
so  radically  as  to  what  it  was  that  the  leaves  of  the  fu-sang  tree 
resembled,  that  it  seems  impossible  to  determine,  with  any  cer 
tainty,  the  real  statement  of  Hwui  Shan  on  the  subject. 

In  Ma  Twan-lin's  account,  it  is  said  that  they  resemble  those 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS. 


337 


of  the  T'UNG  tree.  This  is  said  by  Klaproth  to  be  the  Bignonia 
tomentosa,  by  Neumann  to  be  the  Dryandra  cordif olia,  by  Julien 
to  be  the  Paullownia  imperialis,  and  by  Leland  to  be  the  Dry- 
anda  cordata,  or  Eleococca  verrucosa. 

Fig.    12,  copied  from  the  'Rn-YA,  shows,  on  the  left,  the 
YUNG-T'UNG,  or  "  Beautiful  T'UNG  "  tree  ;  now  called   the   wu- 


Fio.  12. — The  t'ung  tree  and  the  wild  mulberry. 

T'UNG  ;  and  this  in  Williams's  Dictionary  (p.  1060)  is  said  to  be 
the  Eleococca  verrucosa.  In  the  same  engraving  is  given  a  pict 
ure  of  the  wild  mulberry,  or  mountain  mulberry,  the  leaves  of 
which  will  be  seen  to  closely  resemble  those  of  the  YUNG-T'UNG. 
Leland  states,  however,1718  that  in  the  "Year  Books  of  the 
Liang  Dynasty,"  the  character  is  not  written  jffl,  T'UNG,  the  t'ung 
tree,  but  Jp),  T'UNG,  copper.  According  to  this  older  authority, 
therefore,  the  leaves  of  the  fu-sang  tree  resembled  copper.  The 
old  Chinese  geography,  called  the  Shan  Hai  King,  adds  to  the 
confusion  by  saying  that  the  leaves  are  like  mustard,  or  sinapis. 
The  two  characters  given  above  have  the  same  "phonetic,"  or 
"primitive"  (the  part  at  the  right),  and  differ  only  in  the  "radi 
cal"  (the  part  at  the  left),  which,  in  the  first  is  "tree,"  and,  in 
the  second,  is  "  metal."  The  characters  are  so  much  alike  that 
the  indications  are  strong  that  the  first  was  substituted  for  the 
second  by  some  copyist  or  commentator,  who  reasoned  as  fol- 


388  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

lows  :  "  The  appellation  c  f u-sang '  means  '  the  useful  mulberry.' 
The  tree  was  therefore  some  species  of  mulberry.  The  Regis 
ters  of  the  Liang  Dynasty  say  that  its  leaves  resemble  copper. 
This  is  evidently  a  mistake  ;  there  is  no  plant  having  leaves  re 
sembling  copper  ;  the  character,  however,  very  much  resembles 
that  used  for  the  T'UNG  tree,  and  the  leaves  of  this  tree  are  very 
similar  to  those  of  the  mulberry.  It  is  therefore  probable  that 
some  copyist,  transcribing  the  old  records,  written  before  print 
ing  was  invented,  mistook  a  carelessly  written  character,  T'UNG, 
H3,  meaning  *  the  T'UNG  tree,'  for  the  character  T'UNG,  $p],  *  cop 
per.'  I  will  correct  his  error,  and  restore  the  reading  as  it 
must  originally  have  stood."  So,  like  many  of  our  Shakespearean 
commentators,  he  probably  substituted  his  own  conjecture  for 
the  original  text,  merely  because  he  was  unable  to  understand 
the  latter  ;  and  thereby  made  it  almost  impossible  for  those 
coming  after  him  to  detect  the  real  meaning  of  the  author. 

If  I  may  be  permitted  to  submit  a  surmise,  which  is  con 
fessedly  a  mere  conjecture,  of  which  the  most  that  can  be  said  is 
that  it  is  possibly  true  ;  I  would  suggest  that  the  old  reading  "  cop 
per  "  is  probably  an  error,  but  that  the  mistake  is  not  in  the  radi 
cal,  but  in  the  phonetic.  There  is  in  the  Chinese  language  a 
character,  ££j,  KEu,2538  which  closely  resembles  the  one  used  for 
"  copper,"  jjj).  This  character  KEU  is  defined  as  meaning  "  a 
hook,  a  barb,  a  claw,  a  fluke  ;  a  sickle,  a  bill-hook  ;  a  crooked 
sword  ;  to  hook,  to  make  crooked  or  hooked."  It  is  evident  that 
the  general  idea  is  that  of  being  crooked,  sharp,  and  barbed  ;  and 
the  character  was  probably  originally  composed  of  the  radical 
"  metal "  with  a  picture  of  a  fish-hook  and  its  bait.  This  character 
is  used  in  the  compound  KEu-YAo,2577  "  the  barbed-exotic,"  which 
is  applied  to  a  species  of  thistle  found  in  Kiang-su.  No  charac 
ter  in  the  Chinese  language  would  better  describe  the  curved 
and  prickly  leaves  of  the  century-plant,  "  armed  with  teeth  like  a 
shark," 1282  than  this  term  KEU,  "  a  hook,  a  barb,  a  crooked  sword." 
Now,  if  Hwui  Shan  said  that  the  leaves  of  the  f  u-sang  resembled  §£j, 
it  is  not  beyond  the  limits  of  reasonable  possibility  that  this  may 
have  been  so  illegibly  written  as  to  have  been  mistaken  for  ||sj, 
or  that  some  copyist  may  have  carelessly  made  this  change 
while  transcribing.  Then  the  course  of  reasoning  above  sug 
gested  would  very  naturally  have  led  to  the  substitution  of  the 
character  Jpi),  and  the  accounts  would  have  exhibited  the  confu- 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS. 


3S9 


sion  and  contradiction  that  we  now  find.  It  is  not  contended 
that  these  changes  are  proved,  or  anything  more  than  merely 
possible.  It  is  claimed,  however,  that  unless  some  such  changes 
took  place,  the  variations  in  the  texts  can  not  be  explained  ;  and 
that  it  is  now  impracticable  to  decide  with  certainty  as  to  the 
character  originally  used.  The  fact  that  the  leaves  of  the  cent 
ury-plant  do  not  at  all  resemble  those  of  the  TUNG  tree  is  there 
fore  no  proof  that  the  fu-sang  tree  was  not  the  century-plant 

In  Hwui  Shan's  next  statement  we  find  a  detail  regarding 
which  there  is  no  dispute,  which  makes  it  absolutely  impossible 
that  the  original  description  of  the  plant  can  have  represented 
that  its  leaves  resembled  those  of  the  T'UNG  tree.  This  is  the  fact 
that  "  the  first  sprouts  are  like  those  of  the  bamboo."  Now,  the 
bamboo  is  an  endogenous  plant,  and  the  first  sprouts  of  nearly  all 
endogens  have  a  similar  general  character,  but  differ  widely  from 
those  of  the  exogens.  No  mulberry,  no  T'UNG  tree  (if  this  is  cor 
rectly  identified  by  any  of  the  authors  above  named),  ever  exhib 
ited  a  "  first  sprout "  which  even  the  most  careless  observer  could 
consider  as  at  all  resembling  that  of  the  bamboo,  while  this  com 
parison  might  be  made  with 
justice  as  to  the  sprout  of 
almost  any  endogenous  plant. 

Fig.  13,  a  copy  of  another 
illustration  of  the  'Rn-TA, 
gives  a  picture  of  these  bam 
boo-sprouts.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  find  specimens  of  the  cent 
ury-plant  in  almost  any  of 
our  cities,  and  young  sprouts 
may  frequently  be  found  push 
ing  up  around  them.  If  the 
reader  will  take  the  trouble  to 
examine  some  of  these,  he  will 
see  that  the  illustration  of 
bamboo-sprouts  will  answer 
nearly  as  well  for  those  of  the 
century-plant.  The  resemblance  is  very  close  and  very  striking. 

Hwui  Shan  would  hardly  have  been  likely  to  mention  these 
shoots,  however,  if  it  were  not  a  fact  that  their  great  number 
about  the  elder  plants  is  such  as  to  attract  attention.  M.  Jourdanet, 


FIG.  13. — Bamboo-sprouts. 


390  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

in  his  notes  upon  Sahagun,  says  that, 2221  at  an  advanced  period  of 
the  plant's  development,  eight  or  ten  shoots  grow  up  about  it  ; 
while  Bartlett M9  and  Squier 2372  agree  in  the  statement  that  "  an 
infinity  of  shoots "  springs  from  the  decaying  roots  of  the  old 
plants,  and  that  no  known  plant  multiplies  with  greater  facility. 

Our  Asiatic  traveler  noticed  a  second  point  of  resemblance  to 
bamboo-shoots,  however,  and  that  lay  in  the  fact  that  they  were 
edible.  Professor  Williams  states  that  249°  the  tender  shoots  of 
the  bamboo  are  cultivated  for  food,  and  are,  when  four  or  five 
inches  high,  boiled,  pickled,  and  comfited.  Crawf  urd  says  that1136 
the  young  shoots  of  the  bamboo  are,  with  the  natives  of  the  In 
dian  Islands,  a  frequent,  favourite,  and  agreeable  esculent  vege 
table,  and  may  be  either  boiled,  or  used  with  vinegar  as  a  pickle. 

The  "  Chinese  Repository  "  gives  the  following  account : 988 
"The  young  and  tender  shoots  of  the  bamboo  are  used  as  a 
vegetable  for  the  table  in  different  ways  ;  if  cut  as  soon  as  they 
appear  above  the  ground,  they  are  almost  as  tender  and  delicate 
as  asparagus.  They  are  white  and  palatable,  and  when  in  this 
state  are  used  as  pickles,  as  greens,  as  a  sweetmeat,  and  as  a 
medicine.  The  fondness  for  these  young  shoots  is  so  general 
that  they  are  made  articles  of  commerce,  and  are  sent  to  the 
capital  and  all  parts  of  the  empire.  They  are  cured  by  exposing 
them,  when  fresh,  to  steam,  and  afterward  drying  them.  They 
often  form  a  part  in  the  feasts  of  the  rich,  and  constitute  an  im 
portant  article  of  diet  for  the  priests.  These  young  shoots  are 
artificially  cultivated  during  the  most  part  of  the  year.  All 
classes  use  the  pickle,  as  a  relish,  with  rice  and  other  vegetable 
dishes." 

The  statement  of  Clavigero,2370  that,  from  the  trunk  of  the 
century -plant  and  the  thickest  part  of  the  leaves,  roasted  in  the 
earth,  an  agreeable  food  is  obtained,  has  already  been  quoted. 
Bancroft  mentions  the  maguey-plant,  Agave  Mexicana,  among 
the  articles  on  which  the  natives  of  New  Mexico  rely  for  food,115 
and  also  names  "roasted  portions  of  the  maguey  stalks  and 
leaves"203  among  the  articles  of  food  used  by  the  natives  of 
Mexico.  General  Crook,  in  his  report  to  the  Government  of  his 
expedition  against  the  Mescalero  Apaches  (who  take  even  their 
name  from  the  "  mescal,"  before  referred  to — a  species  of  agave), 
states  as  one  of  the  reasons  which  make  it  almost  impossible  to 
capture  them,  that 1U9  "  the  agave  grows  luxuriantly  in  the  mount- 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS.         391 

ains,  and  upon  this  plant  alone  the  Indians  can  live."  M.  God- 
ron  says  that 1413  they  not  only  eat  the  tender  roots  of  the  plant, 
but  also  the  central  shoot,  keeping  its  soft  and  fleshy  consistence. 

It  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  young  and  tender  shoots 
would  be  included  among  the  parts  of  a  "  soft  and  fleshy  consist 
ence,"  and  so  would  be  eaten  with  the  rest.  Other  authors  do 
not  mention  them  particularly,  as  they  would  form  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  food  derived  from  the  plants,  but  Hwui  Shan 
would  be  led  to  refer  specially  to  them,  because  of  their  resem 
blance  to  the  edible  shoots  of  the  bamboo. 

The  Chinese  text  says  that  the  people  of  the  country  spun 
thread  from  the  bark  of  the  fu-sang  tree,  from  which  they  made 
cloth,  of  which  they  made  clothing,  and  that  they  also  manufact 
ured  a  finer  fabric  from  it. 

In  the  case  of  most  exogenous  fiber-producing  plants,  it  is 
from  one  of  the  layers  of  bark  that  the  fiber  is  derived,  and  those 
who  are  accustomed  to  seeing  flax,  hemp,  or  the  paper-mulberry, 
naturally  learn  to  associate  fiber  with  the  "bark,"  and  to  speak 
of  it  as  derived  therefrom,  even  in  the  case  of  endogenous 
plants,  which  have  no  true  bark,  and  in  which  the  fiber  is  scat 
tered  through  the  stems  and  leaves.  The  Abbe  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg,  for  instance,  makes  the  statements  that 657  the  Cak- 
chiquels  made  garments  from  the  bark  of  trees,  and  of  maguey's, 
and  that 659  nequen  is  a  species  of  coarse  hemp  which  the  Mexi 
cans  draw  from  the  bark  of  the  aloe,  or  maguey. 

Dr.  Brinton,  also,  after  mentioning  that  three  Central  Ameri 
can  codices,  described  by  him,  were  all841  written  on  paper 
manufactured  from  the  leaves  of  the  maguey-plant,  refers  to  the 
statements  of  old  writers,  who  said  that  the  books  of  the  Mexi 
cans  were  made  of  the  bark  of  trees. 

In  Ma  Twan-lin's  text,  the  clause  which  I  have  translated, 
"They  also  manufacture  a  finer  fabric  from  it"  (the  thread), 
reads,  "  They  make  KIX,  |g,  from  it "  (the  thread).  The  term  KIN- 
IS  defined  as  meaning  "  embroidered  stuff,  or  embroidered  and 
ornamented  stuff  in  general."1713  Professor  Williams  (p.  399 
of  his  dictionary)  defines  it  as  a  kind  of  thin  brocade,  and  in 
the  article,  copied  in  Chapter  XIV  of  this  work,  says  that  the 
word  is  applied  to  embroidery  and  parti-coloured  textures.  It  is 
not  so  much  the  damask-like  figure  that  is  the  essential  point, 
but  among  the  Chinese  the  kin  always  has  a  variety  of  colours. 


392  Atf  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Mr.  Leland  says,  however,1713  that  the  "  Year  Books  of  the 
Liang  Dynasty"  have,  instead  of  KIN,  the  character  MIEN  (evi 
dently  £$),  which  signifies  fine  silk.  This  "Register  of  the 
Liang  Dynasty  "  is  the  original  authority  on  the  subject,  and,  in 
case  of  a  variation  in  the  texts,  its  reading  is  entitled  to  at  least 
as  much  attention  as  that  of  Ma  Twan-lin. 

Hepburn  defines  the  character  MIEN,  "  cotton,  floss  silk,"  I4M 
and  says  that  the  "Tree-MiEN,"  ^f;  £$,  is  a  kind  of  cloth,  made 
of  the  bark  of  the  mulberry,  worn  in  ancient  times.1493  Professor 
Williams  defines  the  word,  "  soft,  cottony,  like  fine  floss  or  raw 
silk,  drawn  out,  prolonged,  extended,  as  a  thread  or  fiber." 

It  is  therefore  probable  that  in  the  time  of  Hwui  Shan  the 
term  was  applied  to  some  species  of  soft  textile  fabric,  made 
from  the  fiber  of  the  paper-mulberry,  of  a  finer  quality  than  the 
usual  coarse  material  manufactured  from  it,  and  if  the  word  was 
so  used  in  his  days,  he  would  naturally  apply  it  to  a  similar  ma 
terial  made  from  the  agave  fiber. 

As  to  the  manufactures  of  the  Mexicans,  McCulloh  says  : 1846 
"  From  the  maguey  they  made  two  kinds  of  cloth,  one  of  which 
was  like  hempen  cloth,  and  a  finer  kind  which  resembled  linen" 

Clavigero  states  that1082  "from  the  leaves  of  the  pati,*  and 
of  the  quetzalichtli  (species  of  maguey),  they  drew  a  fine  thread, 
with  which  they  made  cloth  as  good  as  that  made  of  linen,  and 
from  the  leaves  of  other  species  of  maguey  they  derived  a 
coarser  thread  similar  to  hemp."  This  account  is  repeated  by 
the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg.719 

Sahagun,  also,  when  speaking  of  the  merchant  who  deals  in 
mantles  made  from  the  fiber  of  the  maguey,  says  : 2208  "  Some  of 
those  which  he  sells  are  of  light  tissue,  similar  to  those  which 
are  used  for  head-dresses,  such  as  the  finely  woven  mantles  of 
the  single  thread  of  the  nequen,  and  those  which  are  made  from 
the  twisted  threads  of  this  plant.  He  also  sells  others  of  coarse 
texture,  very  closely  woven,  and  still  others  coarse  and  thick, 
made  either  from  the  pita,  or  from  the  thread  of  the  maguey." 

The  Chinese  account  says  that  paper,  also,  is  made  from  the 
bark  of  the  f  u-sang  ;  and  the  following  quotations  regarding  the 
paper  manufactured  from  the  fiber  of  the  agave,  maguey,  or 
century-plant  will  be  of  interest  in  this  connection. 

Bancroft  says  : 232  "  Paper,  in  Aztec  amatl,  used  chiefly  as  a 

*  Perhaps  a  typographical  error.     The  pita  is  probably  meant.— E.  P.  V. 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AXD  THE  RED  PEARS.         393 

material  on  which  to  paint  the  hieroglyphic  records,  was  made 
for  the  most  part  of  maguey  fiber,  although  the  other  fibers  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  cloth  were  occasionally  mixed  with  those 
of  this  plant.  The  material  must  have  been  pressed  together 
when  wet,  and  the  product  was  generally  very  thick,  more  like  a 
soft  pasteboard  than  our  paper.  The  surface  was  smooth,  and 
well  adapted  to  the  painting  which  it  was  to  bear.  Certain  gums 
are  said  to  have  been  used  for  the  more  perfect  cohesion  of  the 
fiber,  and  the  amatl  was  made  in  long,  narrow  sheets  suitable 
for  rolling  or  folding." 

The  Cavalier  Boturini,*  a  collector  of  Mexican  relics,  in 
forms  us 2453  (yet  from  sources  which  he  has  omitted  to  quote)  : 
"  Indian  paper  was  made  from  the  leaves  of  the  maguey,  which, 
in  the  language  of  the  natives,  was  called  metl,  and  in  Spanish 
pita.  The  leaves  were  soaked,  putrefied,  and  the  fibers  washed, 
smoothed,  and  extended  for  the  manufacture  of  thin  as  well  as 
thick  paper."  216 

Squier  makes  the  following  statement  :2372  "The  fiber  of  the 
maguey  is  coarser  than  that  of  the  Agave  Sisilana,  but  it  is, 
nevertheless,  of  great  utility,  and  is  extensively  used.  The  an 
cient  Mexicans  painted  their  hieroglyphical  records  and  ritual 
calendars  on  paper  made  from  the  leaves  of  this  plant,  macerated 
in  water,  and  the  fibers  deposited  in  layers,  like  those  of  the 
Egyptian  cyperus  (papyrus),  and  the  mulberry  of  the  South  Sea 
Islands  ;  and  in  modern  times  the  fibers  are  used  for  a  corre 
sponding  purpose.  Indeed,  the  paper  made  from  the  maguey 
is  so  much  esteemed  for  its  toughness  and  durability,  over  that 
made  in  the  United  States  and  Europe,  that,  in  1830,  a  law  was 
enacted  by  the  Mexican  Congress  requiring  that  no  other  kind 
of  paper  should  be  used  in  recording  the  laws,  or  in  the  execu 
tion  of  legal  documents." 

He  adds 2373  that  Mr.  Brantz  Mayer,  in  his  work,  "  Mexico  as 
It  Was  and  as  It  Is,"  p.  313,  observes  :  "The  best  coarse  wrap 
ping  or  envelope  paper  I  have  ever  seen  is  made  in  Mexico,  from 
the  leaves  of  the  Agave  Americana.  It  has  almost  the  tough 
ness  and  tenacity  of  iron." 

Hwui  Shan's  account  says  that  the  people  of  the  country  ate  a 
fruit  which  was  like  a  pear  in  appearance,  but  which  was  red.  The 

*Cavaliere  Lorenzo  Boturini  Benaducci,  "  Idea  de  Una  Nueva  Historia  Gene 
ral  y  Catalogo  del  Musco  Historico,"  Madrid^  1746,  p.  95. 


394:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

character  SHIH  used  to  designate  the  fruit,  indicates  that  it  did 
not  have  a  nut  or  kernel,2563  as,  if  it  had,  the  term  KWO  2544 
would  probably  have  been  used  instead.  The  connection  is  such 
that  it  is  naturally  inferred  that  the  fruit  referred  to  was  that 
of  the  fu-sang.  This  seeins  the  most  probable  meaning  of  the 
text ;  and  yet  I  hardly  think  it  entirely  certain  that  the  meaning 
may  not  have  been  that  the  people  ate  a  fruit — instead  of  the 
fruit  (of  the  fu-sang).  The  fruit  referred  to  can  be  nothing  else 
than  the  well-known  prickly-pear,  otherwise  called  the  noctli,1*00 
nopalli™1  nopal?™  nochtli™  tuna™*  or  Indian  fig.2590  The  re 
semblance  of  its  shape  to  that  of  a  pear  is  such  that  it  derives 
its  best-known  name  from  this  fact,  and,  while  there  are  species 
of  many  different  colours,1386  the  common  wild  variety  is  red.  It 
is  the  fruit  of  a  species  of  cactus.  The  agave,  or  century-plant, 
belongs  to  a  different  botanical  family,  and  yet  it  so  closely  re 
sembles  the  cacti,  in  many  of  their  most  striking  peculiarities,  that 
travelers  frequently  fall  into  the  error  of  classing  it  with  them. 
Lieutenant  Herndon,  for  instance,  says  that  the  "  maguey  is  a 
species  of  cactus."1533  An  editorial  article  in  the  New  York 
"Herald,"  of  February  17,  1883,  says  that  "the  present  customs 
duty  on  hennequin,  or  Sisal  hemp — which  is  the  product  of  a 
kind  of  cactus— is  six  dollars  a  ton "  ;  the  fact  being  that 
the  so-called  Sisal  hemp  is  derived  from  a  species  of  agave  very 
closely  related  to  the  century-plant.  So,  also,  an  article  in  the 
Chicago  "Tribune,"  of  May  11,  1884,  mentions  "that  species 
of  cactus  called  the  maguey."  Both  the  agaves  and  the  cacti 
are  distinguished  from  other  plants  by  their  thick,  fleshy,  stem- 
less  leaves,  which,  in  both  cases,  are  usually  armed  with  strong 
spines  or  thorns.  They  grow  in  arid 2372  and  barren 2373  lands, 
in  which  scarcely  any  other  plant — except  varieties  of  artemi- 
sia,  or  sage-brush — can  live  ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  they 
should  be  considered  by  the  unscientific  observer  as  different 
species  of  one  general  family.  It  is  possible  that  Hwui  Shan 
used  the  term  fu-sang  as  a  generic  name,  under  which  he  in 
tended  to  include  all  varieties  of  the  cactus,  and  that  he  classed 
the  agaves  with  them.  Mexico  is  the  home  of  both  plants,  and 
they  form  the  characteristic  vegetation  of  a  large  portion  of 
that  country.  They  are  indigenous  nowhere  else  except  in  the 
neighbouring  regions,  and  it  is  in  Mexico  that  they  present  more 
varieties  and  larger  species  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  globe.586 


THE  FtJ-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS.         395 

The  prickly-pear  abounds  in  nearly  all  portions  of  Mexico,  and 
it  is  a  fruit  that  is  much  esteemed,  and  which  enters  largely  into 
the  food  of  the  inhabitants.  Gage  says  of  it  that  it  is  1386  "  abso 
lutely  one  of  the  best  fruits  "  in  the  country.  Emory  speaks  of 
its  "  truly  delicious  "  taste.  Diaz  states  that  the  army  of  Cortez 1204 
lived  for  a  time  upon  it ;  and  Prescott  says  that  the  provisions 
with  which  his  camp  was  supplied  from  the  friendly  towns  in  the 
neighbourhood  consisted  of  fish  and  the  fruits  of  the  country, 2081 
"  particularly  a  sort  of  fig  borne  by  the  tuna  (  Cactus  opuntia)." 

The  last  statement  of  the  Chinese  text  regarding  these  "  red 
pears  "  is,  that  they  are  kept  unspoiled  throughout  the  year.  In 
the  relation  of  the  voyage  to  Cibola,  undertaken  in  1540,  con 
tained  in  vol.  ix,  of  the  first  series  of  the  "  Voyages,"  etc.,  pub 
lished  by  M.  Ternaux-Compans,  it  is  stated  that  the  people  of  the 
country 2437  "  make  many  preserves  from  tunas,  the  juice  of  which 
is  so  sweet  that  it  preserves  them  perfectly  without  adding  any 
syrup."  The  statement  is  also  made  in  another  place  that,  "  in  a 
province  called  Nacapan,  many  tunas,  or  Indian  figs,  are  found, 
of  which  the  people  make  preserves."  2431 

The  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  in  his  notes,  which  are 
given  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  this  work,  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  Encyclopaedia,  Ku-kin-tu-shu-tai-ching,  gives  the 
passage  of  the  Chinese  text  last  above  referred  to,  "  They  have 
the  pears  of  thefu-sang  tree"  etc.,  instead  of  the  reading  given 
by  Ma  Twan-lin.  This  seems  to  indicate  that  there  was  a  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  various  Chinese  authors  and  compilers  as  to 
whether  the  (<  red  pears  "  were  or  were  not  the  fruit  of  the  f u- 
sang  tree. 

Before  leaving  the  account  of  the  fu-sang,  there  is  another 
statement  of  the  Chinese  text,  which,  in  my  opinion,  should  be 
connected  with  the  details  regarding  this  plant,  and  that  is  : 

III. FROM  MILK  THEY  MAKE  KOUMISS. 

As  this  phrase  follows  a  reference  to  the  deer  of  the  country, 
it  has  usually  been  translated,  "  from  the  milk  of  the  hinds  they 
make  butter,  cheese,  creamy  dishes,  or  cream "  ;  for  all  these 
articles  are  named  by  different  authors  as  indicated  by  the  Chi 
nese  character  LO,  which  in  the  translation  given  above  is  ren 
dered  "koumiss."  The  words,  "of  the  hinds,"  italicized  above, 
are  not  found  in  the  Chinese  text,  and  are  supplied  only  from 
the  inferences  of  the  translators. 


396  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

According  to  the  "  Chinese  Repository,"  987  the  products  of 
the  dairy,  as  milk,  butter,  and  cheese,  are  hardly  known  among 
the  Chinese.  Milk  is  usually  cooked  by  boiling  ;  it  is  also  em 
ployed  in  making  cakes,  pastry,  etc.  Butter  and  cheese  are  not 
used  by  them,  nor  do  they  understand  the  process  of  making  the 
latter.  Professor  Williams  refers  to  the  same  fact  in  the  following 
words  : 2501  "  The  Chinese  use  very  little  from  the  dairy,  as  milk, 
butter,  or  cheese  ;  the  very  small  number  of  cattle  raised  in  the 
country,  and  the  consequent  dearness  of  these  articles,  may  have 
caused  them  to  fall  into  disuse,  for  they  are  all  common  among 
the  Manchus  and  Mongols.  A  Chinese  table  seems  ill-furnished 
to  a  foreigner  when  he  sees  neither  bread,  butter,  nor  milk  upon 
it,  and,  if  he  expresses  his  disrelish  of  the  oily  dishes  or  alliaceous 
stews  before  him,  the  Chinese  thinks  that  he  gives  a  sufficient 
reply  to  the  disparagement  of  his  taste,  when  he  answers,  '  You 
eat  cheese,  and  sometimes  when  it  can  almost  walk.' " 

In  many  other  parts  of  Asia,  as,  for  instance,  in  Sumatra, 
the  natives  use  no  milk  or  butter.1822 

Koumiss,  or  some  similar  preparation,  was  made  by  the  Chi 
nese,  however,1008  as  far  back  as  in  the  days  of  the  Han  dynasty 
(B.  c.  202  to  A.  D.  25),  and  the  following  account  of  it  is  given 1009 
in  the  "  Chinese  Repository  "  : 

"  The  Chinese  describe  a  preparation,  made  from  the  milk  of 
various  domestic  animals,  that  resembles  the  koumiss,  found 
among  the  Tartars.  It  is  called  lo,  and  is  made  in  the  follow 
ing  manner  :  Put  a  quart  of  milk  into  a  boiler,  and  simmer 
it  for  some  time,  when  another  quart  is  to  be  added,  and  the 
whole  boiled  until  many  bubbles  arise  to  the  surface,  all  the 
while  stirring  it  about  with  the  ladle  ;  now  pour  it  into  a  ves 
sel,  and  wait  till  it  is  cold,  when  the  pellicle  that  forms  upon 
the  surface  is  to  be  taken  off  to  form  the  soo  (a  kind  of  oil 
that  is  simmered  from  such  pellicles).  Now  add  a  little  old  lo, 
and  cover  it  up  for  a  while  with  paper,  until  it  is  completely 
made." 

This  is  evidently  the  LO  mentioned  in  our  text,  and  it  was, 
therefore,  neither  butter,  cheese,  cream,  nor  any  similar  article 
of  food. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the.  fact  that  a  "  wine,"  much 
resembling  koumiss,  was  made  by  the  Mexicans  from  the  sap  of 
the  agave,  and  it  has  been  claimed  that  if  Hwui  Shan  was  at- 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND  THE  RED  PEARS.         397 

tempting  to  describe  the  agave,  or  century-plant,  in  the  tree  which 
he  calls  fu-sang,  he  would  have  referred  to  this  liquor  that  was 
made  from  it.  Bancroft 204  says  that  one  of  the  most  popular 
Nahua  beverages  was  that  since  known  as  pulque.  This  liquor, 
called  by  the  natives  octli — pulque,  or  pulcre,  being  a  South 
American  aboriginal  term  applied  to  it  in  some  unaccountable 
wray  by  the  Spaniards — was  the  fermented  juice  of  the  maguey. 
One  plant  is  said  to  yield  about  one  hundred  pounds  in  a  month. 
A  cavity  is  cut  at  the  base  of  the  larger  leaves,  and  allowed  to 
fill  with  juice,  which  is  removed  to  a  vessel  of  earthenware  or 
of  skin,  where  it  ferments  rapidly  and  is  ready  for  use. 

In  another  place 122  he  states  that  their  principal  and  national 
drink  is  pulque,  made  from  the  Agave  Americana,  and  is  thus 
prepared  :  When  the  plant  is  about  to  bloom,  the  heart,  or  stalk, 
is  cut  out,  leaving  a  hole  in  the  center,  which  is  covered  with  the 
outer  leaves.  Every  twenty-four  hours,  or,  in  the  hotter  climates, 
twice  a  day,  the  cavity  fills  with  the  sap  from  the  plant,  which 
is  taken  out  and  fermented  by  the  addition  of  some  already- 
fermented  pulque,  and  the  process  is  continued  until  the  plant 
ceases  to  yield  a  further  supply.  The  liquor  obtained  is  at  first 
of  a  thick  white  colour,  and  is  at  all  times  very  intoxicating. 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  also  states  that  the  colour  of  pulque  is 
whitish,  like  that  of  whey,714  and  it  is,  therefore,  evident  that,  in 
its  colour  and  general  appearance,  as  well  as  in  its  fermentation 
and  its  intoxicating  quality,  it  closely  resembles  the  koumiss,  or 
"lo,"  and  no  better  term  than  this  could  be  found  for  it  in 
Chinese. 

That  koumiss,  or  some  other  intoxicating  liquor,  was  used 
in  Fu-sang,  is  indicated  by  that  clause  of  the  account  in  which 
it  is  stated  that  the  people  of  the  country  feasted  and  drank*  at 
the  great  assemblies  which  they  held  to  pass  judgment  upon 
criminals  of  a  high  rank. 

The  question  instantly  arises,  however,  "  If  this  was  the  arti 
cle  to  which  Hwui  Shan  referred,  why  did  he  say  that  it  was 
made  from  milk  ?  "  The  answer  to  this  query  is,  that  the  Mexi 
cans  applied  the  term  milk  to  the  sap  of  the  century-plant,  or 
rather  designated  both  articles  by  a  common  term,  which  was 
originally  the  name  of  the  sap. 

Milk,  in  the  Mexican  or  Aztec  language,  is  called  "  memeyal- 

*  See  character  No.  182,  in  chapter  xvi,  p.  276. 


.398  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

lotl."  1906  The  last  part,  "  yallotl,"  is  elsewhere  spelled  "  yollotl," 616 
or  "  yullotli,"  1903  and  means  the  heart,  the  life,  or,  in  case  of  a 
plant,  the  sap,  the  juice.  The  syllable  "me"  is,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  word  Mexico,  from  metl,  a  century-plant,  or  agave  ;  and  the 
reduplicated  form,  meme,  indicates  the  plural.1403  The  whole  word 
therefore  means  "  century-plants'  sap." 

Powers  states  that  it 2061  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Indians 
generally  have  no  word  for  "  milk."  They  never  see  it,  for  they 
never  extract  it  from  any  animal,  because  that  would  seem  to 
them  a  kind  of  sacrilege  or  robbery  of  the  young.  Hence,  an 
Indian  frequently  sees  this  article  for  the  first  time  among  civil 
ized  people,  and  adopts  the  Spanish  word  for  it. 

The  confusion  existing  in  the  Aztec  language  between  the 
name  for  milk  (i.  e.,  the  natural  food  of  young  children)  and  the 
sap  of  the  century -plant  is  shown  by  the  following  quotation 
from  Bancroft  : 302 

"  The  children  were  given  to  Xolotl  to  bring  up,  and  he  fed 
them  on  the  juice  of  the  maguey  :  literally,  in  the  earliest  copy 
of  the  myth  that  I  have  seen,  the  milk  of  the  thistle,  i  la  leche  de 
cardo,'  which  term  has  been  repeated  blindly,  and  apparently 
without  any  idea  of  its  meaning,  by  the  various  writers  that 
have  followed.  The  old  authorities,  however,  and  especially 
Mendieta,  from  whom  the  legend  is  taken,  were  in  the  habit  of 
calling  the  maguey  a  thistle  ;  *  and,  indeed,  the  tremendous 
prickles  of  the  Mexican  plant  may  lay  good  claim  to  the  lNemo 
me  impune  lacessit'*  of  the  Scottish  emblem." 

Thomas,  also,  speaking  of  "pellets  of  milk?  which  were 
burnt  before  a  certain  idol  in  Yucatan,  says  : 2446  "  By  the  term 
'  milk,'  as  here  used,  is  meant  the  milky  juice  of  some  plant." 

The  same  confusion  between  sap  and  milk  exists  in  other 
American  languages  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Chippeway  (or  Ojib- 
beway),  in  which  milk  is  called 1761  "  the  sap  of  the  breast," 1762 
and  wine  is  called928  "grape-milk." 

The  Chinese  also  occasionally  use  the  word  milk  in  a  figura 
tive  sense,  as  in  the  compounds  "  milk-gold," 2535  for  liquid  gold 
used  in  painting  ;  "  bamboo-milk,"  for  tabasheer ;  and  "  milky 

*  "  Maguey  is  the  thistle  from  which  they  extract  honey,"  Mendieta,  "  Hist. 
Ecles.,"  p.  110.  "  Metl  is  a  tree  or  thistle  which,  in  the  language  of  the  islands, 
is  called  maguey,"  Motolinia,  "  Hist,  de  los  Ind.,"  in  Icazbalceta,  "  Col.  de  Doc.," 
tome  i,  p.  243. 


THE  FU-SAXG  TREE   AND  THE   RED   PEARS.         399 

perfume,"  for  olibaimm  or  incense  :  but  they  probably  do  not 
use  it  any  more  freely  in  this  figurative  sense  than  it  is  so  em 
ployed  in  English. 

The  foregoing  explanations  appear  to  remove  all  material 
difficulties  in  Hwui  Shan's  account,  as  far  as  it  is  quoted  in  this 
chapter,  and  the  statements  which  are  copied  from  other  authors 
prove  that  if  he  had  gone  to  Mexico  he  would  there  have  found 
a  country  deriving  its  name  from  a  remarkable  plant,  whose 
first  shoots  were  like  those  of  the  bamboo,  and  which  were 
edible ;  that  thread,  clothing,  and  two  varieties  of  cloth  were 
prepared  from  its  fiber,  and  that  paper  was  also  made  from  it ; 
and,  finally,  that  a  species  of  red  pear  was  found  in  the  land, 
which  it  was  the  custom  to  preserve  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
served  as  an  article  of  food  throughout  the  year.  There  is  no 
other  country  in  the  world  as  to  which  all  of  these  statements  are 
true,  and  there  therefore  seems  no  escape  from  the  conviction 
that  Hwui  Shan  either  visited  Mexico  himself,  or  else  derived 
his  information  from  some  one  who  had  been  in  that  country. 

This  chapter  will  be  concluded  with  an  account  of  the  charac 
ters  used  by  the  Chinese  in  writing  descriptions  of  Fu-sang,  or 
of  the  fu-sang  tree,  and  with  a  reference  to  Chinese  traditions 
regarding  the  existence  of  a  "tree"  having  the  most  striking 
peculiarities  of  the  century-plant ;  traditions  which  may  be 
founded  upon  the  verbal  statements  of  Hwui  Shan,  which  would 
naturally  be  fuller  and  more  complete  than  those  embodied  in 
the  official  record. 

The  name  FU-SANG  is  usually  written  in  Chinese  with  the  two 
characters  J£  ||,  of  which  the  first  means  "to  assist,  to  sup 
port,  to  defend  "  ;  and  the  second  indicates  the  mulberry.  It  is 
probable  that  the  characters  are  used  only  as  phonetics,  but  there 
is  a  possibility  that  their  signification  was  borne  in  mind  and 
that  the  name  was  intended  to  mean  "the  useful  mulberry,"  or 
"  the  defensive  mulberry  "  ;  the  term  "  mulberry  "  being  applied 
to  the  plant  on  account  of  the  similarity  between  the  uses  made 
of  its  fiber  and  those  to  which  that  of  the  paper-mulberry  was 
applied.  As  to  the  appropriateness  of  the  term  "useful,"  as 
applied  to  the  agave,  there  can  be  no  question  ;  and  if  the  first 
character  is  considered  to  mean  "defensive,"  or  "defending," 
rather  than  "  useful,"  this  would  also  be  appropriate,  as  it  was, 
and  still  is,  a  custom  in  Mexico  to  use  the  agaves  as  a  defensive 


£00  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

hedge  ; 5U  their  strong  and  numerous  spines  rendering  it  impos 
sible  for  animals,  or  men,  to  force  their  way  through  it. 

In  some  cases  the  character  ^j-Jj,  which  is  also  pronounced  FU, 
is  used  instead  of  the  first  of  the  two  given  on  the  last  page.2527 

In  one  instance  the  character  $j|,  su,  is  used  instead  of  |j|,  SANG. 
This  is  in  the  phrase,  j£[  ^  J£  jj|,  SHAN  YIU  FU-SU,  which  Pro 
fessor  Williams  translates,  "the  hills  produce  mulberries."  The 
first  two  characters  mean,  "  the  hills  produce  "  (or  "  the  island 
produces  "),  and  the  term  "  mulberries "  must  therefore  be  his 
translation  of  the  last  two  characters.  He  adds  the  statement 
that  this  ancient  name  FU-SU  is  probably  the  same  as  FU-SANG. 
The  last  character,  su,  is  composed  of  a  "  plant,"  and  "  to  revive/* 
and  means,  "  to  resuscitate,  to  revive  as  when  wilted,  or  from 
apparent  death,  to  breathe  again,  to  rise  from  the  dead."  The 
compound  FU-SU  might  therefore  be  translated,  "the  useful  res 
urrection-plant,"  or  "  the  useful  plant  that  rises  again  when  ap 
parently  dead." 

This  definition  might  well  be  applied  to  the  century-plant, 
for  it  reproduces  itself  spontaneously.2221  It  perishes  after  efflo 
rescence,2372  but  an  infinity  of  shoots  then  spring  from  the  decay 
ing  roots,  and  no  plant  multiplies  with  greater  facility.549 

The  character  gj,  su,  the  phonetic  of  the  word  j$j£,  su,  men 
tioned  above,  is,  on  account  of  its  meaning,  used  for  writing 
the  last  syllable  of  the  name  JESUS  (jE-su).1043 

The  character  Jjj|,  SANG,  is  sometimes  decomposed  into  its  two 
parts,  and  written  ^  /fc,  JOH  MUH,  "  the  JOH  tree,"  which  Pro 
fessor  Williams  describes 2534  as  a  "  divine,  self-existing  tree, 
which  grows  in  Fu-sang,"  and  it  can  be  nothing  else  than  another 
term  for  the  fu-sang  tree. 

We  find  in  the  Chinese  dictionaries 2651  the  character  /fi[g,  NIH 
(composed  of  a  tree  and  a  large  wine-far],  which  is  described  as  "  a 
fabulous  tree,  said  to  be  a  thousand  feet  high  ;  it  flowers  once  in 
a  millennium,  and  perfects  its  fruit  in  nine  more."  .  This  charac 
ter,  and  the  description,  seem  to  have  grown  from  some  exag 
geration  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  agave,  which  is  a  tree,  or 
plant  which  fills  a  large  wine- jar  with  its  sap  ;  which  towers 
above  all £33  surrounding  plants,  and  which,  although  it  does  not 
require  either  a  millennium  to  develop  its  blossoms  (as  the  Chi 
nese  legend  has  it),  or  a  century 2373  (as  our  own  popular  tradi 
tions  have  it — hence  the  common  name  of  "century-plant"), 


THE  FU-SANG  TREE  AND   THE  RED  PEARS.         401 

still  does  not  blossom  for  quite  a  number  of  years — the  exact  time 
of  flowering  varying  with  localities  and  climate.2373 

Hepburn  1491  gives  a  word  or  phrase,  which  in  Japanese  is 
pronounced  Udonge,  and  in  Chinese  YIU-T'AN-HWA,  the  charac 
ters  meaning,  "  a  great  cloud  of  blossoms,"  which  he  defines  as 
the  name  of  a  fabulous  flower,  said  to  bloom  but  once  in  a  thou 
sand  years.  Here  again  a  tradition  seems  to  have  been  pre 
served  of  some  description  that  Hwui  Shan  gave  of  the  century- 
plant,  for  its  flowering-stalk  rises  to  the  height  of  forty  feet  or 
upward,  and  throws  out  branches  on  every  side,  like  those  of  a 
candelabrum,  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  pyramid,  each  branch  sup 
porting  a  cluster  of  flowers,  greenish-red  2313  (in  some  species)  or 
yellow 633  (in  others).  It  is  therefore  evident  that  no  plant  better 
deserves  the  appellation  of  "  a  great  cloud  of  blossoms." 

The  Chinese  call  the  prickly-pear 1488  JiJ]  ^  ^,  SIEN-JAN-CHANG, 
"the  palm  of  the  fairy  people's  hand."2520  The  first  character, 
which  is  translated  "  fairy,"  is  composed  of  a  man  and  a  mountain, 
or  island,  and  hence  may  have  originally  meant  the  inhabitant  of 
some  mountain,  island,  or  region  beyond  the  sea.  Many  of  the 
Chinese  legends  called  fairy  stories  relate  to  such  a  region,  and 
it  is  just  possible  that  they  knew  that  the  prickly-pear  was  a  na 
tive  of  such  a  trans-oceanic  land. 

In  EitePs  Chinese  Dictionary 1279 1  very  unexpectedly  came 
upon  the  following  definition  :  "  ^p,  Fu,  in  the  phrase,  ^j|  |j|, 
FU-SANG  :  a  divine  tree  found  in  the  East  (Japan)  ;  a  tree 
(Agave  Chinensis)  found  in  Corea." 

It  is  evident  that  the  location  of  the  FU-SANG  tree  in  Japan, 
in  the  first  part  of  the  definition,  is  founded  upon  the  opinion, 
enunciated  by  Klaproth,  that  the  country  of  FU-SANG  must  have 
been  situated  in  Japan.  But  how  does  Eitel  come  to  describe 
the  term  as  being  applicable  to  a  species  of  agave  ?  The  agaves 
are  all  natives  of  America,  and  it  does  not  seem  possible  that,  if 
they  had  ever  been  introduced  into  Corea,  they  could  have  sur 
vived  for  any  length  of  time  in  so  cold  a  country.  Professor 
Gray  informs  me  that  botanists  do  not  know  of  any  plant  or  tree 
called  the  Agave  Chinensis,  or  Agave  Sinensis,  and  that  he  has 
every  reason  to  believe  that  no  species  of  agave  exist  in  that  coun 
try.  Mr.  Yu  Kill  Clum,  a  gentleman  connected  with  the  Corean 
embassy,  who  remained  in  this  country  after  the  other  members 
had  returned  home,  was  shown  a  picture  of  the  agave,  when  he 
26 


402  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

said  that  no  such  plant  was  to  be  found  in  Corea,  and  also  took 
occasion  to  say  that  the  statements  of  those  who  attempted  to 
locate  FU-SANG  in  Corea  or  Japan  were  false. 

I  am,  therefore,  uncertain  as  to  the  authority  which  Mr.  Eitel 
had  for  saying  that  the  term  FU-SA^G  was  applied  to  a  species  of 
agave  growing  in  Corea ;  but  it  is  certainly  strange  that  of  all 
the  plants  in  the  world  he  should  have  named  the  one  described 
by  Hwui  Shan. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   LANGUAGE    OP   FIT-SANG. 

Peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  language — Difficulty  of  indicating  pronunciation  of  for 
eign  words — Examples — Change  in  sound  of  Chinese  characters — The  pisang 
or  banana  tree — Names  of  countries  terminated  with  KWOH — The  character 
SANG — The  character  FU — The  most  distant  countries  at  the  four  points  of 
the  compass  distinguished  by  names  beginning  with  FU — Mexican  dialects — 
FU-SANG-KWOH  and  Me-shi-co — The  title  of  the  king — Montezuma's  title — Ti 
tle  of  the  noblemen  of  the  first  rank — The  Mexican  Tecuhtli,  or  Teule — The 
Petty  TUI-LU — The  NAH-TO-SHA,  or  Tlatoque — The  title  lower  than  that  of 
Tecuhtli — Its  meaning — Transcription  of  foreign  words  by  characters  indi 
cating  both  the  meaning  and  the  sound — TO-P'U-TA'OCS,  or  tomatoes — The 
grape-vine — The  tree  of  stone — A  Mexican  pun — Danger  of  being  misled 
by  accidental  or  fancied  resemblance. 

Ix  the  preceding  chapters  the  fu-sang  tree  has  been  identified 
with  the  agave,  and  the  country  of  Fu-sang  with  Mexico,  and  the 
question  will  naturally  arise,  why  the  term  "  Fu-sang "  should 
have  been  used  as  the  transcription  or  translation  of  the  word 
"Mexico." 

Before  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  it  will  be  neces 
sary  to  examine  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  lan 
guage,  and  of  the  transliterations  which  it  adopts  for  other  for 
eign  proper  names. 

On  this  point  the  testimony  is  unanimous,  that 783  it  is  as  im 
possible  for  the  Chinese  to  render  the  correct  pronunciation  of 
words  of  other  languages  by  their  hieroglyphs  as  it  is  to  indi 
cate  the  exact  pronunciation  of  Chinese  characters  by  European 
spelling.  One  will  find,  in  the  different  manuals  for  learning 
the  Chinese  language,  the  most  detailed  directions  for  pronounc 
ing  Chinese  characters.  In  Romanizing  Chinese  sounds,  not  only 
all  European  letters  and  ciphers  are  laid  under  contribution,  but, 
besides  this,  the  letters  are  marked  with  strokes,  crotchets,  ac- 


4:04: 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


cents,  etc.  This  is  a  vain  trouble.  No  Chinese  will  understand 
the  words  pronounced  by  Europeans  according  to  these  rules. 

According  to  Crawf  urd,1146  the  articulation  or  pronunciation 
of  the  Chinese  is  so  imperfect,  and  so  utterly  unlike  that  of  all 
the  rest  of  mankind,  that  it  is  only  by  mere  accident  that  they 
ever  pronounce  a  foreign  word  rightly.  Professor  Williams  says, 
in  reference  to  this  subject : 2495  "If  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  ex 
press  their  [the  Chinese]  sounds  by  Roman  letters,  it  is  still 
stranger  for  the  Chinese  to  write  English  words.  For  instance, 
'  baptize,'  in  the  Canton  dialect,  becomes  pa-p'i-tai-sz?  ;  (  flannel ' 
becomes  fat-lan-yin  ;  '  stairs  '  becomes  sz'-ta-sz  /  '  impregnable ' 
becomes  im-pi-luk-na-pu-U,  etc."  So,  also,  in  the  transcription  of 
Sanskrit  words, "  Aurva  "  becomes  Tu-liu  ; 555  "  Kakshivat,"  Kia- 
/<;'«;  556"Udaye,"  Tau-to-i;551  and  "  Visv&mitra,"  Pi-she-po.™ 

Max  Miiller  remarks  that 1961  "  the  Chinese  alphabet  was  never 
intended  to  represent  the  sound  of  words.  With  such  a  system 
of  writing  it  was  possible  to  represent  Chinese,  but  impossible 
to  convey  either  the  sound  or  the  meaning  of  any  other  lan 
guage.  Every  Sanskrit  word,  as  transcribed  by  the  Chinese  Bud 
dhists,  is  a  riddle  which  no  ingenuity  is  able  to  solve.  Who  could 
have  guessed  that  Fo-to,  or,  more  frequently,  Fo,  was  meant 
for  '  Buddha '  ?  Jfo-lo-keou-lo  for  '  Rahula/  the  son  of  Buddha  ? 
Po-lo-ndl  for  ( Benares  '  ?  Tcha-li  for  ( Kshattriya  '  ?  Siu-to-lo 
for  <  Sudra '  ?  Fan,  or  Fan-lan-mo,  for  '  Brahma '  ?  " 

As  instances  of  the  difficulty  of  identifying  foreign  words 
which  the  Chinese  have  attempted  to  reproduce  in  their  charac 
ters,  the  following  are  given,  as  specimens  of  a  much  longer  list 
which  was  prepared,  but  which  it  would  be  wearisome  to  insert 
at  length  : 


Foreign  Word. 

Chinese  Transcription. 

Foreign  Word. 

Chinese  Transcription. 

Russia  

Ngo-lo-sz.2517 
Tak-kat.1146 
(  Ha-la-ho-lin,     usu- 
1  ally  abbreviated  to 
(  Ho-lin.78T 

Pu-su-man.785 
Tan-too-loo.1003 
Sz-me-li.2334 

France  

Fah-lan-si.2517 
Bang-ka-sat.1146 
Pa-le-kwan.1018 
P'u-hua.1"3 
Ki-sze-da-ni.777 
Ha-she-ko-urh.1021 
A-ko-lap.1003 
Kak-tsze.1003 
Che-la-t'o-po-mo.1622 
Chi-li-ti-p'o.1621 
Ngo-tche-li-ye.1694 

Ta<ml 

Macassar 

Barkoul 

Bokhara 

Mussulman  (writ 
ten  by  Plano- 
carpin     "  Bes- 
sermin  ")  
Dentro  

Constantinople  .  . 
Kashffar             . 

Azora 

Casa    

Craddhavarma  .  . 

Siberia 

Atcharya  

THE  LANGUAGE   OF  FU-SANG.  405 

The  last  three  words  are  from  the  Sanskrit,  and  some  imper 
fections  in  the  transliteration  might  be  expected,  from  the  fact 
that  the  Sanskrit  books  from  which  the  names  were  taken  were 
translated  fourteen  centuries  ago,  and  that  the  powers  of  the 
Chinese  characters  used  to  represent  the  syllables  of  these  words 
have  changed  in  the  mean  time.1272 

The  other  words  in  the  table  are,  however,  of  comparatively 
recent  adoption,  and  show  how  imperfectly,  even  when  they  are 
first  chosen,  the  Chinese  characters  represent  the  sounds  which 
they  are  intended  to  transcribe.  When  to  this  original  imperfec 
tion  is  added  that  produced  by  the  fact  that,  since  the  days  of 
Hwui  Shan,  the  sounds  attached  to  the  characters  have  been  in  a 
state  of  slow  but  constant  flux,1269  it  may  be  admitted  that  the 
present  sounds,  FU-SANG,  of  the  characters  JJ*  J|  may  be  very  far 
from  representing  the  pronunciation  of  the  foreign  word  which 
they  were  so  long  ago  chosen  to  express. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  changes  produced  in  the 
sound  of  the  Chinese  characters  in  the  course  of  centuries,  it  may 
be  noticed  that  Sanskrit  syllables,  pronounced  in  all  of  the  follow 
ing  ways,  i.  e.,  9ya,  ye,  9%  yi,  chya,  yva,  dja,  djha,  dha,  dya, 
dhya,  and  tcha,1618  were,  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  centuries  ago, 
transcribed  by  Chinese  characters  all  of  which  are  now  pronounced 
CHE  (the  ch  like  the  English  sh}. 

The  foregoing  statements  illustrate  the  extreme  difficulty  of 
attempting  to  decide  with  certainty  as  to  the  sounds  which  the 
characters  now  pronounced  FU-SANG  were  originally  intended  to 
represent. 

My  own  opinion  is  that,  long  before  the  Christian  era,  the 
Chinese  had  obtained  some  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  Philippine 
Islands,  or  some  of  the  neighbouring  islands,  upon  which  the  plan 
tain,  or  banana  (called  in  Malay  2459  the  pisang*™),  grew,  and  that 
there  were  then  numerous  popular  stories  and  traditions  regard 
ing  this  "  Land  of  the  Pisang"  and  of  the  wonderful  pisang-tree 
to  be  found  upon  it,  far  away  to  the  east  or  southeast,  and  that 
the  characters  Ife  H,  FU-SANG,  the  "  useful  mulberry,"  or  f$j  JJ£, 
FU-SANG,  the  "supernatural  mulbery,"  or  ^J  ||,  FU-SANG,  the 
"  distant  mulberry-tree,"  were  adopted  as  both  describing  the 
tree  and  transcribing  its  name.  My  reasons  for  this  opinion  will 
be  given  in  a  following  chapter.  For  the  present,  I  will  merely 
say  that  if,  when  Hwui  Shan  reached  China,  from  a  distant 


406  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

eastern  country,  which  derived  its  name  from  a  wonderful  plant 
or  tree  growing  in  it,  the  fact  was  that  the  Chinese  already  had 
a  number  of  vague  traditions  regarding  a  land  situated  in  the 
east  and  taking  its  name  from  a  remarkable  tree,  they  would 
be  very  likely  to  consider  the  two  countries  as  identical ;  and  if 
the  characters  which  they  had  adopted  for  expressing  the  name 
of  this  land,  already  vaguely  known,  could,  by  any  possibility, 
be  considered  as  representing  the  sound  of  the  name  of  the 
country  mentioned  byHwui  Shan,  the  likelihood  that  they  would 
consider  the  two  regions  as  one  and  the  same,  and  therefore 
use  for  the  name  of  the  newly  discovered  land  the  characters 
already  applied  to  the  other  eastern  country,  would  be  much  in 
creased. 

Absurd  as  it  may  appear  at  first  sight,  I  think  it  very  prob 
able  that  the  Chinese,  having  the  characters  FU-SANG,  already 
well  known  as  the  name  of  an  eastern  country,  took  these  charac 
ters,  with  the  addition  of  |9,  KWOH,2326  meaning  country,  and 
used  them  to  transcribe  the  name  "  Mexico  "  of  the  country  that 
had  been  visited  by  Hwui  Shan. 

It  should  first  be  mentioned  that  in  Chinese  the  names  of  coun 
tries  are  usually  followed  by  this  word  KWOH,  or,  as  it  is  some 
times  written,  KWO,  "kingdom."2408  MEI  KWOH,  ^|  g  (the 
Fertile  or  Beautiful  Country),  is  used  as  the  name  of  the  United 
States  of  America,2326  and  is  unquestionably  an  attempt  to  trans 
literate  the  word  "America,"  the  character  KWOH  representing 
the  final  syllable  "ca"  of  America.  As  the  Chinese  have  no 
characters  which  have  the  sound  either  of  "a"  or  "ri,"  both 
these  syllables  have  been  omitted. 

Great  Britain2335  is  called  ^  "±£  gl,  TA-YING-KWOH  (the  Great 
YING  Land,  or  the  Great  Excellent  Country).  Here  the  fc  TA, 
"  Great,"  is  taken  from  the  first  word  of  the  name  Great  Britain. 
YING-KWOH  represents  "  England,"  the  syllable  TING  being  in 
tended  for  the  "Eng  "  of  England,  and  the  last  syllable,  "  land," 
being  translated  by  KWOH. 

The  character  [U,  KWOH,  country,  being  so  near,  both  in  sound 
and  meaning,  to  the  terminal  syllable  "  co  "  (meaning  at,  in,  place, 
or  region)  of  "Mexico,"  it  is  of  all  the  characters  in  the  Chinese 
language  the  one  which  would  most  likely  be  chosen  to  transcribe 
that  syllable. 

Tkere  is,  therefore,  no  difficulty,  so  far  as  the  final  syllable  is 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FU-SANG.  4QT 

concerned,  in  believing  that  FU-SANG-KWOH  may  have  been  used 
by  the  Chinese  as  the  transcription  of  ME-XI-CO. 

Now,  as  to  the  middle  syllable  :  this,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
was  pronounced  by  the  Mexicans  "  shi."  Can  the  character  ||, 
now  pronounced  SANG,  have  ever  been  used  to  represent  this 
sound  ?  In  some  dialects  of  the  Chinese,  the  character  has  prob 
ably  been  pronounced  substantially  as  it  now  is,  for  two  thousand 
years  or  more  ;  but  in  other  dialects  the  sound  has,  as  probably, 
been  quite  different.  This  character  is  now  usually  pronounced 
so  by  the  Japanese  ;  but  Professor  Williams  (see  Chapter  XIV 
of  this  book)  says  that  the  Japanese  pronunciation  of  FU-SANG- 
KWOH  is  FU-SHI-KOKU.  Here  the  middle  syllable  is  pronounced 
exactly  as  the  Mexicans  enunciated  the  corresponding  syllable 
of  the  name  of  their  country.  His  authority  for  this  pronun 
ciation  is  not  stated,  but  there  are  other  evidences  that  the 
character  was  sometimes  given  nearly  this  sound. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  use  of  a  character  having  a  terminal 
nasal  is  not  always  a  proof  that  the  transcribed  syllable  has  such 
a  nasal.  M.  Julien  says l619  that  KIANG-LANG  was  written  for  the 
Sanskrit  Mia,  and  T'OUNG-LOUNG-MO  for  the  Sanskrit  drouma. 
In  this  last  word,  the  letters  NG  must  be  dropped,  leaving  T'OU- 
LOU-MO,  which  was  as  near  as  the  Chinese  seemed  able  to  come 
to  drouma.  So,  too,  we  find 2327  MAN-LAH-KIA  written  for  Ma 
lacca,  and  MENG-KIA-SAH  for  Macassar. 

It  has  already  been  stated  *  that,  when  referring  to  the  fu- 
sang  tree,  the  character  H  is  sometimes  decomposed  into  its  two 
parts  and 2534  written  *x  ?fc,  "  the  JOH  tree."  The  first  part  is 
the  "phonetic"  of  the  character  |J|,  and  is  supposed  to  give  to 
it"  its  sound.  It  is  seen,  however,  that,  when  written  separately, 
the  character  is  pronounced  JOH  (j  given  the  French  pronuncia 
tion,  like  zn),  and  not  SANG.  Attention  was  also  called,  in  the 
same  connection,  to  the  fact  that  a  character  pronounced  su  is 
sometimes  substituted  for  SANG. 

The  Sanskrit  word  sramana,  applied  to  a  Buddhist  priest,  is 
not  only  written  in  Chinese  with  characters  pronounced  SHA-MAN, 
but  also  H  P'J,  SANG-MAN,2559  and  ||  P*j,  sni-MAN.2169  Here  the 
character  g|,  SANG,  is  used  as  the  equivalent  of  other  characters 
pronounced  SHA  and  SHI. 

*  See  page  400. 


408  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

In  view  of  the  illustrations  already  given  of  the  imperfection 
with  which  Chinese  characters  frequently  represent  the  sounds 
which  they  are  intended  to  transcribe,  is  it  beyond  the  bounds 
of  possibility  that  the  character  usually  pronounced  SANG,  but 
fluctuating  in  sound  at  different  times  or  in  different  dialects 
toward  so,  su,  SHI,  SHA  or  ZHOH,  may  have  been  considered  by 
the  Chinese  as  a  sufficiently  good  representative  of  the  xi  (or 
SHI)  of  Me-xi-co  ? 

As  to  the  first  syllable,  M.  de  Paravey  claims  that,  as  a  coun 
try  in  the  extreme  north  was  known  as  FU-YU  (j£  fj;),2317  one  in 
the  extreme  south  as  FU-NAN  (j^  ]fj),2319  and  one  in  the  extreme 
west  as  FU-LIN  (fjjj}  |^),2320  the  Chinese  adopted  this  fourth  ru, 
in  FU-SANG,  as  being  properly  expressive  of  a  country  at  the  ex 
treme  east. 

In  the  Chinese  SAN-FUH-TSi,2331  a  term  applied  to  a  kingdom 
in  the  island  of  Sumatra,  and  which  is  probably  intended  to  rep 
resent  the  same  name  for  which  we  have  adopted  the  word 
"  Sumatra,"  the  Chinese  character  run  seems  to  be  equivalent  to 
our  syllable  "  ma."  M.  Julien  finds  the  character  ^,  ru,  written 
for  the  Sanskrit  IM  in  Subhuti,  and  for  16  in  Bodhisattva.1628 
He  also  finds  other  characters,  now  pronounced  ru,  written  ioipa 
in  Vachpa,1629  and  for  ve  in  Vetala,1627  as  well  as  for  pu  and  pti. 

It  is  therefore  evident  that,  of  the  characters  now  pronounced 
FU-SANG-KWOH,  the  first  may  have  been  intended  to  represent  any 
of  the  sounds  FU,  FU,  PU,  PU,  BO,  BHU,  PA,  or  VE  ;  the  second  to 
represent  SANG,  so,  su,  SHI,  SHA,  or  ZHOH  ;  and  the  third  to  rep 
resent  KWOH,  KWO,  or  co. 

Now,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  have  undoubtedly 
been  some  changes  in  the  sound  of  Mexican  words  during  the 
last  fourteen  centuries  ;  that  different  dialects  varied  in  their 
pronunciation ;  and  that  one  language  is  mentioned  by  Busch- 
mann  as  closely  connected  with  the  Mexican,  which  substituted 
v  for  the  Mexican  M,  and  which  would  therefore  pronounce 
"  Me-shi-co  "  as  "  Ye-shi-co." 

With  this  allowance,  is  it  impossible  that  the  characters  now 
pronounced  FU-SANG-KWOH,  and  which  at  one  time,  or  in  some 
particular  dialect,  may  have  been  pronounced  PA-SHA-CO  or  VE- 
SHI-CO,  may  have  been  taken  as  the  representatives  of  the  Aztec 
word  "  Me-shi-co,"  or  of  a  possible  variant  "  Ve-shi-co  "  ? 

All  this  is  not  given  as  absolutely  proving  that  the  term  Fu- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FU-SANG.  409 

SANG-KWOH  was  used  for  "  Mexico,"  but  merely  as  indicating  that 
the  connection  is  not  as  distant  as  it  appears  at  first  sight,  and 
that  any  argument  drawn  from  the  apparent  dissimilarity  of  the 
words  can  have  but  little  weight. 

My  own  opinion  is,  as  already  stated,  that  when  Hwui  Shan 
related  his  adventures  to  the  Chinese,  and  told  that  this  distant 
eastern  land  derived  its  name  of  "  Me-shi-co  "  from  a  remarkable 
"  tree  "  growing  there,  they  immediately  inferred  that  the  coun 
try  was  the  same  of  which  they  had  before  heard  as  FU-SANG- 
K\VOH  ;  believing  that  the  possible  sounds  of  these  characters 
were  near  enough  to  those  of  the  name  of  the  country  visited  by 
him  to  make  it  probable  (when  other  circumstances  were  taken 
into  consideration)  that  the  country  was  the  same. 

Having  thus  referred  to  the  subject  of  language,  let  us  now 
consider  that  portion  of  Hwui  Shan's  story  in  which  he  gives  a 
number  of  the  words  of  the  language  used  in  the  country  which 
he  visited. 

IV. THE    TITLE    OF    THE    KING    OF    THE    COUNTRY    IS    "  THE 

CHIEF  OF  THE  MULTITUDES."  THE  NOBLEMEN  OF  THE  FIRST 
RANK  ARE  CALLED  "  TUI-LU  "  ;  THOSE  OF  THE  SECOND  RANK,  "  PET 
TY  TUI-LU "  J  AND  THOSE  OF  THE  THIRD  RANK,  "  NAH  TO-SHA." 

The  first  clause  is  translated  by  others,  "  The  king  is  called 
'  noble  Y-chi?  <  Y-Jchi?  <  Yit-khi,'  '  I-chi?  <  I-ki?  <  Y-U?  or 
*  Yueh-ki ' "/  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  translation  by  de  Rosny 
of  the  Japanese  form  of  the  story,  in  which  he  says,  "They 
give  to  their  king  the  name  of  Kiki-zin,  that  is  to  say,  *  the  most 
honourable  man?  "  I  should  have  felt  more  hesitation  about  ren 
dering  the  title  as  "  Chief  of  the  Multitudes."  It  appears  to  me 
that  the  two  characters  should  have  been  reversed,  so  as  to  read, 
"  K'I-YIH,"  instead  of  "  YIH-K'I,"  if  this  were  the  meaning ;  but  a 
number  of  educated  Chinamen,  whom  I  have  consulted  on  the 
subject,  all  concur  in  the  statements  that  the  characters  as  they 
stand  mean  "  the  chief  of  the  multitudes,"  and  can  have  no  other 
meaning,  and  that,  while  they  are  not  quite  sure  whether  the 
characters  should  be  translated  or  transliterated,  they  are  of  the 
opinion  that  it  was  not  the  intention  to  use  them  merely  as 
phonetics,  and  they  therefore  think  that  they  should  be  trans 
lated  as  above.  Moreover,  the  meanings  of  the  characters, 
taken  separately,  are  so  exactly  those  of  the  words  of  which  the 
title  of  the  Mexican  ruler  was  composed,  that  I  can  not  doubt 


410  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

that  the  characters  were  intended  by  Hwui  Shan  as  its  transla 
tion.  The  first  character,  YIH,  £,,  means,  "  one,  bent,  the  first  " 
(Williams's  Dictionary,  p.  1096),  and  the  second,  K'I,  jjj|J,  "full, 
abundant,  very,  large,  numerous,  multitudes,  a  crowd  of  people  " 
(Williams's  Dictionary,  p.  345).  Medhurst  187°  also  gives  the  mean 
ing  "  great."  This  character  is  composed  of  a  city,  or  region, 
and  to  worship,  and  was  probably  first  adopted  as  a  representa 
tion  of  the  assembly  of  the  people,  when  they  gathered,  once  a 
year,  to  witness  the  public  worship  of  the  Supreme  God  by  the 
emperor.  Hence  its  first  meaning  would  be,  "the  people,  the 
multitude,"  from  which  the  meanings  "  numerous,"  "  abundant," 
"  full,"  "  large,"  and  "  great "  would  subsequently  be  evolved. 
In  Hwui  Shan's  time  the  word  may  have  been  in  the  first  stage, 
and  have  meant  distinctively  "  the  people." 

The  title  of  the  Mexican  emperor  is  seldom  mentioned  by 
historians,  and  is  in  fact  so  rarely  referred  to,  that  some  authori 
ties  even  state  that  the  Mexican  language  has  no  word  for  em 
peror.506  Nevertheless  there  are  occasional  references  to  Monte- 
zurna's  title,  which  is  given  as  "  Chief  of  Men,"  607  "  Tlaca-tecuh- 
tli."  524  This  title  is  composed  of  "  tlaca-tl,"  a  man,  or,  in  the 
plural,  men  or  people,  and  "  tecuhtli,"  the  title  which  will  be  next 
considered,  and  which  is  equivalent  to  "  lord  "  or  "  chief."  The 
compound  therefore  means  "  Lord  of  Men  "  or  "  Chief  of  the 
People." 

Sebastian  Ramerez  de  Fuenleal,  Bishop  of  San  Domingo,  in 
a  letter  to  the  Spanish  empress,2138  dated  Mexico,  November  3, 
1532,  said  :  "  Montezuma  bore  the  title  of  Tecatecle  Tetuan  Intla- 
catl9  and  this  is  the  title  which  they  also  give  to  your  majesties  ; 
its  meaning  being '  Wise  and  Powerful  Lord.5 "  The  good  bishop 
evidently  knew  but  little  of  the  Mexican  language.  The  first 
word  is  a  compound  of  "  teca,"  meaning  nation,  tribe,  or  people,* 
and  "  tecle,"  which  is  one  of  the  numerous  variations 1878  of  the 
title  given  in  the  last  paragraph  as  "  Tecuhtli,"  meaning  lord 1198 
or  chief.  No  such  word  as  tetuan  is  found  in  the  Aztec  diction 
aries,  but  teuan  is  defined  as  "  our,"  and  this  is  probably  the 
word  meant.  "  Intlacatl "  is  a  compound  of  "  in,"  nearly  equiv 
alent  to  the  English  "  the,"  and  "  tlacatl,"  "  man  or  people."  Here 
the  meaning  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  of  the  title  given 

*  The  names  of  most  of  the  Mexican  tribes  end  in  "  tcca,"  or  its  abbreviation, 
"  tec,"  as,  for  instance,  the  "  Az-tecas  "  or  Aztecs,  the  "  Tol-tecas  "  or  Toltecs. 


THE  LANGUAGE   OF  FU-SANG.  411 

in  the  last  paragraph,  "  chief  "  and  "  people  "  being  found  in  both, 
the  whole  meaning  literally,  "  the  Nation's  Lord  of  our  People." 

Let  us  now  examine  the  statement  of  Hwui  Shan,  that  the 
noblemen  of  the  first  rank  are  called  TUI-LU,  §Jj|.  The  first 
character  is  not  used  in  transcribing  Sanskrit  words,  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  subject  to  much,  if  any,  fluctuation  in 
sound.  The  second  character  is  used  to  represent  the  Sanskrit 
syllables  Id,  r6,  ru,  lu,  rti,  and  Iri, I631  and  when  written  with  a 
small  square  (or  "mouth")  at  the  left — which  does  not  affect  its 
sound— for  Iri,  r<?,1630  ru,  and  rtf.1638 

Was  there  any  such  title  as  this  in  existence  among  the  Mexi 
cans  ?  Bancroft  says  : 166  "  There  were  several  military  orders 
and  titles,  which  were  bestowed  upon  distinguished  soldiers  for 
services  in  the  field  or  the  council.  There  was  one,  the  member 
ship  of  which  was  confined  to  the  nobility  ;  this  was  the  cele 
brated  and  knightly  order  of  the  Tecuhtli.  To  obtain  this  rank 
it  was  necessary  to  be  of  noble  birth,  to  have  given  proof  in  sev 
eral  battles  of  the  utmost  courage,  to  have  arrived  at  a  certain 
age,  and  to  have  sufficient  wealth  to  support  the  enormous  ex 
penses  incurred  by  members  of  the  order." 

In  another  place  168  he  states  that  the  rank  of  Tecuhtli  was  the 
highest  honour  that  a  prince  or  soldier  could  acquire. 

Molina1919  and  Biondelli613  spell  the  word  "  Tecutli"— the 
first  defining  it  "  a  cavalier  or  chief,"  and  the  second,  "  a  warrior, 
a  prince,  a  chief. "  Morgan  gives  the  form  "  Teuchtli. "  194°  Ol- 
mos,1982  Buschmann,  89°  and  Clavigero  1072  use  the  form  "  Teuctli." 
Bancroft  also  uses  it  in  the  compound  Mictlan-teuctli,  Lord  of 
Hades.803  Olmos 1991  explains  this  change  of  spelling  or  pronun 
ciation  by  saying  that  sometimes,  when  u  follows  after  c,  the  it 
is  made  liquid,  and,  although  it  is  not  lost  in  the  written  word,  it 
seems  to  be  lost  in  the  pronunciation,  or  at  least  is  but  slightly 
sounded,  and  the  c  remains  in  the  pronunciation  with  the  pre 
ceding  vowel.  As  to  the  rank  of  these  noblemen,  Clavigero  says 
that  the  Teuctli  took  precedency  of  all  others  in  the  senate  as 
well  in  sitting  as  in  voting ; 1073  and  Buschmann  says 905  that 
Tecutli,  or  Teuctli,  is  the  Mexican  word  for  what  we  are  accus 
tomed  to  call  a  cazique,  prince,  chief,  chieftain,  a  lord  in  general, 
or  a  high  noble.  In  the  name  of  OmetochtU,  one  of  the  numerous 
Nahua  gods  of  wine,204  the  part  "  tochtli,"  which  by  itself  means 
rabbit,  is  evidently  a  variant  of  this  title. 


412  AN"  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  name  of  the  general  in  command  of  the  army  first  met 
by  Cortez  is  given  as  Teutile,2341  Teuhtlile, 453  or  Teudile.2118 
Here  again  we  have  the  same  title,  which,  as  in  other  cases,  took 
the  place  of  the  name. 506  If  proof  is  needed,  it  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  name  of  his  companion  or  lieutenant  is  given  as 
Pilpatoe, 2341  which  is  evidently  a  title  also  :  from  Pitti,  noble/17 
and  Patio,  precious.  In  a  letter  written  by  Nicholas  DeWitt,  in 
1554,  "  Pipiltic "  is  named  as  one  of  the  titles  given  to  noble 
men.2439  The  form  "  Tecle  "  has  already  been  mentioned,  and  this 
is  stated  to  be  an  older  form  than  the  preceding.528  Zurita  gives 
the  form  "  Teutley,"  504  and  Arenas,  Teuhtli.65  Gallatin  gives  the 
name  of  the  god,  before  referred  to,  as  Hometewfa',1408  and  de 
Zumarraga 2601  and  the  auditor  Salmeron 2223  and  his  colleagues 
use  the  form  "  Teule."  It  will  be  seen  that  these  various  forms 
differ  as  much  between  themselves  as  Hwui  Shan's  form  TUI-LU 
differs  from  any  of  them  ;  and  it  seems  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt  that  he  intended  to  transcribe  the  title  given  above. 

In  the  notes  of  M.  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys, 
reproduced  in  Chapter  XII  of  the  present  work,  he  states  that  one 
of  the  Chinese  texts  gives  this  title  as  "  Great  Tui-lu  "  instead  of 
merely  "  Tui-lu."  The  use  of  a  word  meaning  "  great "  or 
"  noble,"  in  connection  with  a  title  expressing  elevated  rank,  is 
common  in  all  countries.  As  to  its  use  in  Mexico,  Solis  mentions 
that,2354  when  approaching  Montezuma,  his  subjects  entered  into 
his  presence  barefooted,  and  made  three  reverences  without  rais 
ing  their  eyes  from  the  earth — saying  at  the  first,  "  lord  ! "  at  the 
second,  "  my  lord  !  "  and  at  the  third,  "  great  lord  !  " 

The  Chinese  account  continues  that  the  noblemen  of  the 
second  rank  were  called  "Petty  TUI-LU." 

I  have  not  found  any  case  in  which  a  word  meaning  "  petty  " 
is  attached  to  the  title  Teuctli.  I  find  in  Molina,  however,1921  the 
forms  Tlatoca-tepito,  a  petty  ruler  or  king,  and  Tlatoca-tontli, 
a  petty  king  or  lord.  In  these  compounds  Tlatoca  is  the  title 
next  referred  to,  tepito  means  "  little,  small,"  192°  and  tontll  in 
dicates  diminution,1984  littleness,  depreciation,  or  humiliation.1985 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  Mexicans  were  accustomed  to 
divide  at  least  one  of  their  ranks  of  nobility  into  two  classes,  the 
less  powerful  being  indicated  by  attaching  to  the  title  a  word 
meaning  "  little  "  or  "  petty." 

Hwui  Shan  says  that  the  nobles  of  the  third  rank  are  called 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FU-SANG.  413 

NAH-TO-SHA.  This  is  the  Mexican  title  referred  to  in  the  last 
paragraph,  which  takes  the  forms  Tlatocayo,1922  Tlatoani,906  or,  in 
the  plural,  Tlatoque.1923 

As  to  the  use  of  NAH  for  the  syllable  "  Tla  "  :  it  should  be  re 
membered  that  the  Chinese  language  has  no  word  in  which  one 
consonant  is  followed  by  another  without  the  interposition  of  a 
vowel,  and  it  is  therefore  absolutely  powerless  to  express  such  a 
sound  as  "  Tla."  La  would  seem  the  most  likely  form  to  use  for 
it  ;  but  I  and  n  are  so  regularly  interchanged  with  each  other,  in 
the  various  Chinese  dialects,  that  it  is  not  strange  that  in  this 
case,  as  in  many  others,  na  should  be  used  for  la.  In  Med- 
hurst's  Dictionary,1873  a  large  number  of  words  will  be  found 
written  with  an  initial  I  and  pronounced  with  ??,  or  written  with 
n  and  pronounced  with  I.  In  "  Smith's  Vocabulary  of  Proper 
Names"  we  are  told,  under  the  heading  Lui,2330  "For  words 
commencing  with  this  character,  see  NUI,  the  more  correct 
word." 

In  transcribing  Sanskrit  words,  characters  pronounced  NA, 
NIB,  and  NO  are  used  to  represent  the  Sanskrit  syllable  da  (with 
the  cerebral  d)  and  also  the  syllable  da  (with  the  dental  c?).1620 

Bancroft  says,  in  relation  to  the  title  : 317  "  The  nobles  of 
Mexico,  and  of  the  other  Nahua  nations,  were  divided  into 
several  classes,  each  having  its  own  peculiar  privileges  and 
badges  of  rank.  The  distinctions  that  existed  between  the  vari 
ous  grades  and  their  titles  are  not,  however,  clearly  denned. 
The  title  of  Tlatoani  was  the  highest  and  most  respected  ;  it 
signified  an  absolute  and  sovereign  power,  an  hereditary  and 
divine  right  to  govern.  The  kings  and  the  great  feudatory  lords, 
who  were  governors  of  provinces,  and  could  prove  their  princely 
descent  and  the  ancient  independence  of  their  families,  belonged 
to  this  order." 

Although  Bancroft  seems  to  be  uncertain  as  to  the  exact  na 
ture  of  the  distinction  between  various  ranks,  there  is  no  ques 
tion  that  this  title,  Tlatoani,  Tlatoca,  or  Tlatocayo,  was  a  lower 
title  than  that  of  Teuctli. 

Buschmann  says  in  regard  to  it : £06  "  Tlatoani  is  the  parti 
ciple,  present,  active,  of  itoa,  or  tlatoa,  to  speak.*  It  expresses, 

*  Tlatoa  is  derived  from  itoa,  "  to  speak,"  with  the  prefix  tla,  a  species  of 
pronoun,  meaning  "  it "  or  "  something."  It  therefore  means,  "  to  speak  something 
of  importance — something  to  which  attention  should  be  paid,"  i.  e., "  to  command." 


414:  Atf  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

«  / 

first,  in  reality,  '  speaker ' ;  second,  however,  and  chiefly,  '  great 
lord,  nobleman,  governor,  prince,  cazique.' 3: 

The  word  is  really  equivalent  to  the  English  title  "  Command 
er."  The  fundamental  radical  of  the  word  is  the  syllable  to  (from 
itoa,  to  speak),  and  this  syllable  is  represented  in  Chinese  by  the 
character  Pj|},  TO,  also  meaning  to  speak.  There  are  a  great  num 
ber  of  other  Chinese  characters  pronounced  TO,  but  this  particu 
lar  one  was  chosen  because  of  its  coincidence  in  meaning  as  well 
as  in  sound  with  the  syllable  which  it  was  to  represent. 

This  is  in  accordance  with  the  usual  custom  of  the  Chinese, 
who,  in  transcribing  foreign  words,  often  seek  for  meanings, 
allusions,  fortuitous  coincidences,  and  plays  of  words.1344  Thus, 
for  the  word  "opium,"  they  use  characters  pronounced  YA- 
PIEN  2406  (which  is  as  near  as  they  can  come  to  the  sound  of  the 
word),  and  meaning  "  black  flakes."  For  the  name  of  the  Ganges 
(or  Gunga)  they  use  the  characters  HANG-no,2321  which,  like  the 
original  word,  mean  "  the  ceaseless  river."  So  they  transcribe 
the  word  "  Turk " 93T  with  the  characters  T'IU-KIUE,  meaning 
"  insolent  dogs." 

The  last  syllable  of  the  words  Tlatoca,  Tlatocayo,  or  Tlatoque 
is  represented  by  a  character  pronounced  SHA,  the  sounds  K  and 
SH  being  in  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  interchanged. 

Another  phrase  is  used  by  Hwui  Shan  in  which  I  think  that 
I  detect  an  attempt  to  transcribe  a  Mexican  word.  This  is  the 
statement  that — 

V. — They  have  TO-P'TJ-T'AO-CS  in  THAT  PLACE. 

The  characters  TO-P'U-T'AO  I  think  to  be  intended  for  the 
Mexican  word1924  which  we  have  adopted  as  the  name  of  the 
tomato. 

The  translators  have  had  much  difficulty  with  this  phrase, 
rendering  it :  "  They  have  the  iris  and  peaches  in  abundance  "  ; 
"  There  are  also  many  vines  "  ;  "  In  addition  there  are  many 
apples  and  reeds,  mats  being  made  from  the  last "  ;  "  There  are 
many  grapes  "  ;  and  "  Water-rushes  and  peaches  are  common." 

The  exact  meaning  of  the  characters,  TO-P'TJ-T'AO  is  "numer 
ous  reed-peaches,"  or  "many  reeds  and  peaches." 

A  compound,1471  pronounced  P'U-T'AO,  is  used  as  the  name  of 
the  grape-vine  by  the  Chinese,2570  but  it  is  written  with  different 

The  suffix  nij  or  cayo,  turns  the  verb  into  a  noun,  precisely  as  our  suffix  "  er  " 
turns  "  command  "  into  "  commander." 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FU-SANG.  415 

characters  from  those  used  in  the  text.  Klaproth  claims  that  the 
name  was  formerly  written  with  the  characters  given  in  this 
place,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  other  authority  for 
the  statement.  Beal  seems  to  think  that  the  P'U-T'AO  may  have 
been  the  sugar-cane.567 

Reeds  or  rushes  are  found  in  great  numbers  along  the  water 
courses  of  Mexico,  and  Tulan,  the  capital  of  the  Toltecs,  took  its 
name  from  the  "tules,"  or  reeds,  in  its  neighbourhood.  This 
Aztec  word  has  passed  into  the  English  language,  and  the  reeds 
growing  in  the  marshy  lands  of  California  are  now  universally 
called  "tules."  The  Mexicans  wove  the  mats  of  which  their 
beds  were  made  from  these  reeds,  or  tules.722 

The  term  "  reed-peach  "  would  have  been  particularly  appli 
cable  to  the  tomato,  as  the  straggling  vine  upon  which  it  grows  is 
somewhat  analogous  to  a  reed,  and  different  compounds  of  the 
word  "peach,"  with  a  modifying  adjective,  are,  in  Chinese,  used 
to  designate  various  soft,  round  fruits  that  are  destitute  of  a 
kernel  or  stone.  Thus  the  "  fairy  peach  "  is  a  poetical  name  for 
a  fig,2672  the  "  divine  peach  "  is  a  variety  of  orange,  the  "  fragrant 
peach  "  is  the  lemon,  and  the  "  flossy  blossoming  peach  "  is  the 
flower-bud  of  cotton. 

Bancroft  refers 202  to  the  use  made  of  the  tomato  by  the  Mexi 
cans,  and,  in  fact,  even  at  the  present  day  there  are  few  of  the 
characteristic  dishes  of  the  country  of  which  it  does  not  form  a 
part. 

If  the  compound  is  decided  to  mean  "  grapes "  or  "  grape 
vines,"  it  is  equally  true  that  they  were  found  in  the  country. 
The  fact  that  they  were  found  in  "  Vinland,"  or  New  England, 
does  not  prove  that  they  existed  in  Mexico,  some  four  thousand 
miles  distant.  After  finding,  however,  that  grapes  were  indige 
nous1606  to  California,2457  Texas,1970  Arizona,691  New  Mexico,2479  24SO  243S 
and  Sonora,534  and  at  Parras,  in  the  state  of  Durango,  Mexico,548 1 
finally  found  several  references  to  their  existence  throughout  the 
land  of  Mexico,  although  it  is  evident  that  the  fruit  was  not 
esteemed,  and  that  little  use  was  made  of  it. 

Prescott  refers  incidentally  to  the  grape-vines  in  Mexico.2073 
Acosta  says  :  *'  In  New  Spain  there  are  some  vines  which  bear 
grapes,  although  no  wine  is  made  from  them."  12  Diaz  states  that, 
1199 "  in  the  middle  of  August,  in  the  year  1519,  we  left  Sempoalla. 
We  came  the  first  day  to  Xalapa  and  then  to  Socochina,  a  well- 


416  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

kept  place  of  difficult  accessibility,  where  there  are  a  multitude 
of  arbours  of  the  grape-vines  of  this  country."  To  this  statement 
the  translator  adds  the  following  note  : 

"The  grape-vine  was  certainly  brought  from  Europe  to 
the  West  Indies,  yet  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  Spaniards 
had  before  found  it  growing  wild  in  America."  Oviedo,  whose 
work,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  historical  portion  of  natural  his 
tory,  is  of  great  value,  says,  explicitly  :  "  These  wild  vines  bear 
good,  black  grapes.  I  say  good,  for,  considering  that  they  are  a 
wild  growth,  they  well  deserve  that  appellation.  They  are  found 
throughout  the  whole  West  Indies,  and  I  believe  that  all  the 
vines  now  remaining  there  have  descended  from  this  wild  stock." 

Finally,  Clavigero  gives  the  following  account  regarding 
them  :  1055 

"  Grapes  are  not  entirely  lacking  in  this  country.  The  places 
called  Parras  and  Parral,  in  the  diocese  of  New  Biscay,  were  so 
named  from  the  abundance  of  vines  which  were  found  there,  of 
which  many  vineyards  were  made,  which,  to  this  day,  yield  good 
wine.  In  Mixteca  there  are  two  species  of  wild  vine,  native  to 
that  country :  the  one,  in  its  shoots  and  in  the  figure  of  its  leaves, 
resembles  the  common  vine,  and  bears  red  grapes,  which  are  large 
and  covered  by  a  hard  skin,  but  which  are  of  a  sweet  and  agree 
able  taste,  which  would  surely  be  improved  by  cultivation  ;  the 
grapes  of  the  other  vine  are  hard,  large,  and  of  a  sour  flavour, 
but  they  make  a  very  good  preserve." 

The  Chinese  account  may  possibly  refer  to  grapes,  but  I  can 
not  help  thinking  that  "  tomatoes  "  is  the  true  rendering. 

In  Chapter  XY  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  the  Chi 
nese  have  a  legend  of  a  tree  of  stone,  called  "  the  agate  gem,"  "the 
green-jade-stone  tree,"  or  "  the  coral  tree."  This  may  possibly 
be  founded  upon  Hwui  Shan's  account  of  the  gems,  which  were 
most  highly  prized  by  the  Mexicans,  and  which  they  called  Chal- 
chiuitl,m*  or  Chalchihuitl.m  These  were  green  or  bluish-green 
stones,  resembling  amethysts,544  emeralds,2358  or  turquoises,5.85  and 
probably  very  similar  to  the  green -jade  stone  so  highly  prized  in 
China.  These  were  considered  as  valuable  by  the  Mexicans  as 
diamonds  are  by  us,2388  and  when  Montezuma  wished  to  send  to 
the  ruler  of  Spain  the  most  royal  present  which  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  give,  he  sent  his  general  to  Cortez  with  four  of  these 
stones,  which  were  handed  over  with  great  solemnity  as  jewels 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FU-SANG.  417 

of  inestimable  value,2343  and  with  the  statement  that  he  could 
not  consent  to  part  with  them  except  to  give  them  to  so  power 
ful  a  monarch  as  the  one  to  whom  Cortez  yielded  obedience  must 
be.  Each  stone  was  declared  to  be  worth  a  load  of  gold 455  (i.  e., 
the  weight  that  a  man  could  carry — some  sixty  pounds),  or, 
according  to  some  authorities,  two  loads.1932  Chalchihuitl  was 
one  of  the  titles  bestowed  upon  Quetzalcoatl,  and  it  was  the  name 
given  to  Cortez,738  by  the  Mexicans,  who  knew  of  no  title  that 
they  could  give  him  which  would  more  fully  express  their  sense 
of  his  superiority. 

This  word  is  evidently  composed  of  xalli  (pronounced  shalli, 
and,  after  dropping  the  terminal  li,  scarcely  distinguishable  from 
chal),  meaning  sand  or  a  sandy  stone,1927  and  xihuitl,  a  turquoise  ; 
the  compound  meaning  "  the  stone  turquoise."  It  has  already 
been  explained,  however,  that  xihuitl  also  means  a  plant.  Hence 
Hwui  Shan  may  have  supposed  the  meaning  of  the  appellation 
td  be  "  the  stony  plant,"  and  the  Chinese  legends  may  have 
grown  from  the  accounts,  carried  to  China  by  Hwui  Shan,  of 
the  Mexican  Chalchihuitl. 

It  should  be  said,  in  concluding  this  philological  portion  of 
the  subject,  that,  if  it  stood  by  itself,  but  little  confidence  could 
be  placed  in  it.  So  many  instances  have  occurred  in  which 
careful  students  have  been  misled  by  accidental  or  fancied  re 
semblances  between  words  radically  distinct,  that  great  caution 
is  necessary  in  pursuing  the  subject. 

Nevertheless,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  other  proofs, 
given  and  to  be  given,  of  the  truth  of  Hwui  Shan's  statements, 
these  philological  coincidences  seem  to  add  to  their  number. 

If  the  Mexican  language  did  not  contain  titles  corresponding 
with  the  words  found  in  the  Chinese  text,  that  circumstance 
would  be  a  valid  argument  against  the  truth  of  the  story.  The 
words  exist,  however,  and  have  been  shown. 

Let  any  who  may  think  the  resemblance  accidental  or  fancied, 
or  to  be  the  result  of  mere  ingenuity,  attempt  to  discover  another 
language  in  the  world  in  the  words  of  which,  denoting  degrees 
of  rank,  any  such  resemblance  to  the  titles  named  by  Hwui  Shan 

can  be  found. 
27 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE    PECULIARITIES    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 

The  construction  of  the  dwellings — Adobe  walls — The  "  Casas  Grandes  " — Houses 
of  planks — Lack  of  armour — Absence  of  fortifications — Literary  characters — 
The  pomp  which  surrounded  the  Aztec  monarch — Musical  instruments — The 
evanescence  of  Montezuma's  pomp — Rulers  accompanied  by  musical  instru 
ments — Tangaxoan — The  king  of  Guatemala — The  king  of  Quiche1 — Homage 
to  the  Spaniards  and  to  the  Spanish  priests — The  long  cattle-horns — The 
Chinese  measure  called  a  HUH — Animals  of  the  New  World  erroneously  des 
ignated  by  the  names  of  those  of  the  Old  World — Bisons — Their  range — An 
extinct  species — Its  gigantic  horns — The  horns  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  sheep — 
Use  of  horns  by  the  Indians — Herds  of  tame  deer — The  lack  of  iron — The  use 
of  copper — Gold  and  silver  not  valued — Their  markets — Barter — Customs  at 
tending  courtship — Sprinkling  and  sweeping  the  ground  as  an  act  of  homage 
— The  customs  of  the  Apaches — The  fastened  horse — The  Coco-Maricopas — 
Serenades — Huts  built  in  front  of  those  of  the  parents — The  length  of  the 
"  year  " — The  punishment  of  criminals  of  high  rank — The  sweat-house,  or 
estufa — Indian  councils — Severe  punishment  of  men  of  distinction — Custom 
in  Darien — Punishment  witnessed  by  Cortez — Smothering  in  ashes. 

THE  next  statement  to  be  examined  relates  to  the  method  of 
building  their  dwellings  : 

VI. — IN  CONSTRUCTING  their  HOUSES  they  use  PLANKS,  such 

are  generally  used  when  building  adobe  walls. 

This  passage  has  been  jcariously  translated  :  "  The  boards 
V  which  are  made  from  the  fu-sang  tree  are  employed  in  the  con 
struction  of  their  houses,"  and  "Their  houses  are  made  of 
planks,"  or  "  wooden  planks  "  or  "  beams."  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  it  does  not  say  that  the  planks  are  made  from  the  fu-sang 
tree,  and  also  that  the  character  used  for  the  word  "  planks  "  is 
not  the  ordinary  character  |g,  PAN,  composed  of  "  wood,"  or  "  a 
tree,"  and  the  phonetic  PAN,  but  is  JgjJ,  PAN,  composed  of  this 
last-named  phonetic  and  the  radical  meaning  "  a  slice,"  "  a  piece." 
This  character  is  not  only  used  with  the  meaning  "  board  "  or 


THE  PECULIARITIES   OF  THE   COUNTRY.  419 

"  plank,"  but  is  employed  specifically  as  the  name  of  the  small 
boards  or  pieces  of  planks  which  are  used  when  constructing 
adobe  or  mud  walls  ;  and  it  appears  to  have  this  meaning  in  our 
text.  In  China,  according  to  Professor  Williams,  durable  walls 
are  made  by  pounding  a  compound  of  sifted  gravel  and  lime, 
mixed  with  water,  into  a  solid  mass,  between  planks  secured  at 
the  sides,  and  elevated  as  the  wall  rises.2499  Medhurst  says  that 
the  Chinese  in  Hok-keen  generally  build  their  walls  of  mud, 
which  is  pounded  and  beaten  between  two  boards  fastened 
together. 

As  to  the  dwellings  of  the  Mexicans  :  we  are  told  that  they 
varied  with  climate  and  locality,  and  that  in  treeless  parts  they 
were  constructed  of  adobe  or  sun-dried  bricks  and  stones.121 
Zamacois  says  that 2588  the  houses  of  the  wealthier  classes  were 
of  adobe,  but  were  well  whitened,  and  the  habitations  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  people  were  of  clay  hardened  in  the  sun,  and 
of  earth.2588  The  celebrated  ruins  in  New  Mexico,  known  as  the 
"  Casas  Grandes,"  are  of  adobe^  that  is,  the  ordinary  mud  of  the 
locality  mixed  with  gravel.395  It  is  specially  stated,  however, 
that,  according  to  appearances,  the  walls  of  these  buildings  were 
built  in  boxes  (moulds)  of  different  sizes.394  Bancroft  adds 
that 396  the  material,  instead  of  being  formed  into  small  rectan 
gular  or  brick-shaped  blocks,  as  is  customary  in  all  Spanish- 
American  countries  to  this  day,  seems  in  this  aboriginal  struct 
ure  to  have  been  moulded — perhaps  by  means  of  wooden  boxes 
— and  dried  where  it  was  to  remain  in  the  walls. 

Bartlett  states  that,"5  of  the  "  Casas  Grandes,"  near  the  Gila 
River,  the  exterior  walls,  as  well  as  the  division  walls  of  the  in 
terior,  are  laid  with  large  square  blocks  of  mud,  prepared  for 
the  purpose  by  pressing  the  material  into  large  boxes  about  two 
feet  in  height  and  four  feet  long.  When  the  mud  became  suf 
ficiently  hardened,  the  case  was  moved  along  and  again  filled,  and 
so  on  until  the  whole  edifice  was  completed  ;  and,  referring  af 
terward  to  the  "  Casas  Grandes,"  in  Chihuahua,  Mexico,  he  says 
that M6  they  are  built  with  large  blocks  of  mud,  or  what  the  Mexi 
cans  call  tapia,  about  twenty-two  inches  in  thickness  and  three 
feet  or  more  in  length.  In  fact,  the  length  of  these  blocks 
seems  to  vary,  and  their  precise  dimensions  can  not  be  traced, 
which  leads  to  the  belief  that  some  kind  of  a  case  or  box  was 
used,  into  which  the  mud  was  placed,  and  that,  as  it  dried,  these 


420  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

cases  were  moved  along.  It  is  true  they  may  have  been  first 
made  in  moulds  or  cases,  and,  after  being  dried,  placed  on  the 
-walls  ;  but  the  irregularity  and  want  of  uniformity  in  the  length 
of  these  layers  indicate  that  they  were  made  on  the  walls  them 
selves. 

If  it  be  considered  that  Hwui  Shan  intended  to  say  that  the 
houses  were  constructed  of  wooden  planks,  instead  of  by  means 
of  these  movable  boards,  there  is  just  a  possibility  (but  it  can 
not  be  called  a  probability)  that  such  houses  may  at  one  time 
have  been  built.  Ixtlilxochitl  tells  us,  in  his  second  "  Relation," 
that  at  Tollantzinco  "  they  [the  Toltecs]  constructed  of  planks 
a  house  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  entire  nation." 6i2 

Other  writers  have  referred  to  the  planks  made  by  the  na 
tives  of  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,1840  for  the  construc 
tion  of  their  dwellings  ;  but  this  region  is  too  far  removed  from 
Mexico  to  make  it  probable  that  the  two  places  would  be  re 
ferred  to  in  the  same  account,  as  if  they  were  only  one  coun 
try. 

VII. — THEY  HAVE  NO  CITADELS  OB  WALLED  CITIES,  .  .  .  THEY 

HAVE  NO  MILITARY  WEAPONS  OR  ARMOUR,  AND  THEY  DO  NOT  WAGE 
WAR  IN  THAT  KINGDOM. 

This  duplication  of  a  statement  which  was  made  in  regard  to 
Great  Han,  indicates  that  the  explorer  was  questioned  by  the 
representative  of  the  Chinese  government  as  to  the  military 
qualities  of  the  nations  which  he  had  visited. 

Dupaix  says  of  the  ruins  of  Central  America  :  "  The  truth  is 
that  there  can  not  be  found  in  any  quarter  the  least  trace  of  an 
inclosure,  of  an  adjoining  defense  of  any  kind,  or  even  of  exte 
rior  fortifications."  m5 

When  Mexico  was  first  visited  by  the  Spaniards,  the  natives 
wore  an  armour  of  quilted  cotton,  very  similar  to  the  quilted 
dress  worn  by  the  Tartars  for  the  same  purpose.  The  resem 
blance  is  such  that  it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  it 
may  have  been  introduced  by  the  party  of  Buddhist  priests  as  a 
means  of  protecting  their  disciples  from  the  arrows  of  their  ene 
mies. 

While  the  Aztecs  were  a  ferocious  and  warlike  people,  it  is 
well  known  that  their  predecessors,  the  Toltecs,  were  milder  and 
gentler,  and  were  not  addicted  to  war.  Landa  and  Herrera  re 
port  that  the  nations  of  Yucatan  learned  the  art  of  war  from  the 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  421 

Mexicans,  having  been  an  altogether  peaceful  people  before  the 
Nahua  influence  was  brought  to  bear  on  them.275 

It  may  be,  however,  that  Hwui  Shan  reported  what  he 
thought  to  be  the  change  in  the  customs  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land  which  he  had  visited,  brought  about  through  their  con 
version  to  the  doctrines  of  Buddha  by  means  of  the  preaching  of 
the  five  Buddhist  missionaries,  rather  than  their  character  as  it 
was  during  the  days  when  they  were  "  ignorant." 

VIII. — THEY  HAVE  LITERAEY  CHARACTERS. 

The  picture  -  writing  of  the  Mexicans  is  so  well  known  as 
to  require  but  few  references.  Bancroft  states  that  it467  reveals 
the  jj»hpjiejic_ej^raent_so  developed  as  to  endow  the  Mexicans 
with  that  high  proof  of  culture,  written  records,  applied  not  only  \y 
to  historic  incidents  and  common  facts,  but  to  abstract  subjects 
of  philosophic,  scientific,  and  poetic  nature.  He  also  says  of  the 
Palenque  inscriptions  that  they  have  all  the  characteristics  of  a 
written  language  in  a  state  of  development  analogous  to  the 
Chinese  with  its  word- writing  ;  and,  like  it,  they  appear  to  have 
been  read  in  columns  from  top  to  bottom.281 

Sahagun  says  that  their  holy  chants  were  written  in  their 
books,2196  and  Dr.  Brinton  claims  that  no  nation  ever  reduced 
pictography  more  to  a  system.841  It  was  in  constant  use  in  the 
daily  transactions  of  life.  In  these  records  we  discern  some 
thing  higher  than  a  mere  symbolic  notation.  They  contain  the  N 
germ  of  a  phonetic  alphabet,  and  represent  sounds  of  spoken 
language.  The  symbol  is  often  not  connected  with  the  idea,  but 
with  the  word. 

M.  Leon  de  Rosny  goes  still  further  in  the  following  state 
ment,  but  does  not  mention  the  grounds  upon  which  his  opinion 
is  based  :  "  I  am  much  inclined  to  believe  that  writing,  properly 
so  called,  was  known  to  the  Mexicans  at  one  time,  probably 
during  the  times  when  the  Toltec  empire  flourished  ;  but  I  also 
believe  that  this  system  of  writing  was  absolutely  distinct  from 
that  of  the  didactic  paintings  which  were  in  vogue  during  the 
century  of  the  last  of  the  Montezumas."2153 

IX. THE  KING  -OF  THE  COUNTRY,  WHEN  HE  WALKS  abroad,  IS 

PRECEDED  AND  FOLLOWED  WITH  DRUMS  AND  HORNS. 

It  is  well  known  that 158  the  jx)mp  and  circumstance  which 
surrounded  the  Aztec  monarchs,  and  the  magnificence  of  their 
every-day  life,  was  most  impressive. 


422  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Cortez  exclaims  :1105  "  So  many  and  various  were  the  ceremo 
nies  and  customs  observed  by  those  in  the  service  of  Muteczuma, 
that  more  space  than  I  can  spare  would  be  required  for  the  de 
tails,  as  well  as  a  clearer  memory,  for  their  recollection,  than  I 
possess,  since  no  sultan  or  other  infidel  lord,  of  whom  any  knowl 
edge  now  exists,  ever  had  so  much  ceremonial  in  his  court." 

The  kings  did  not  often  appear  among  their  people,  the  rule 

being  that  they  should  not  show  themselves  in  public  except  in 

urgent  cases  (see  "  Duran,"  chap,  xxvi,  p.  214). m     Whenever 

they  did  appear  abroad,  however,  it  was  with  a  parade  that  cor- 

I  responded  with  their  other  observances.164    Prescott  states  that, 

V  when  Montezuma  went  abroad,  it  was  in  state,  on  some  public 

occasion,  usually  to  the  great  temple,  to  take  part  in  the  religious 

services  ;  and,  as  he  passed  along,  he  exacted  from  his  people 

the  homage  of  an  adulation  worthy  of  an  Oriental  despot.2076 

Bancroft  says  that  ths  Mexicans  had  instruments  of  music, 
consisting  of  drums,  horns,  and  large  sea-shells ;  *"  and  in  another 
place  183  mentions  drums,  flutes,  trumpets,  and  sharp  whistles  as 
their  musical  instruments. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Spanish  conquerors  had 
but  slight  opportunity  for  beholding  the  pomp  with  which  Mon 
tezuma  had  been  surrounded  in  his  daily  life.  His  power  and 
vainglory  vanished  before  them  like  mist  before  the  rising  sun. 
They  had  but  time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  it,  and  it  was  gone 
forever.  When  he  came  forth  to  meet  Cortez,  it  was  under  cir 
cumstances  so  new  and  strange,  that  it  is  not  surprising  that 
some  of  the  ceremonies  usually  observed  when  he  ventured 
abroad  should  have  been  dispensed  with.  His  power  had  been 
openly  defied.  These  mysterious  beings  of  another  race,  clad 
in  armour  which  could  not  be  pierced  by  the  weapons  of  the 
Mexicans,  mounted  upon  strange  animals  of  a  strength,  speed, 
and  docility  of  which  they  had  before  had  no  conception,  and 
who  breathed  forth  thunder  and  lightning,  with  which  it  was  in 
their  power  to  slay  all  those  in  their  sight  at  their  pleasure  ; 
these  creatures,  who  in  some  respects  resembled  men,  but  who 
had  many  of  the  attributes  of  the  gods,  came  fearlessly  to  his 
capital  city,  regardless  of  his  command  to  the  contrary.  This 
was  no  time  for  music  or  for  public  rejoicing,  and,  therefore, 
Montezuma  was  borne  along  in  silence. 

That  it  was  customary,  however,  for  the  rulers  of  Mexico  to 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  423 

be  accompanied  by  the  music  of  drums  and  trumpets,  when  they 
appeared  in  public,  is  shown  by  the  following  quotations  :  When 
the  natives  of  the  surrounding  region  came  to  assist  Cortez 
rebuild  the  city  of  Mexico  after  its  conquest,  "  each  chief  of  a 
city  or  village  arrived  at  the  head  of  his  men  accompanied  by 
the  sound  of  instruments"  ™8  Tangaxoan,  king  of  Michoacan, 
set  forth  to  visit  Cortez,  and  pay  him  tribute,  "  preceded  by  the 
music  of  his  palace,  and  accompanied  by  a  brilliant  court."  745 
"  The  king  of  Guatemala  came  forth  from  his  palace  to  meet  the 
Spaniards,  carried  by  his  servitors  upon  a  species  of  magnificent 
litter,  and  surrounded  by  a  cortege  of  noblemen  and  of  musi 
cians."  926  When  Tecum  Uman,  king  of  Quiche,  left  the  capital, 
he  was  borne  in  his  litter  on  the  shoulders  of  the  principal  men 
of  his  kingdom,  and  preceded  by  the  music  of  flutes,  cornets,  and 
drums.658 

These  signs  of  rejoicing,  these  acts  of  adulation,  were  almost 
immediately  exhibited  before  the  conquering  Spaniards.  At 
their  entrance  into  the  city  of  Tlascala,  victorious  shouts  and 
acclamations  resounded  upon  all  sides,  and  still  greater  confusion 
was  caused  by  the  fact  that  they  were  mixed  with  the  clamour 
of  the  people  and  the  dissonant  music  of  their  flutes,  kettle 
drums,  and  trumpets.2344  Their  entry  into  Cholula  was  similar 
to  that  at  Tlascala ;  the  streets  were  filled  with  an  immense  con 
course  of  people,  through  which  they  could  only  with  difficulty 
force  their  way  ;  tumultuous  acclamations  resounded  upon  all 
sides  ;  women  distributed  bouquets  of  flowers,  and  scattered 
them  before  them.  Caciques  and  priests  did  reverence  to  them, 
and  smoked  incense  before  them,  and  numbers  of  instruments 
were  played  which  made  more  noise  than  music.2346  So,  too,  at 
the  entry  into  Gualipar,  "kettle-drums,  flutes,  and  shells  were 
distributed  in  different  bands,  which  alternated  with  and  suc 
ceeded  each  other,  making  a  noisy  and  agreeable  welcome." 2359 
Zamacois  says  that  when  Xicotencatl  came  to  meet  Cortez,  "a 
numerous  band  of  musicians,  whose  instruments  consisted  of 
drums,  trumpets,  and  sea-shells,  with  which  they  produced  a  hor 
rible  noise,  was  seen  in  the  first  files  of  the  troops."  2591  Cortez 
himself  refers  to  the  subject  in  the  following  words  :  "  The  next 
morning  the  people  of  Cholula  came  forth  to  receive  me  on  the 
road,  with  many  trumpets  and  kettle-drums."  1099 

Cortez  was  not  the  only  one  to  whom  this  sign  of  homage  and 


424  AX  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

welcome  was  rendered.  When  the  Spaniards  invaded  Nicara 
gua,  the  natives,  on  several  occasions,  met  the  Spaniards  in  a 
procession  of  men  and  women,  gayly  decked  in  all  their  finery, 
marching  to  the  sound  of  shell  trumpets,  and  bearing  in  their 
hands  presents  for  the  invaders.267  In  the  distant  north,  Alva- 
rado,  when  he  reached  Cicuye,  was  welcomed  by  the  inhabitants, 
who  went  before  him  with  great  demonstrations  of  joy,  accom 
panying  him  to  the  village  to  the  sound  of  drums,  and  of  flutes, 
similar  to  fifes,  on  which  they  often  played.2434 

This  method  of  showing  joy  in  the  presence  of  one  whom 
they  wished  to  honour,  was,  in  later  days,  used  as  a  means  of  hon 
ouring  the  Spanish  priests.  Gage,  in  his  account  of  his  travels 
through  the  country,  mentions  this  fact  time  and  again.  In  his 
first  journey,  before  he  had  fairly  left  the  seaport  of  San  Juan 
de  Ulloa,  he  says  : 13t3  "  Two  miles  before  we  came  to  the  Town 
of  Yera  Cruz,  there  met  us  on  Horse-back  some  twenty  of  the 
chief  of  the  Town,  presenting  unto  every  one  of  us  a  nosegay  of 
flowers  ;  who  rid  before  us  a  bow  shot,  till  we  met  with  more 
company  on  foot,  to  wit,  the  Trumpeters  and  the  Waits,  who 
sounded  pleasantly  all  the  way  before  us.  ...  When  we  took 
our  leaves,  the  Waits  and  Trumpets  sounded  again  before  us." 
So,  also,  when  he  departed  from  the  little  town  called  St.  Chris 
topher,  "  Waits  and  Trumpets "  sounded  before  him.1381  On 
leaving  Comitlan,  when  being  ferried  over  the  river  upon  which 
the  town  was  situated,  canoes  went  before  his  party  with  "  the 
Quiristers  of  the  church  singing  "  before  them,  "  and  with  others 
sounding  their  Waits  and  Trumpets."  1382  He  finally  mentions, 
as  a  general  custom,  that  "to  the  Church  there  do  belong,  ac 
cording  as  the  Town  is  in  bignesse,  so  many  Singers,  and  Trum 
peters,  and  Waits,  over  whom  the  Priest  hath  one  Officer,  who 
is  called  Fiscal."  "  They  are  to  attend  with  their  Waits,  Trum 
pets,  and  Musick,  upon  any  great  man  or  Priest  that  cometh  to 
their  Town,  and  to  make  arches  with  boughs  and  flowers  in  the 
streets  for  their  entertainment."  1384 

X. — THEY  HAVE  CATTLE-HORNS,  OF  WHICH  THE  LONG  ONES 

ARE    USED   TO    CONTAIN    SOme  of  their  POSSESSIONS,  THE    BEST    OF 

THEM  REACHING  a  capacity  of  TWICE  TEN  times  as  much  as  an 
ordinary  HORN-FULL.  .  .  .  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  COUNTRY 

RAISE    DEER   AS    CATTLE    ARE    RAISED    IN   THE    MlDDLE    KlNGDOM 

(China). 


THE  PECULIARITIES   OF  THE  COUNTRY.  425 

The  first  sentence  is  rendered  by  different  translators  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  The  cattle  of  the  country  bear  a  considerable  weight  upon 
their  horns."  "  The  cattle  have  long  horns,  upon  which  bur 
dens  are  loaded,  which  weigh  sometimes  as  much  as  twenty  ho 
(of  one  hundred  and  twenty  Chinese  pounds)."  "  The  oxen  have 
such  large  horns  that  they  contain  as  much  as  ten  sheep-skins  ; 
the  people  use  them  to  keep  all  kinds  of  goods."  "  They  have 
cattle  whose  horns  are  very  long,  and  who  bear  upon  their  horns 
a  weight  as  great  as  twenty  ho  (the  ho  is  a  measure  of  ten 
bushels)."  "  Ox-horns  are  found  in  Fu-sang  so  large  that  their 
capacity  is  sometimes  as  great  as  two  hundred  bushels.  They 
are  used  to  contain  all  sorts  of  things."  "  There  are  oxen  with 
long  horns,  so  long  that  they  will  hold  things  ;  the  biggest  as 
much  as  five  pecks." 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  statement  refers  to 
cattle-Aoms,  and  not  to  cattle.  If  the  meaning  were,  they  "  have 
long-horned  cattle,"  the  text  would  read,  "  YIU  CH'ANG  KIOH  NIU," 
the  order  of  the  words  being  the  same  that  it  is  in  English  in 
the  phrase  included  in  quotation-marks.  The  order  in  the  text  is, 
however,  YIU  NIU  KIOH  ;  they  "have  cattle-horns."  One  cause 
of  variation  in  the  translations  is  found  in  the  character  j|g,  TSAI, 
which  means  both  to  contain  and  to  bear  ;  and  another  cause  lies 
in  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  size  of  the  measure  called  a  HUH  (or 
HO). 

Professor  Williams  gives  the  following  information  regarding 
it :  253°  "  jj|,  HUH  (from  a  peck  measure  and  a  horn),  to  measure,  a 
measure  ;  the  Chinese  bushel  holding  ten  pecks,  or  a  picul,  ac 
cording  to  some,  but  the  common  table  makes  it  to  measure  five 
pecks,  or  half  a  picul.  At  Shanghai  the  HUH  for  rice  holds  only 
2*05  pints,  and  that  for  peas  1-86  pints  ;  the  Buddhists  use  it  for 
a  full  picul  of  133J  Ibs.,  av.,  but  the  Hindu  drona,  which  the  HUH 
represents,  weighs  only  7  Ibs.  11  oz.,  av." 

Bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  character  is  composed  of  a 
"  horn  "  and  a  "  measure,"  and  that  it  is  still  used  at  Shanghai 
for  an  amount  of  rice  or  peas  but  little  greater  than  the  capacity 
of  a  large  ox-horn,  I  can  not  help  believing  that  it  originally 
meant  a  "horn-full,"  and  that  it  was  with  this  meaning  that 
Hwui  Shan  used  it. 

It  is  a  plausible  remark 2498  of  de  Guignes  (vol.  ii,  p.  173)  that 


426  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"the  habit  we  fall  into  of  conceiving  things  according  to  the 
words  which  express  them,  often  leads  us  into  error  when  read 
ing  the  relations  of  travelers.  Such  writers  have  seen  objects 
altogether  new,  but  they  are  compelled,  when  describing  them, 
to  employ  equivalent  terms  in  their  own  language  in  order  to  be 
understood  ;  while  these  same  terms  tend  to  deceive  the  reader, 
who  imagines  that  he  sees  such  palaces,  colonnades,  peristyles, 
etc.,  under  these  designations,  as  he  has  been  used  to,  when,  in 
fact,  they  are  quite  another  thing." 

Now,  although  the  names  of  many  animals  in  the  New  World 
have  been  frequently  borrowed  from  the  Old,  the  species  are  dif 
ferent.2082  "  When  the  Spaniards  landed  in  America,"  says  an 
eminent  naturalist,  "  they  did  not  find  a  single  animal  they  were 
acquainted  with  ;  not  one  of  the  quadrupeds  of  Europe,  Asia,  or 
Africa."  (Lawrence,  "  Lectures  on  Physiology,  Zoology,  and  the 
Natural  History  of  Man,"  London,  1819,  p.  250.) 

Hence  we  can  not  expect  that  the  "  cattle  "  or  "  cattle-horns," 
described  by  Hwui  Shan,  would  be  exactly  the  same  as  those  of 
Asia  or  Europe.  It  seems  very  doubtful  whether  our  mission 
ary  meant  to  state  that  there  were  "  cattle "  in  the  country.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  all  that  he  meant  was  that  he  had  seen 
horns  of  a  very  large  size  in  the  possession  of  the  people,  and 
he  supposed  them  to  be  cattle-horns.  There  is  nothing  to  indi 
cate  that  he  ever  saw  the  animals  from  which  they  were  taken. 

If,  however,  he  meant  to  refer  to  animals  so  similar  to  cattle 
as  to  be  properly  called  by  the  same  name,  the  buffaloes  or  bisons 
must  have  been  the  animals  meant.  The  term  "  wild  cattle  " 30 
was  occasionally  applied,  by  both  the  early  French  and  the  early 
English  explorers,  to  the  moose  ( Alces  malchis)  and  the  elk  (  Cer- 
vus  Canadensis)?*  but  it  was  almost  invariably  applied  to  the 
bison.  And  the  fact,  that  the  horns  were  called  "  cattle-horns,"  con 
clusively  establishes  the  point  that  no  animal  of  the  deer  species 
could  have  been  referred  to  in  this  case. 

Bceuf  sauvage  was  the  name  given  to  the  bison  by  Du  Pratz,26 
though  it  was  often,  also  called  buffle,  vache  sauvage,  and  some 
times  bison  cVAmerique,  by  the  early  French  colonists,  while  the 
Canadian  voyageurs  are  said  to  have  termed  it  simply  le  bceuf. 
Kalm  spoke  of  the  American  bisons  as  wilde  Ochsen  wid  Kuehe, 
while  the  early  English  explorers  also  often  referred  to  this  ani 
mal  under  the  same  English  equivalent,  and  also  used  for  it  the 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  427 

names  buffle  and  boeuf  sauvage.     Charlevoix  called  the  bison  the 
bceufdu  Canada,  while  Hennepin  called  it  taureau  sauvage. 

The  great  kingdom 1287  of  "  Cibola  "  (a  name  meaning  "  buffa 
lo  "),  although  distant  from  the  city  of  Mexico,  must  have  been 
known  to  Montezuma,  for  we  find  the  Spaniards  struck  with 
amazement  at  the  sight  of  a  singular  animal  in  the  zoological 
gardens  of  the  Mexican  monarch,  such  as  they  had  never  seen 
before.  Nor,  according  to  Yenegas,  was  it  known  in  Sonora,  or 
along  the  river  Gila.  By  Solis,  this  animal  is  thus  described  : 23M 
"  This  greatest  rarity — the  Mexican  bull — has  a  bunch  on  its 
back  like  a  camel,  its  flanks  thin,  its  tail  large,  and  its  neck 
covered  with  hair  like  a  lion  ;  it  is  cloven-footed,  and  its  head  is 
armed  like  that  of  a  bull,  which  it  resembles  in  fierceness,  having 
no  less  strength  and  agility."  Hernandes 1521  also  describes  the 
animal  by  the  name  of  the  "  Mexican  bull." 

When  Cabrillo  explored  the  coast  of  California,  he  reported 
that  the  natives  on  the  coast,2470  and  back  in  the  interior  also,2473 
had  "many  cows."  The  animals  here  mentioned,  and  which 
were  understood  by  the  Spaniards  to  be  cows,  were  doubtless 
bisons,  which  formerly  ranged  to  the  eastern  foot-hills  of  the  y 
Sierras,  and  accounts  of  which,  if  not  the  skins  of  the  animals, 
must  have  reached  the  coast  tribes.  Although  cows  were  intro 
duced  into  the  New  World  by  Columbus,  and  were  brought  to 
Mexico  as  early  as  1525,  it  was  not  until  many  years  afterward, 
on  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  country  by  the  Spaniards, 
that  these  domestic  animals  found  their  way  to  California. 

Although  the  buffalo  does  not  now  range  as  far  south  as 
Mexico,  there  is  proof  that  it  was  formerly  to  be  found  in  the 
northern  part  of  that  country. 

Respecting  the  extreme  southwestern  limit  of  the  former 
range  of  the  buffalo,32  Keating,  on  the  authority  of  Calhoun,  wrote 
in  1823  as  follows  :  "De  Laet  says,  quoting  from  Herrera,  that 
they  grazed  as  far  south  as  the  banks  of  the  Yaquimi  (Americce 
ITtriusque  Descriptio,  Lugd.  Batav.  Anno  1633,  lib.  6,  cap.  6,  p. 
286).  In  the  same  chapter  the  author  states  that  Martin  Pere 
had,  in  1591,  estimated  the  province  of  Cinaloa,  in  which  this 
river  runs,  to  be  three  hundred  leagues  from  the  city  of  Mexico. 
This  river  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  which,  on  Mr.  Tanner's 
map  of  North  America  (Philadelphia,  1822),  is  named  Hiaqui 
(the  Rio  Yaqui,  doubtless,  of  modern  maps),  and  which  is  situ- 


428  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ated  between  the  27th  and  28th  degrees  of  north  latitude. 
Perhaps,  however,  it  may  be  the  Rio  Gila,  which  empties  itself  in 
latitude  32°."  (Quoted  from  "  Long's  Expedition  to  the  Source 
of  the  St.  Peter's  River,"  vol.  ii,  p.  28.) 

Dr.  Berlandier,33  who  was  for  a  long  time  a  resident  of  the 
northeastern  provinces  of  Mexico,  and  who  at  his  death  left  in 
MS.  a  large  work,  now  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  on  the 
mammals  of  Mexico,  speaks  of  the  buffalo  as  formerly  ranging 
far  to  the  southward  of  the  Rio  Grande.  I  am  unable  to  say, 
however,  what  are  his  authorities.  In  his  chapter  on  this  animal 
he  thus  refers  to  its  former  range  in  Mexico  : 

"  In  Mexico,  when  the  Spaniards,  always  eager  for  wealth, 
pushed  their  explorations  into  the  north  and  northwest,  they  did 
not  loiter  to  discover  the  buffaloes.  In  1602  the  Franciscan 
monks,  who  discovered  New  Leon,  found  numerous  herds  of  these 
quadrupeds  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Monterey.  They  were  also 
scattered  throughout  New  Biscay  (the  states  of  Chihuahua  and 
Durango),  and  they  sometimes  went  still  farther  south.  Although 
they  formerly  roamed  as  far  south  as  the  25th  degree,  they  now 
do  not  pass  the  27th  or  28th  degree,  at  least  in  the  inhabited  and 
well-known  portions  of  the  country." 

In  the  map  attached  to  Mr.  Allen's  work  on  "  The  American 
Bisons,  Living  and  Extinct,"  the  former  limit  of  the  buffalo 
range  is  put  down  as  including  the  Mexican  states  of  Nuevo 
Leon,  Coahuila,  and  Chihuahua. 

The  common  bison  has  small  horns,  however,  and  the  Asiatic 
explorer  would  not  be  likely  to  call  them  "long."  Still,  remains 
have  been  found  of  an  extinct  species  of  bison,  which  may  have 
been  living  fourteen  centuries  ago,  to  the  horns  of  which  the 
term  could  be  well  applied. 

The  first  remains  of  such  an  animal  discovered  in  North 
America  were  found  in  the  bed  of  a  small  creek,  about  a  dozen 
miles  north  of  Big-bone  Lick,  Kentucky.21  This  specimen  Peale 
believed  to  indicate  a  species  of  the  ox  tribe  of  gigantic  propor 
tions,  whose  horns  must  have  had  a  spread  of  nearly  twelve  feet 
— a  conjecture  that  subsequent  discoveries  have  proved  well 
founded.  In  1846  the  greater  portion  of  the  skull  of  a  large 
extinct  bison  was  discovered  on  the  Brazos  River,  near  San  Felipe, 
Texas.  This  specimen  was  of  the  same  gigantic  proportions  as 
the  one  made  known  by  Mr.  Peale.22 


THE  PECULIABITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  429 

Among  the  measurements  given  by  Dr.  Leidy  of  the  first- 
named  discovery  are  : 23  Circumference  of  the  horn-core  at  its 
base,  20J-  inches  ;  circumference  of  the  horn-core,  ten  inches 
from  its  base,  1T-J  inches.  This  specimen  is  still  in  the  museum 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  of  Philadelphia.  Through 
the  kindness  of  the  curators  of  the  museum,  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen  was 
enabled  recently  to  examine  the  specimen  at  his  leisure.  He 
found  the  circumference  of  the  horn-core,  fourteen  inches  from 
the  base  (t^ie  point  at  which  it  is  broken  off),  to  be  16  inches,  or 
only  four  inches  and  a  half  less  than  at  the  base,  and  one  and  a 
half  inches  less  than  at  ten  inches  from  the  base.  Mr.  Peale,  in 
his  description  of  the  same  specimen,  nearly  three  fourths  of  a 
century  ago,  expressed  his  belief  that  the  horn  itself  could  not 
have  been  less  then  six  feet  in  length. 

The  third  specimen  of  cranial  remains  thus  far  known,24  as 
unquestionably  referable  to  the  Bison  latifrons,  consists  of  two 
nearly  perfect  horn-cores,  with  small  fragments  of  the  frontal 
bones  attached.  These  remains  were  exhumed  about  three  years 
since,  in  Adams  County,  Ohio.  They  are  nearly  entire,  lacking 
only  a  little  of  the  apical  portions,  and  give  the  following 
measurements  :  Total  length,  measured  along  the  upper  side, 
32  inches  ;  total  length,  measured  along  the  lower  side,  34 
inches  ;  circumference,  at  base,  20  inches  ;  circumference,  ten 
inches  from  the  base,  16  inches  ;  circumference,  fourteen  inches 
from  the  base,  14|-  inches  ;  circumference,  twenty-four  inches 
from  the  base,  9£  inches.  They  thus  about  equal  in  size  the 
specimens  above  described. 

If  this  gigantic  animal  was  living  at  the  time  of  Hwui 
Shan's  visit,  or  if  the  horns  were  still  occasionally  found  in  the 
country  some  time  after  its  extinction,  they  may  well  have  at 
tracted  his  attention. 

In  case  the  reference  is  to  the  buffalo,  it  may  be  that  one 
clause  of  the  account  should  be  read,  "  The  largest  of  them  attain 
(the  weight  of)  twenty  HUH  "  ;  and  if  the  HUH  be  considered  as 
indicating  a  weight  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  and  a 
third  pounds,  this  would  be  but  a  slight  exaggeration  of  their 
size.  ' 

Audubon  states  the  weight  of  old  males  to  be  nearly  two 
thousand  pounds,  that  of  the  full-grown  fat  females  to  be  about 
twelve  hundred  pounds  ; 25  and  Brickell,  in  the  "  Natural  History 


430  AN  INGLORIOUS' COLUMBUS. 

of  North  Carolina,"  1737,  pp.  107-108,  says  :  "  These  monsters 
(buffaloes) — as  I  have  been  informed — weigh  from  sixteen  hun 
dred  to  twenty-four  hundred  pounds  weight."  31 

It  seems  more  reasonable  to  .believe,  however,  that  Hwui 
Shan  referred  to  the  enormous  horns  of  the  animal  popularly 
\  known  as  the  Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  which  he  found  in  use  by 
the  Mexicans  as  receptacles  for  their  property,  and  that,  not 
having  seen  the  animals  from  which  they  were  taken,  he  fell  into 
the  error  of  considering  them  to  be  cattle-horns. 

Coronado  reported  that,  in  or  near  Cibola,  he  found  certain 
sheep  as  big  as  a  horse,  with  very  great  horns.2477  He  adds,  "  I 
have  seen  their  horns  so  big  that  it  is  a  wonder  to  behold  their 
greatness."  The  statements  are  also  made,  "  These  animals  are 
very  large.  They  have  long  horns" 243S  and  "  They  say  that  every 
horn  of  theirs  weigheth  fifty  pounds  weight."  2478  The  following 
is  also  given  in  the  account  of  their  journey  : 2432  "  After  having 
marched  three  days  in  the  desert,  we  found,  upon  the  bank  of  a 
river  which  ran  through  a  deep  caiion,  a  large  horn,  which  the 
general  had  seen,  and  which  he  had  left  there  that  the  army 
might  see  it  also.  It  was  a  fathom  (brasse)  and  a  half  in  length  ; 
the  base  was  as  large  as  a  man's  leg,  and  in  its  shape  it  resembled 
a  goat's  horn.  It  was  a  great  curiosity." 

As  to  the  use  of  horns  by  the  Indians  to  contain  their  prop 
erty,  etc.,  Purchas  says  *ll!  that  "  Lopez  de  Gomara  reporteth  that, 
in  Quivera,  the  Buffalo  Homes  yeeld  them  Vessels."  Gage  also 
reports  of  the  Mexicans  (p.  145  of  the  German  edition),  "  From 
horns  they  make  drinking  vessels  and  basins." 

The  peculiar  custom  of  taming  deer,  and  keeping  herds  of 
them,  as  cattle  are  kept  in  other  countries,  existed  in  Mexico. 

Bancroft  states  that201  the  common  people  kept  and  bred 
techichi  (a  native  animal  resembling  a  dog),  turkeys,  quails,  geese, 
ducks,  and  many  other  birds.  The  nobles  also  kept  deer,  hare, 
and  rabbits.  He  adds  that  the  195  kings  and  nobles  of  the  Chichi- 
mecas  kept  forests  of  deer  and  hare  to  supply  the  people  with 
food,  until,  in  Nopaltzin's  reign,  they  were  taught  to  plant  by  a 
descendant  of  the  Toltecs  (Torquemada,  "  Monarq.  Ind.,"tome  i). 
Bandelier,  also,513  quoting  from  Torquemada,  lib.  i,  chap,  xlii, 
p.  67,  says  :  "  Neither  did  the  Chichimecas  pay  any  attention  to 
it  [agriculture  or  horticulture],  for  the  reason  that  the  Lords  and 
Kings  had  parks  ("bosques")  of  rabbits  and  deer,  which  sup- 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE   COUNTRY.  431 

plied  them  with  meat."  Clavigero  states 1077  that  in  the  estates 
of  the  nobility  were  bred  fish,  deer,  rabbits,  and  many  varieties 
of  birds.  Certain  natives  of  Guatemala,  in  the  provinces  of 
Acalan,  called  Mazatecas,  kept  deer  in  so  tame  a  state  that  they 
were  easily  killed  by  the  least  active  soldiers.*06  Diaz  says  of 
them  : 1206  "  Another  day  we  saw  two  great  villages  of  the  same 
tribe.  They  are  called  the  Mazatecas,  which  means  '  People  or 
Land  of  Deer?;  and  the  name  is  certainly  appropriate,  for  our 
path  brought  us  soon  into  a  great  treeless  meadow,  where  we 
were  fearfully  burned  by  the  sun,  and  the  game  grazed  in  such 
numbers,  and  were  so  fearless,  that  we  soon  killed  more  than 
twenty.  In  reply  to  the  question  how  this  happened,  we  learned 
that  the  people  honoured  these  animals  as  holy,  and  neither 
killed  nor  frightened  them." 

A  letter  written  by  the  Adelantado  Soto,  regarding  the  ex 
ploration  of  "  Florida,"  says  that  the  Indians  asserted  that,2441  at 
a  distance  of  five  days'  journey,  fowls  would  be  found  in  abun 
dance,  as  well  as  guanacos  shut  up  in  parks,  and  tame  deer  which 
were  kept  in  herds.  This  report  was  probably  without  founda 
tion,  however. 

XL — THE  GROUND  is  DESTITUTE  OF  IKON,  BUT  THEY  HAVE 

COPPER  ;  GOLD  AND  SILVER  ARE  NOT  VALUED  ;  IN  THEIR  MARKETS 
THERE  ARE  NO  TAXES  OR  FIXED  PRICES. 

It  is  not  certain  that  Neumann  does  not  express  the  real 
meaning  of  the  narrator  in  his  rendering,  "  Gold  and  silver  are 
not  valued,  and  do  not  serve  as  the  medium  of  exchange  in 
their  markets." 

Nearly  every  writer  on  the  history  of  the  Aztecs  mentions 
the  fact  that  the  use  of  iron,  though  its  ores  are  abundant  in  the 
country,  was  unknown  to  the  natives,223  while  copper  could  be 
obtained  in  abundance.471  Gold,  silver,  copper,  tin,  and  lead 
were  the  metals  known  to  and  used  by  the  Nahuas.  The  latter, 
however,  is  merely  mentioned,  and  nothing  is  known  about 
where  it  was  obtained  or  for  what  purposes  it  was  employed  ; 22S 
while  tin  also  was  but  little  used,  and  has  never  been  found  in 
any  great  quantities. 

Sahagun  makes  the  following  statement  :  "  There  is  gold  in 
this  country,  which  is  found  in  mines.  There  are  also  silver, 
copper,  and  lead.  They  are  procured  in  different  places,  in  the 
ravines,  or  in  the  rivers.  Before  the  Spaniards  came  to  New 


432  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Spain,  no  one  cared  to  search  for  either  silver  or  lead.  The  na 
tives  sought  only  for  gold  in  the  rivers."8218 

Prescott  says  that  the  Mexicans  were  as  well  acquainted  with 
the  mineral  as  with  the  vegetable  treasures  of  their  kingdom. 
Silver,  lead,  and  tin  they  drew  from  the  mines  of  Taxco  ;  cop 
per  from  the  mountains  of  Zacatollan.2067 

Copper-mines  are  mentioned 631  at  Santa  Rita  del  Cobre,  in 
what  is  now  New  Mexico,  not  far  from  the  Mexican  boundary. 
The  copper  was  formerly  sent  to  the  city  of  Mexico  ;  but  it  is 
stated  that  "  there  is  no  longer  a  market  in  the  city  of  Mexico, 
as  other  mines  have  been  found  much  nearer."  Copper  was  for 
merly  exported  in  considerable  quantities  from  Sonora,  and  silver 
and  gold  are  among  the  exports  from  that  state.536 

As  to  their  markets  :  we  are  informed  that m8  a  very  large 
^/  square  was  set  apart  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  kingdom 
for  the  exhibition  and  sale  of  the  various  articles  of  merchandise 
brought  to  market.  Though  these  bazars  were  attended  every 
day,  yet  every  fifth  day  was  considered  the  principal  or  proper 
market-day,210  and,  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  various  mer 
chants  that  constantly  visited  these  marts,  the  adjacent  cities 
held  their  principal  market  on  such  days  as  would  not  interfere 
with  those  of  their  neighbours.  The  number  of  persons  col 
lected  together  at  such  times  in  the  city  of  Mexico  has  been  es 
timated  by  the  Spanish  conquerors  at  forty  or  fifty  thousand. 

They  made  their  purchases  and  sales  by  barter,  each  giv 
ing  that  of  which  he  had  an  excess  for  such  goods  as  he  might 
need.2352  Still,  regular  purchase  and  sale  were  not  uncom 
mon,  particularly  in  the  business  of  retailing  the  various  com 
modities  to  consumers.  Although  no  regular  coined  money 
was  used,  yet  several  more  or  less  convenient  substitutes  fur 
nished  a  medium  of  circulation.  Chief  among  these  were  nibs 
or  grains  of  the  cacao,  of  a  species  somewhat  different  from  that 
employed  in  making  the  favourite  drink,  chocolate.209 

XII. WHEN  THEY  MARRY,  IT  IS  THE  CUSTOM  FOR  THE  f  uture 

SON-IN-LAW  TO  GO  and  ERECT  A  HOUSE  (or  cabin)  OUTSIDE,  OF 

THE    DOOR    OF   THE   DWELLING    OF   THE  YOUNG   WOMAN  whom    he 

desires  to  marry.  MORNING  AND  EVENING  HE  SPRINKLES  AND 
SWEEPS  the  ground  FOR  A  YEAR,  AND  IF  THE  YOUNG  WOMAN  is 

NOT  PLEASED  with  him,  SHE  THEN  SENDS  HIM  AWAY  ;  BUT  IF  THEY 
ARE  MUTUALLY  PLEASED,  THEN  THEY  COMPLETE  THE  MARRIAGE. 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  433 

The  sprinkling  and  sweeping  of  the  ground  is  evidently  an 
act  of  homage,  the  dust  being  laid  and  the  stones  and  other  ob 
stacles  removed  as  a  preparation  of  the  road  upon  which  the 
bride  walks.  When  the  prince  Cacumatzin,  lord  of  Tezcuco, 
and  a  nephew  of  Montezuma,  came  to  visit  Cortez,  as  soon  as  he 
alighted  from  the  litter  in  which  he  was  borne,  some  of  his  serv 
ants  ran  before  him  to  sweep  the  ground  upon  which  he  was 
about  to  tread.2347  This  homage  rendered  to  their  chiefs  was 
also,  if  we  may  believe  Hwui  Shan,  shown  to  the  prospective  bride; 
and  this,  together  with  the  entire  freedom  of  choice  left  to  the 
young  woman,  shows  a  state  of  civilization  and  a  regard  for 
woman  very  different  from  anything  existing  in  China  or  other 
Asiatic  countries,  either  at  the  time  or  since.  This  custom  does 
not  appear  to  have  existed  among  the  Aztecs  at  the  time  of  the 
Spanish  conquest,  it  having  been  extirpated  by  causes  to  be  here 
after  considered  ;  but,  scattered  among  the  neighbouring  tribes, 
we  find,  even  among  those  which  are  usually  considered  the  most 
savage  and  degraded,  certain  usages  of  courtship  which  seem  to 
have  been  founded  upon  the  same  motives  and  feelings,  and  to 
be  the  survivals  of  substantially  the  same  custom,  as  that  men 
tioned  by  Hwui  Shan. 

Cremony  states  that 1148  the  Apache  girls  are  wholly  free  in 
their  choice  of  husbands.  Parents  never  attempt  to  impose 
suitors  upon  their  acceptance,  and  the  natural  coquetry  of  the 
sought-for  bride  is  allowed  full  scope  until  the  suitor  believes 
his  "game  made,"  when  he  proceeds  to  test  his  actual  stand 
ing.  In  the  night-time  he  stakes  his  horse  in  front  of  her 
roost,  house,  hovel,  encampment,  bivouac,  or  whatever  a  few 
slender  branches  with  their  cut  ends  in  the  ground  and  their 
tops  bound  together  may  be  termed.  The  lover  then  retires, 
and  awaits  the  issue.  Should  the  girl  favour  the  suitor,  his  horse 
is  taken  by  her,  fed,  and  secured  in  front  of  his  lodge  ;  but 
should  she  decline  the  proffered  honour,  she  will  pay  no  attention 
to  the  suffering  steed.  Four  days  comprise  the  term  allowed  her 
for  an  answer  in  the  manner  related.  A  ready  acceptance  is  apt 
to  be  criticised  with  some  severity,  while  a  tardy  one  is  regarded 
as  the  extreme  of  coquetry.  Scarcely  any  one  of  them  will  lead 
the  horse  to  water  before  the  second  day,  as  a  hasty  perform 
ance  of  that  act  would  indicate  an  unusual  desire  to  be  married  ; 
nor  will  any  suffer  the  fourth  day  to  arrive  without  furnishing 
28 


434:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  poor  animal  with  its  requisite  food  and  drink,  provided  they 
intend  to  accept  the  suitor,  for  such  a  course  would  render  them 
liable  to  the  charge  of  extreme  vanity. 

As  the  horse  has  been  introduced  among  the  Apaches  since 
the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  and  as  it  is  not  likely  that  the 
custom  above  referred  to  can  have  spontaneously  originated 
since  that  time,  we  are  'forced  to  the  inference  that  it  must  be  a 
changed  form  of  some  custom  which  formerly  existed  among 
them,  and  this  may  have  been  substantially  the  practice  men 
tioned  by  our  Asiatic  explorer.  It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that 
the  present  custom  of  the  Apaches,  instead  of  showing  a  willing 
ness  upon  the  part  of  the  young  man  to  wait  upon  and  care  for 
his  intended  wife,  requires  service  from  her.  Among  the  Coco- 
Maricopas,  however,  there  is  an  evident  desire  to  please  the 
young  woman.  Among  these  Indians,  when  a  man  desires  to 
marry,543  and  has  made  choice  of  a  girl  for  his  wife,  he  first  en 
deavours  to  win  over  her  parents  by  making  them  presents.  The 
fair  one's  attention  is  sought  by  another  process.  To  do  this,  he 
takes  his  flute,  an  instrument  of  cane  with  four  holes,  and,  seat 
ing  himself  beneath  a  bush  near  her  dwelling,  keeps  up  a  plaint 
ive  noise  for  hours  together.  This  music  is  continued  day  after 
day  ;  and,  if  no  notice  is  at  length  taken  of  him  by  the  girl,  he 
may  "hang  up  his  flute,"  as  it  is  tantamount  to  a  rejection.  If 
the  proposal  is  agreeable,  the  fair  one  makes  it  known  to  the 
suitor,  when  the  conquest  is  considered  complete. 

It  can  hardly  be  disputed  that  there  is  a  singular  coincidence 
between  this  custom  and  that  which  is  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan. 

In  Yucatan  it  was  the  custom  for  newly  married  pairs  to  live, 
during  the  first  few  years  after  their  marriage,1691  in  cabins  built 
in  front  of  the  house  of  their  father  or  father-in-law. 

Although  I  can  give  no  good  reason  for  it,  beyond  a  belief 
that  a  year  is  a  greater  length  of  time  than  such  a  courtship 
would  be  likely  to  have  been  continued,  I  can  not  refrain  from 
expressing  my  opinion  that  Hwui  Shan  meant  to  indicate  some 
other  length  of  time,  by  the  word  translated  "  year,"  than  the 
period  of  twelve  months,  although  this  is  certainly  the  only 
meaning  that  the  character  now  has.  The  "  week  "  of  five  days, 
referred  to  in  the  account  of  the  "  markets,"  would  be  a  much 
more  probable  length  of  time  for  the  young  woman  to  put  the 
patience  of  her  suitor  to  the  test. 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  435 

XIII. — WHEN  A  NOBLEMAN  HAS   COMMITTED  A  CRIME,  THE 

PEOPLE  OF  THE  COUNTRY  HOLD  A  GREAT  ASSEMBLAGE,  AND  SIT  in 

judgment  on  the  CULPRIT,  IN  AN  EXCAVATED  TUMULUS.     THEY 

FEAST    AND    DRINK    BEFORE    HIM   AND    BID    HIM    FAREWELL  when 

parting  from  him,  AS  if  TAKING  LEAVE  OF  A  DYING  man.     THEN 

THEY    SURROUND  HIM   WITH  ASHES  THERE. 

The  character  which  I  have  translated  "an  excavated  tumu 
lus  "  has  been  rendered  "  a  ditch,"  "  an  excavation,"  "  a  subterra 
neous  place,"  and  "a  hollow  or  pit." 

The  usual  character  for  a  ditch,  excavation,  or  hollow,  is  jtj, 
K'ANG  (composed  of  earth  and  the  phonetic  K'ANG)  ;  but  the  one 
used  in  this  case  is  |5J  (composed  of  a  mound  and  the  same  pho 
netic),  and  means  not  only  a  ditch,  excavation,  or  valley,  but 
also  a  tumulus.™  Hence  I  have  translated  it  as  above  stated. 
Of  all  the  characters  in  the  Chinese  language,  there  is  none  which 
gives  a  better  representation  of  the  singular  structure  referred  to 
in  the  following  quotations  : 

"  The  sweat-house,117  or,  as  the  Spaniards  call  it,  the  estufa, 
assumes  with  the  Pueblos  the  grandest  proportions.  Every  vil 
lage  has  from  one  to  six  of  these  singular  structures.  A  large 
semi-subterranean  room  is  at  once  bath-house,  town-house,  coun 
cil-chamber,  club-room,  and  church.  It  consists  of  a  large  exca 
vation,  the  roof  being  about  on  a  level  with  the  ground,  some 
times  a  little  above  it,  and  is  supported  by  heavy  timbers  or 
pillars  of  masonry.  Around  the  sides  are  benches,  and,  in  the 
center  of  the  floor,  a  square  stone  box  for  fire,  wherein  aromatic 
plants  are  kept  constantly  burning.  Entrance  is  made  by  means 
of  a  ladder,  through  a  hole  in  the  top,  placed  directly  over  the 
fire-place,  so  that  it  also  serves  as  a  ventilator,  and  affords  a  free 
passage  to  the  smoke.  Usually  they  are  circular  in  form,  and  of 
both  large  and  small  dimensions.  They  are  placed  either  within 
the  great  building,  or  under  ground  in  the  court  without.  In 
some  of  the  ruins  they  are  found  built  in  the  center  of  what  was 
once  a  pyramidal  pile,  and  four  stories  in  height.  At  Jemes  the 
estufa  is  of  one  story,  twenty-five  feet  wide  by  thirty  feet  high. 
The  ruins  of  Chettro  Kettle  contain  six  estufas,  each  two  or 
three  stories  in  height.  At  Bonito  are  estufas  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  feet  in  circumference,  built  in  alternate  layers 
of  thick  and  thin  stone  slabs.  In  these  subterranean  temples 
the  old  men  met  in  secret  council,  or  assembled  in  worship  of 


436  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

their  gods.     Here  are  held  dances  and  festivities,  social  inter 
course,  and  mourning  ceremonies." 

"Each  pueblo 397  contains  an  estufa,  which  is  used  both  as  a 
council-chamber  and  a  place  of  worship,  where  they  practice  such 
of  their  heathen  rites  as  still  exist  among  them.  It  is  built  partly 
under  ground,  and  is  considered  a  consecrated  and  holy  place. 
Here  they  hold  all  their  deliberations  upon  public  affairs,  and 
transact  the  necessary  business  of  the  village."  (Davis's  "El 
Gringo,"  p.  142.) 

"  In  the  west  end  of  the  town  (S.  Domingo)  is  an  estuffa,  or 
public  building,  in  which  the  people  hold  their  religious  and 
political  meetings.  The  structure — which  is  built  of  adobes,  is 
circular  in  plan,  about  nine  feet  in  elevation,  and  thirty-five  feet 
in  diameter,  and  with  no  doors  or  windows  laterally — has  a  small 
trap-door  in  the  terrace  or  flat  roof  by  which  admission  is 
gained."  (Simpson's  "  Jour.  Mil.  Recon.,"  p.  62.) 

Morgan  mentions  these  estufas  at  Taos,1948  Pintado,1983  Pen- 
asca  Blanca,1964  and  other  pueblos  ; 1946  and  they  are  also  referred  to 
by  Bancroft,398  Bell, 683  and  Wheeler,2481  and  in  fact  by  all  who 
have  written  about  the  natives  of  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and 
Northern  Mexico. 

The  "  great  assembly,"  or  council,  is  distinctively  American, 
and  among  nearly  all  the  American  tribes  it  was  the  custom  to 
settle  all  important  public  matters  at  such  meetings.  Morgan 
s~ays  (referring  particularly  to  the  Iroquois,  though  the  statement  is 
equally  true  of  most  other  American  tribes)  that  it 1935  is  a  singu 
lar  fact,  resulting  from  the  structure  of  Indian  institutions,  that 
nearly  every  transaction,  whether  social  or  political,  originated  or 
terminated  in  a  council.  This  universal  and  favourite  mode  of 
doing  business  became  interwoven  with  all  the  affairs  of  public  and 
private  life.  Immediately  on  the  commission  of  a  murder 1938  the 
affair  was  taken  up  by  the  tribes  to  which  the  parties  belonged. 
If  the  criminal  belonged  to  one  of  the  first  four  tribes,  and  the 
deceased  to  one  of  the  second  four,  these  tribes  assembled  in 
separate  councils,  to  inquire  into  all  the  facts  of  the  case.  Had 
it  chanced  that  both  parties  belonged  to  one  of  the  four  brother 
tribes,  a  council  of  this  division  alone  would  convene  to  attempt 
an  adjustment  among  themselves.  Bandelier  says  of  these  coun 
cils  among  the  Mexicans,  that 627  the  council  of  the  kin  exercised 
power  over  life  and  death. 


THE  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  437 

As  to  the  punishment  of  nobles,  the  following  quotation 
from  Sahagun 2m  is  pertinent  :  "  Drunkenness  was  punished  in 
two  ways.  If  a  great  lord,  or  a  man  of  distinction,  was  guilty 
of  this  crime,  he  was  hung  for  its  first  commission,  and  his  body 
was  finally  dragged  along  the  public  highway  and  thrown  into 
a  certain  river.  If  the  drunkard  was  of  a  lower  class,  he  was 
sold  into  slavery  for  his  first  fault ;  but,  if  it  occurred  a  second 
time,  he  was  hung.  In  regard  to  this  difference  in  the  punish 
ment,  the  king  said  that  he  who  was  the  most  elevated  in  rank 
merited  the  most  rigorous  treatment." 2m 

Solis  also  states  that 2355  capital  punishment  was  the  penalty 
for  any  failure  of  integrity  in  the  officers  of  the  law.  In  Darien  m 
a  constable  could  not  arrest  or  kill  a  noble ;  consequently,  if 
one  committed  a  crime  punishable  with  death,  the  chief  must  kill 
him  with  his  own  hand,  and  notice  was  given  to  all  the  people 
by  beating  the  large  war-drum,  so  that  they  should  assemble 
and  witness  the  execution.  The  chief,  then,  in  presence  of  the 
multitude,  recited  the  offense,  and  the  culprit  acknowledged  the 
justice  of  the  sentence.  This  duty  fulfilled,  the  chief  struck  the 
culprit  two  or  three  blows  on  the  head  with  a  macana  until  he 
fell,  and,  if  he  was  not  killed,  any  one  of  the  spectators  gave  him 
the  finishing-stroke. 

Cortez  gives  the  following  account  of  the  infliction  of  capital 
punishment  by  an  assemblage  of  the  people  :1098  "When  one  of 
the  natives  of  Tlascala  stole  some  gold  of  a  Spaniard,  .  .  .  they 
placed  him  at  the  base  of  a  structure  resembling  a  theatre,  which 
stands  in  the  midst  of  the  market-place,  while  the  crier  went  to 
the  top  of  the  building  and  with  a  loud  voice  proclaimed  his 
offense  ;  whereupon  the  people  beat  him  with  sticks  until  he 
was  dead  "  ;  and  the  Abbe"  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  says  that,660 
if  a  chief  of  the  Teo-Chichimecs  was  guilty  of  adultery,  he  was 
put  to  death  by  his  vassals. 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  custom  of  inflicting  the  death  pen 
alty  by  smothering  the  culprit  in  ashes  ever  existed  elsewhere, 
yet  this  singular  punishment  survived  in  Mexico  up  to  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  conquest.  Bancroft  states  that221  in  Tezcuco 
criminals  of  a  certain  class  were  "  bound  to  a  stake,  completely 
covered  with  ashes,  and  so  left  to  die."  Clavigero  mentions 
that1075  the  laws  published  by  the  celebrated  king  Nezahual- 
coyotl  provided  that  a  man  guilty  of  a  certain  heinous  crime 


438  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

should  be  "  suffocated  in  a  heap  of  ashes  "  ;  and  Sahagun  bears 
his  testimony  to  the  same  practice  in  the  following  words  : 911 
"  A  person  guilty  of  a  certain  grave  crime  was  (by  the  laws  of 
Nezahualcoyotly  one  of  the  worthiest  kings  of  Mexico),  after 
other  punishment,  finally  abandoned  to  the  boys  of  the  village, 
who  covered  him  with  ashes,  and  with  a  pile  of  wood,  to  which 
they  set  fire.  His  accomplice  was  also  buried  under  a  pile  of 
ashes,  and  there  died  of  suffocation." 

To  my  mind  the  singular  facts  mentioned  in  this  paragraph  ; 
the  custom  of  calling  councils  ;  the  practice  of  holding  them  in 
an  excavation  or  an  excavated  tumulus  ;  the  power  of  life  and 
death  lodged  in  such  a  council ;  the  custom  of  meting  out  a 
heavier  penalty  to  a  criminal  of  the  higher  classes  than  was 
visited  upon  one  of  lower  rank  ;  and  the  remarkable  method  of 
inflicting  capital  punishment  by  suffocation  in  ashes — are  suf 
ficient  to  prove  that  Hwui  ShSn  actually  visited  America,  if  no 
further  evidence  were  to  be  found  in  any  of  his  other  statements. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    NARRATOR    OF    THE    STORY. 

The  condition  of  China  at  the  time — The  reign  of  a  Buddhist  emperor — The  bhik- 
shus,  or  mendicant  priests — Their  duties — Rules  for  their  conduct — The  name 
Hwui  ShSn — Frequency  with  which  the  name  Hwui  occurs — Meaning  of  the 
characters — The  nationality  of  Hwui  ShSn — Cophene — Struggle  between 
Brahmanism  and  Buddhism — The  route  from  India  to  China — The  command 
that  at  least  three  should,  go  together  when  traveling — Persecution  in  China 
in  the  year  458 — The  journey  to  America  by  water — Ease  of  the  trip — Proba 
bility  that  Hwui  Shan  was  but  slightly  acquainted  with  the  Chinese  language 
— Yu  Kie's  criticism  of  Hwui  Sh&n's  statements — Causes  of  errors — Use  of 
the  term  "water-silver" — Accounts  given  by  first  explorers  seldom  free 
from  error — Absurdities  narrated  by  other  Chinese  travelers — Pliny — He 
rodotus — Marco  Polo — Maundevile — Caesar — The  unicorn — Elks  without  joints 
in  their  legs — The  Icelandic  account  of  Vinland — Difficulties  in  the  account 
— The  Unipeds — The  Zeno  brothers — Ignorance  of  geography  in  the  fifteenth 
century — Marvelous  tales  of  early  explorers — Allowances  to  be  made — Hwui 
ShSn  entitled  to  equal  charity. 

BEFORE  entering  upon  an  examination  of  other  statements  re 
garding  the  land  of  Fu-sang,  it  will  be  best  to  consider  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  account  was  first  given,  and  learn 
what  we  can  of  the  original  narrator,  The  Chinese  text  has 
the  following  upon  the  subject : 

XIV. — IN  THE  FIRST  YEAR  of  the  reign  of  the  TS'I  dynasty, 
known  by  the  designation  YUNG-YUEN  (or  "  Everlasting  Founda 
tion,"  L  e.,  in  the  year,  499  A.  D.),  a  SHAMAN  (or  Buddhist  priest), 
named  HWUI  SHAN,  CAME  TO  KING-CHEU  FROM  THAT  COUNTRY, 
and  TOLD  the  following  STORY  REGARDING  the  COUNTRY  OF  FU- 
SANG  (or  FTJ-SANG-KWOH).  ...  IN  THE  SECOND  YEAR  of  the 
reign  of  the  SUNG  dynasty,  in  the  period  called  TA-MING  (or 
"  Great  Brightness,"  i.  e.,  in  the  year  458  A.  D.),  FIVE  MEN,  who 
were  PI-K'IU  (i.  e.,  bhikshus,  or  mendicant  Buddhist  monks), 

Who    WERE    FORMERLY    from    the  COUNTRY    OF    KI-PIN    (i.  6.,  Co- 

phene),  WENT  by  a  VOYAGE  to  THAT  COUNTRY. 


440  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  Marquis  d'Hervey  has,  in  the  notes  contained  in  the  thir 
teenth  chapter  of  this  work,  given  a  full  and  vivid  description 
Xpf  the  unhappy  condition  in  which  Hwui  Shan  found  China, 
when  he  reached  it  from  Fu-sang.  He  was  obliged  to  remain  in 
the  country  some  two  or  three  years,  until,  as  the  result  of  the 
civil  war  then  raging,  the  old  dynasty  of  the  Tsci  was  overthrown, 
and  the  LIANG  dynasty  was  established  in  its  place,  its  first  em 
peror  being  known  as  WU-TI.  This  monarch  became  so  great  a 
devotee  of  Buddhism952  that  he  retired  to  a  monastery,  like 
Charles  V,  but,  having  been  persuaded  to  resume  his  crown, 
he  thenceforth  employed  his  time  in  teaching  the  doctrines  of 
this  religion  to  his  assembled  courtiers.2511 

Prior  to  his  time,  Buddhism  had  been  discarded  by  the  Chi 
nese,  but  in  his  reign  it  again  revived.1033  Ma  Twan-lin  mentions 
a  Hindoo  who,  about  A.  D.  502,  translated  into  Chinese  some 
Buddhist  Shastras  of  the  Great  Development  school.1257  In  506 
a  Buddhist  priest,  named  Sanga  Pala,  introduced  into  China  the 
first  alphabet  for  writing  Sanskrit  words,2560  and  the  reign  of 
this  emperor  was  particularly  distinguished  by  the  arrival  in 
China,  from  India,  of  TA-MO  (Bodhi-dharma),  the  twenty-eighth 
of  the  patriarchs  of  the  Buddhist  religion,  and  by  the  extraor 
dinary  prosperity  of  this  faith  under  the  imperial  favour.1266 

We  are  not  informed  as  to  the  circumstances  under  which  he 
became  converted  to  Buddhism  ;  but  it  seems  not  impossible 
that  the  story  of  Hwui  Shan's  adventures  in  its  behalf  may  have 
had  a  share  in  attracting  his  attention  to  the  subject. 

The  Chinese  term  PI-K'IU  is  a  transcription  of  the  Sanskrit 
word  bhikshu,  "  mendicant," im  which  was  applied  to  those  monks 
who  professed  to  obtain  their  sustenance  by  alms,1348  begging  above 
to  sustain  their  intellectual  life,  and  toslow  to  support  their  visi 
ble  body. 

Those  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  this  kind  of  life  have 
to  practice  twelve  kinds  of  observances,  named  T'EU-T'O,  from  a 
Sanskrit  word  which  signifies  to  shake  one's  self,  because  these 
disturbances  help  to  clean  away  the  dust  and  the  foulness  of 
vice.138'  The  mendicant  should  shun  all  causes  of  disturbance  ; 
eschew  vain  ornaments  ;  destroy  in  the  heart  the  germs  of  cu 
pidity  ;  avoid  pride ;  and,  in  purifying  his  life,  search  for  supreme 
reason,  rectitude,  and  truth.  The  twelve  observances  which  are 
recommended  to  them  with  this  view  have  reference  to  the  four 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY. 

actions  or  manners  of  being,  named  WEI-YI  ("  gravity,"  or  "  that 
which  should  be  done  gravely  "),  namely,  to  walk,  to  stand,  to 
sit,  and  to  lie  down.  The  following  is  extracted  from  a  book 
specially  treating  upon  the  twelve  observances,  and  entitled  SHI- 
EUL-T'EU-T'O  KING  : 

1.  The  mendicant  should  dwell  in  a  place  which  is  A-LAN-JO 
(dranyaka),  that  is  to  say,  a  tranquil  place,  a  place  of  repose. 
This  is  the  means  of  avoiding  disturbance  of  spirit,  of  escaping 
the  dust  of  desire,  of  destroying  forever  all  the  causes  of  revolt, 
and  of  obtaining  supreme  reason,  etc. 

2.  It  is  requisite  that  he  always  beg  his  subsistence  (in  Pali, 
pindapdtika))  in  order  to  extinguish  cupidity.     The  mendicant 
should  accept  no  man's  invitation.     He  should  beg  the  nourish 
ment  necessary  for  the  support  of  his  material  body  and  the  ac 
complishment  of  his  moral  duties.     He  ought  to  recognize  no 
difference  in  the  food  obtained,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  ;  nor 
to  feel  resentment  if  it  be  refused  him  :  but  always  to  cultivate 
the  equanimity  of  a  perfect  spirit. 

3.  In  begging  he  should  take  his  rank  (in  Pali,  vdthdpantari) 
without  being  attracted  by  savoury  meats  ;  without  disdain  for 
any  one,  and  without  selection  between  rich  and  poor  :  with  pa 
tience  should  he  take  his  rank. 

4.  The  mendicant  who  occupies  himself  with  good  works 
should  thus  reflect :  "  It  is  much  to  obtain  one  meal ;  it  is  too 
much  to  make  an  early  repast  (breakfast),  and  a   second  (after 
midday).     If  I  do  not  retrench  one  of  these,  I  shall  lose  the 
merit  of  half  a  day,  and  my  spirit  will  not  be  entirely  devoted 
to  reason."   He  therefore  avoids  multiplicity  of  meals,  and  adopts 
the  custom  of  making  one  (eka ',  pdniko). 

5.  The  food  which  the  mendicant  obtains  shall  be  divided 
into  three  portions  :  one  portion  shall  be  given  to  any  person 
whom  he  shall  see  suffering  from  hunger ;  the  second  he  shall 
convey  to  a  desert  and  quiet  spot,  and  there  place  it  beneath  a 
stone  for  the  birds  and  the  beasts.     If  the  mendicant  fall  in  with 
no  person  in  want,  he  must  not  on  that  account  himself  eat  all 
the  food  he  has  received,  but  two  thirds  only.     By  this  means 
his  body  will  be  lighter  and  better  disposed,  his  digestion  quicker 
and  less  labourious.     He  can  then  without  inconvenience  apply 
himself  to  good  works.     When  one  eats  with  avidity,  the  bowels 
and  the  stomach  enlarge,  and  the  respiration  is  impeded  ;  noth- 


442  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ing  is  more  injurious  to  the  progress  of  reason.     This  fifth  ob 
servance  is  called,  in  Sanskrit,  khalupaswaddhaktinka. 

6.  The  juice  of  fruits,  honey,  and  other  things  of  the  same 
kind  ought  never  to  be  taken  by  the  mendicant  after  midday. 
If  he  drink  of  these,  his  heart  abandons  itself  to  desire,  and  be 
comes  disgusted  with  the  practice  of  virtue. 

7.  The  mendicant  ought  not  to  desire  ornaments;  let  him 
seek  no  sumptuous  dresses,  but  take  the  tattered  raiments  that 
others  have  rejected,  wash  and  clean  them,  and  make  of  them 
patched  garments,  only  for  protection  from  cold,  and  to  cover  his 
nakedness.     New  and  handsome  vestures  give  rise  to  the  desire 
of  rebirth  ;  they  disturb  the  reasoning,  and  they  may,  moreover, 
attract  robbers. 

8.  Tra'ichivariTca,  or  only  three  dresses.     These  words  import 
that  the  mendicant  should  content  himself  with  the  KIA-SHA,  of 
nine,  of  seven,  or  of  five  pieces.    He  has  few  desires,  and  is  easily 
satisfied.     He  desires  neither  to  have  too  much  nor  too  little  rai 
ment.     He  equally  eschews  men  dressed  in  white,  who  have 
numerous  dresses,  and  those  heretics  who,  from  a  spirit  of  morti- 
•fication,  go  entirely  naked,  in  defiance  of  all  modesty  ;  each  ex 
treme  is  contrary  to  reason.    The  three  vestments  hold  the  proper 
medium.    Moreover,  the  word  KIA-SHA  signifies  "of  divers  col 
ours,"  because  of  the  pieces  which  form  the  vestment  of  the  first, 
second,  and  third  order. 

9.  Smdsdnika,  or  the  dwelling  amid  tombs,  obtains  for  the 
mendicant  just  ideas  of  the  three  things  which  form  the  prime 
gate  of  the  law  of  Fo  :   instability,  or  the  brief  duration  of 
bodies  which,  composed  of  five  elements,  return  to  their  originals 
and  are  destroyed  ;  pain,  which  oppresses  the  body  from  the  mo 
ment  of  birth  till  that  of  death  ;  and  vacuity,  since  the  body  is 
borrowed,  formed  by  the  reunion  of  the  four  elements,  and  sub 
ject  to  destruction.     This  is,  in  fact,  the  observation  made  upon 
this  subject  by  Sakya  Muni  himself,  who  opened  by  it  the  road 
to  supreme  wisdom.     By  dwelling  among  tombs,  the  mendicant 
beholds  the  exhibition  of  death  and  of  funerals.     The  stench  and 
the  corruption,  the  impurities  of  every  description,  the  funeral 
pyres,  the  birds  of  prey,  awaken  in  him  the  thought  of  instability, 
and  hasten  his  progress  in  goodness. 

10.  Vrikshamulika,  or  being  seated  under  a  tree.     The  men 
dicant,  who  hath  not  attained  wisdom  amid  the  tombs,  should  go 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY.  443 

and  meditate  beneath  a  tree  ;  there  let  him  seek  for  wisdom,  as 
did  Buddha,  who  accomplished  under  a  tree  the  principal  events 
of  his  life ;  who  was  there  born,  who  there  completed  the  doc 
trine,  there  turned  the  wheel  of  the  law,  and  finally  there  at 
tained  his  parinirvdna.  This  is  an  effect  of  destiny.  We  learn 
besides  that  other  Buddhas  similarly  placed  themselves  ;  and  the 
tree  is  so  connected  with  these  supreme  operations  that  the  word 
bohdi  equally  means  the  tree  and  the  doctrine. 

11.  To  sit  on  the  ground,  dbhyavaJcdshiJca,  is  an  additional 
advantage  for  the  mendicant.     Seated  beneath  a  tree  so  as  to  be 
half  covered  by  its  shade,  he  enjoys  the  cool  air.     It  is  true 
he  is  exposed  to  rain  and  moisture,  that  the  droppings  of  birds 
soil  him,  and  that  he  is  exposed  to  the  bite  of  venomous  beasts  ; 
but  he  also  abandons  himself  to  meditation  ;  seated  on  the  earth, 
his  spirit  is  recreated  ;  the  moon,  in  shining  on  him,  seems  to 
illumine  his  spirit ;  and  he  thus  gains  the  power  of  more  easily 
entering  the  ecstatic  state. 

12.  Naishadhika,  to  be  seated,  not  recumbent.     The  sitting 
posture  is  that  best  becoming  a  mendicant ;  his  digestion  and  his 
respiration  are  more  easy,  and  he  thus  more  readily  attains  wis 
dom.     Vices  invade  those  who  abandon  themselves  to  idleness, 
and  surprise  them  at  disadvantage.     Walking  and  standing  set 
the  heart  in  motion,  and  the  mind  is  at  rest.     The  mendicant 
should  take  his  rest  seated  and  should  not  allow  his  loins  to 
touch  the  ground. 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  foregoing  extract,  from  a  work  con 
secrated  to  the  habits  of  Buddhist  mendicants,  will  supply  the 
reader  with  more  correct  ideas  of  the  sect  than  the  repetition  of 
what  travelers  have  said  upon  the  subject.  The  observances  in 
culcated  in  the  eighth  paragraph  may  be  noted  as  directly  op 
posed  to  the  manners  of  the  digambaras,  or  gymnosophists  of 
India.1338 

As  to  the  name  Hwui  Shan  :  it  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  the 
practice  of  Chinese  Buddhists,  on  entering  a  religious  career, 
to  lay  aside  their  family  name,  and,  in  token  of  renewed  life,  adopt 
another  of  moral  or  religious  signification  ; 1328  and  no  other  sur 
name  seems  to  have  been  so  commonly  adopted  in  such  cases  as 
that  of  HWTJI  (or,  as  it  is  spelled  by  the  French  authorities  who 
have  discussed  the  subject,  HOEI),  meaning  "  intelligent,  wise, 
mild." 


444  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

In  the  account  of  the  travels  of  the  Buddhist  monk  Fa  Hian, 
we  find  among  the  names  of  the  priests  who  accompanied  him, 
or  whom  he  met,  those  of  Hoei  King,  Hoei  Ying,  Hoei  Wei,1826 
Hoei  Kian,1327  and  Hoei  Tha.1332  We  find  the  same  surname  also  in 
the  case  of  Hwui-sheng,  a  priest  who,  in  the  year  518,  accom 
panied  Sung-ytin,  who  was  sent  to  India  for  Buddhist  books 
by  the  prince  of  the  Wei  country.1257 

The  name  SHAN  (or,  as  it  is  spelled  by  other  authorities — and 
even  by  Professor  Williams  himself,  elsewhere  than  in  his  dic 
tionary — SHIN)  means  "deep,  profound,  learned."  The  Chinese 
call  the  Pacific  Ocean  the  "  Shin  "  sea,  i.  e.,  the  "  Deep  "  sea.2333 
According  to  Hepburn,1473  the  Japanese  use  the  character  with  the 
meaning  "  to  grow  old,  to  grow  late  "  ;  and  it  therefore  probably 
once  had  that  signification  in  Chinese. 

An  interesting  question  now  arises  as  to  the  nationality  of 
Hwui  Shan.  The  text  says  that  he  was  from  "  that  country," 
meaning  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  for  the  Chinese  character  :£, 
KCI,  here  translated  "  that,"  is  equivalent  in  this  connection  to 
the  Latin  "ille."2400 

From  the  nature  of  the  substantive  verb  ^,  YIU,  which 
expresses  his  connection  with  Fu-sang,  it  may  possibly  be  in 
ferred,  however,  that  he  was  not  a  native  of  the  country,  but 
merely  a  traveler  who  had  visited  it  and  returned  from  it. 

Summers  says  of  the  Chinese  substantive  verbs  that  there 
are  several2402  which  vary  according  to  the  nature  of  the  case 
in  which  they  are  used  and  the  connection  of  the  subject  with 
the  predicate  in  a  sentence.  The  logical  copula  "is"  is  ex 
pressed  by  the  verb  shi.  It  denotes  either  that  the  predicate 
is,  or  that  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be,  an  attribute  of  the 
subject  by  nature.  .  .  .  The  verb  wei,  "  to  do,  to  exist,  to  be 
come,"  is  also  used  as  a  substantive  verb,  but  only  when  the 
notion  of  becoming  something  by  mere  conventional  arrange 
ment  is  implied,  not,  as  is  the  case  with  shi,  when  the  relation 
between  the  subject  arid  predicate  is  a  natural  consequence.  In 
"fire  is  hot"  use  shi;  in  "the  Yellow  River  is  the  boundary" 
use  wei.  Also,  especially  before  designations  in  the  predicate, 
"he  is  (wei)  a  slave."  .  .  .  When  the  substantive  verb  im 
plies  location,  the  verb  tsai,  "  to  exist,  or  consist  in,"  is  used  ; 
and  when  the  possession  of  some  attribute,  the  verb  yiu,  "  to 
have":  e.  g.,  in  "he  is  here"  use  tsai,  in  "this  is  polite"  use 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY.  445 

yiu.  .  .  .  The  verb  yiu  means  to  have  some  quality  as  an  ac 
quired  possession  or  as  an  accident,  "  to  happen  to  be."  He 
says,  again,2420  the  substantive  verbs  are  variously  used,  accord 
ing  to  the  logical  relation  of  the  subject  and  predicate  in  the 
sentence.  Thus  ski,  "  to  be,"  means  "  is  "  where  the  simple  copula 
alone  is  required,  the  predicate  being  natural  to  the  subject. 
Yiu,  "  to  have,"  means  "  is  "  when  the  notion  of  the  property 
having  been  acquired  is  intended,  as  in  "  he  is  rich." 

His  explanation  of  the  different  shades  of  meaning  inherent 
in  these  verbs,  is  repeated  241°  in  several  places.2411 

According  to  these  reiterated  statements  as  to  the  power  of 
the  various  substantive  verbs,  it  would  appear  that  Hwui  Shan's 
connection  with  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  which  is  expressed  by  the 
verb  YIU,  was  an  acquired,  or  accidental  connection,  and  not  one 
to  which  he  was  born.  I  must  confess,  however,  that  my  confi 
dence  in  this  conclusion  is  somewhat  shaken  by  the  fact  that 
this  same  verb  YIU  is  used  to  indicate  the  connection  of  the  five 
Buddhist  priests  with  Cophene  ;  and  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt 
that  in  their  case  it  is  meant  that  they  were  natives  of  that  land. 

The  different  authorities  do  not  agree  as  to  the  exact  location 
of  Cophene,  although  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  its  having  lain 
northerly  from  India.  One  of  the  notes  to  the  Pilgrimage  of 
Fa  Hian  says  that 1333  Cophene  is  the  country  watered  by  the 
Cophes.  Rennell  supposed  the  affluent  of  the  Indus,  so  named 
by  the  ancients,  to  be  identical  with  the  Cowmull ;  Saint  Croix 
believes  it  rather  to  be  the  Merhamhir.  The  syllable  "  Cow  "  is 
probably  a  remnant  of  the  ancient  appellation.  JKi-pin,  which 
Chinese  authors  confound  with  Cashmere,  and  which  de  Guignes 
has  taken  for  Samarcand,  supposing  the  latter  to  be  identical 
with  Kaptchak,  corresponds  with  the  country  of  Ghizneh  and 
Candahar.  It  is  celebrated  in  Chinese  geography,  and  appears 
to  have  been  a  flourishing  seat  of  Buddhism. 

A  second  note  by  another  commentator  says,  however,1334  that 
the  Cophene  of  the  ancients  is  not,  as  Rennell  and  the  French 
editors  suppose,  the  Gomal  (not  Cowmull),  an  inconsiderable 
mountain-stream,  dry  all  the  year  except  at  the  season  of  the 
periodical  rains.  The  Cabul  River  is  the  only  one  that  corre 
sponds  with  the  accounts  given  of  the  Cophene  by  the  historians 
of  Alexander,  particularly  Arrian,  who  describes  it  as  falling 
into  the  Indus,  in  the  country  of  Peukelaotis,  and  carrying  along 


446  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

with  it  the  tributary  waters  of  the  Malantus,  Suastus,  and  Gara- 
cus.  ("Indica"  iv,  11.)  M.  Pauthier  says  that  the  country  of 
Cophene  is  Cabul,2022  and  that  the  Chinese  have  given  it  succes 
sively2021  the  names  of  Ka-she-mi-lo  (Cashmere),  Tsao,  I£o- 
shi-mie,  and  Sa-ma-eul-kan  (Samarcand).  Edkins  says  in  one 
place  that  it  is  the  same  as  the  modern  Cabul,1249  and  in  another 
that  it  is  stated  to  be  Candahar  ; 1253  and  F.  Porter  Smith  says 
that 2324  it  is  a  part  of  Afghanistan,  whose  capital  is  said  to  be 
12,200  li  from  the  Chinese  city  of  Si-ngan-fu,  and  that  in  some 
Chinese  works  Ki-pin  is  said  to  be  Samarcand. 

The  priests  of  Cophene  were  noted  for  their  zeal,  and  priests 
from  that  country  were  the  most  diligent  of  any  in  translating 
their  scriptures  in  China.564 

In  the  fifth  century  a  struggle  in  India  between  Brahmanism 
and  Buddhism  ended  in  the  overthrow  of  the  latter  in  the  land 
of  its  birth,1364  and  its  devotees  sought  in  distant  lands  a  refuge 
from  the  intolerance  of  their  persecutors.  The  extensive  inter 
course  that  then  began  to  exist  between  China  and  India  may 
be  gathered  from  the  fact 1254  that  even  Ceylon  sent  an  embassy 
and  a  letter  to  the  Chinese  emperor  Sung  Wen-ti.  The  journey 
is  one  of  almost  incredible  difficulty  and  peril  ;  the  route  pass 
ing  through  deserts  and  across  a  number  of  the  highest  mountain 
ranges  of  the  world,  through  passes  far  above  the  limits  of 
perpetual  snow  and  along  frightful  precipices.  Notwithstand 
ing  these  perils,  however,  and  the  fact  that  hostile  and  savage 
tribes  infest  many  portions  of  the  country  through  which  the 
road  passes,  still,  more  or  less  communication  has  been  kept  up 
between  the  two  countries  since  that  time.  The  Arabic  ac- 
count  of  voyages  made  to  China  in  the  ninth  century  states 
that 2143  some  of  those  who  made  the  journey  mentioned  having 
seen  in  China  a  man,  who  bore  a  leathern  packet  of  musk  upon 
his  back,  who  had  come  from  Samarcand,  having  traveled  the 
distance  on  foot. 

The  fact  that  there  were  five  priests  in  the  party  which  went 
to  Fu-sang  was  in  accordance  with  a  rule  of  their  religion  which 
required  that  in  going  to  a  distance  at  least  three  should  be  in 
company,1265  and  it  was,  therefore,  the  common  practice  for  Bud 
dhist  priests,  in  the  performance  of  their  pilgrimages  from  town 
to  town,  and  from  temple  to  temple,  from  India  to  China,  and 
from  China  to  India,  to  associate  themselves  in  companies.1329 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY.  447 

Although  it  may  be  a  mere  coincidence,  it  seems  worthy  of 
notice  that,  in  the  year  458,  the  year  in  which  this  party  went 
to  Fu-sang,  a  conspiracy  was  detected  in  China  in  which  a  chief 
party  was  a  Buddhist  priest.  An  edict  issued  on  the  occasion 
by  the  emperor  says  that  among  the  priests,  "  Many  are  men  who 
have  fled  from  justice  and  taken  the  monastic  vows  for  safety. 
They  take  advantage  of  their  assumed  character  to  contrive  new 
modes  of  doing  mischief.  The  fresh  troubles  thus  constantly 
occurring  excite  the  indignation  of  gods  and  men."  "  The  con 
stituted  authorities,"  it  is  added,  "  must  examine  narrowly  into 
the  conduct  of  the  monks.  Those  who  are  guilty  must  be  put  to 
death."  1255  It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  examination  then  com 
menced  amounted  to  a  severe  religious  persecution,  and  this  may 
have  caused  some  party  of  priests  from  Cophene,  who  had  already 
settled  in  China,  or  who,  more  probably,  reached  China  from  Co 
phene  at  this  time,  to  travel  on  beyond  this  land  of  persecution, 
and  so  finally  to  reach  America. 

The  Chinese  character  $£,  YIU,  translated  "  by  a  voyage," 
contains  the  radical  "  water,"  and  therefore  means  properly  "  to 
travel  by  water — to  float,  swim,  or  drift,"  although  it  has  come 
to  have  the  secondary  meaning  of  traveling,  roving  about.  It 
seems  most  likely,  however,  that  fourteen  centuries  ago  it  would 
have  been  used  in  its  original  meaning,  and  this  character,  to 
gether  with  the  statement  that  Japan,  the  country  of  "Marked 
Bodies,"  and  the  Great  Han  Country  were  on  the  route  to  Fu- 
sang,  indicates  that  the  party  went  by  boat,  along  the  coast,  by 
way  of  the  Kurile  and  Aleutian  Islands,  and  thence  down  the 
American  coast. 

The  voyage  in  an  open  row-boat  or  canoe  is  not  only  prac 
ticable,  but  its  difficulties  and  perils  are  hardly  to  be  compared 
with  those  of  the  overland  journey  from  India  to  China.  The 
ease  of  the  trip  from  Asia,  along  the  Kurile  and  Aleutian  Islands, 
to  Alaska,  and  the  fact  that  the  natives  constantly  pass  back  and 
forth  between  the  two  continents  in  the  slightest  of  boats,  scarcely 
ever  being  out  of  sight  of  land  while  making  the  trip,  have  been 
mentioned  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  work.  The  remainder  of 
the  voyage,  along  the  American  coast,  is  even  easier.  The  excur 
sion  from  Oregon  to  Alaska  can  scarcely  be  termed  an  ocean  trip. 
Out  of  a  total  distance  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  there 
are  hardly  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of  open  sea  voyage. 


448  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  remainder  of  the  journey,  on  account  of  the  remarkable 
formation  of  the  coast,  is  through  a  continuous  archipelago, 
serving  as  a  breastwork  against  the  storms  and  billows,  and  af 
fording  quiet  passageways  through  deep,  narrow  channels  and 
reaches,  skirted  on  either  side  with  well-wooded  banks,  high, 
rocky  shores,  and  towering  islands.2385 

The  text  does  not  say  explicitly  that  Hwui  Shan  was  one  of 
the  five  monks  who  made  this  voyage  together,  but  this  was  most 
probably  the  case.  If  so,  he  must  have  been  a  young  man  when  he 
started  (and  hence  can  have  spent  but  little  time,  if  any,  in  China), 
and  quite  an  elderly  man  when  he  reached  China,  on  his  way  back 
home,  forty-one  years  later.  When  he  gave  his  account  to  the 
representative  of  the  Chinese  emperor,  he  had  probably  been  in 
China  not  more  than  some  two  or  three  years.  It  seems  a 
reasonable  supposition  that,  in  this  length  of  time,  he  could  not 
have  learned  to  speak  and  write  Chinese  perfectly,  and  hence  his 
story  was  probably  told,  as  best  he  could  tell  it ;  in  disjointed 
and  ungrammatical  phrases  ;  by  the  use  of  such  Chinese  written 
characters  as  he  had  become  acquainted  with  ;  by  signs  and  rude 
drawings,  to  eke  out  his  meaning  when  he  was  ignorant  of  the 
proper  word  to  use.  Yu  Kie,  the  officer  who  took  down  his  story, 
probably  held  long  colloquies  with  him  ;  many  questions  may 
have  been  asked  on  one  side  and  explanations  attempted  on 
the  other,  which  were  not  fully  understood.  It  is  evident,  from 
the  story  narrated  by  Yu  Kie,  and  given  in  the  thirteenth  chap 
ter  of  this  work,  that  Hwui  Shan  told  him  much  which  he  either 
realized  that  he  did  not  comprehend  or  else  which  he  did  not 
fully  credit. 

The  story  of  the  land  of  Fu-sang,  as  we  have  it  in  Ma 
Twan-lin's  text,  is  therefore  the  result  of  Yu  Kie's  criticism  of 
Hwui  Shan's  statements.  In  many  places  it  may  contain  the 
account  of  the  latter  just  as  hjB  gave  it,  in  imperfect  Chinese, 
and  by  the  use  of  characters  which  did  not  exactly  express 
his  real  meaning,  if  construed  strictly  in  accordance  with  the 
grammatical  rules  of  the  Chinese  language.  In  other  cases  Yu 
Kie  probably  wrote  down  the  substance  of  the  understanding  that 
he  had  reached  on  the  particular  point  in  question,  after  hold 
ing  a  long  colloquy  on  the  subject  with  Hwui  Shan.  If  this 
theory  is  true,  Yu  Kie  arrived  at  quite  a  complete  comprehension 
of  Hwui  Shan's  statements,  and  showed  much  discretion  and 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY.  449 

judgment  in  the  digest  of  his  story,  which  he  entered  in  the  coun 
try's  annals  ;  and  yet  there  is  just  such  an  amount  of  confusion 
and  disconnection  in  the  account  as  would  be  the  natural  result 
of  a  conversation  between  two  men  of  different  nationalities, 
who  were  able  to  understand  each  other  but  imperfectly  ;  while 
it  is  noticeable  that  the  various  points,  as  to  which  the  story  is 
not  strictly  true  of  America,  are  points  in  which  the  truth  is,  as 
it  were,  travestied. 

The  account  was  written  down  nearly  a  hundred  years  before 
printing  was  invented  in  China,1637  and  the  liability  of  errors  in 
copying  manuscript  is  very  great.  The  numerous  variations  in 
the  several  texts  show  that  the  original  account  has  been  more 
or  less  corrupted.  When  allowance  is  made  for  these  corrup 
tions  and  for  misunderstandings  of  the  text,  it  is  not  surprising 
that,  as  to  some  of  the  details,  the  glimpse  which  w7e  get  of  the 
far  off  land  of  Fu-sang  is  such  as  would  be  obtained  of  a  distant 
landscape  through  a  window  of  old  and  imperfect  glass — glass 
streaked  and  faulty  when  first  placed  in  position,  and  now  dimmed 
and  cracked  by  unnumbered  etorms,  and  obscured  by  the  dust  of 
centuries.  There  is  imperfection  and  distortion  in  the  view,  and 
yet  it  is  evident  that  we  are  looking  at  a  real  landscape,  the  handi 
work  of  nature,  and  not  at  a  mere  human  invention. 

To  the  causes  above  mentioned  should  be  attributed  the  use 
of  the  term  "  water-silver  "  for  ice  ;  the  connection  of  the  ac 
counts  of  the  f  u-sang  tree  and  of  the  red  pears,  in  such  a  way 
that  the  latter  may  be  supposed  to  be  the  fruit  of  the  former, 
and  the  statement  that  koumiss  was  made  from  "  milk,"  without 
any  explanation  of  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  milk.  Yu  Kie 
seems  to  have  understood  that  the  milk  was  that  of  the  does  to 
which  Hwui  Shan  had  referred  in  his  statement  that  the  people 
of  Fu-sang  raised  deer  as  cattle  were  raised  in  China  ;  and  yet 
there  seems  to  have  been  some  attempt  on  the  part  of  Hwui  Shan 
to  set  him  right,  for  he  reverts  to  the  vegetation,  and  immediately 
makes  a  statement — otherwise  disconnected — regarding  the  red 
pears. 

There  are  other  instances  of  misunderstandings  ;  of  statements 
which  seem  to  be  connected  with  others  near  which  they  stand, 
and  which  are  untrue  in  that  connection,  and  yet  true  if  they  are 
allowed  to  stand  by  themselves  ;  but  upon  the  whole  Yu  Kie 
showed  such  good  judgment  ia  what  he  accepted  and  rejected, 
29 


450  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

that  the  official  account  as  given  us  by  Ma  Twan-lin  is  as  good 
a  description  of  a  newly  discovered  land  as  any  that  we  have  ; 
for  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  tales  which  are  told  by 
first  explorers  are  seldom  free  from  mistakes,  even  though  the 
discoverer  of  the  formerly  unknown  region  be  a  man  of  intelli 
gence,  who  strives  to  tell  the  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth. 
Possibly  some  errors  may  have  arisen  from  misunderstandings 
by  Hwui  Shan  himself.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  he  alone 
among  explorers  would  fail  to  narrate  some  tales  on  hearsay, 
to  give  in  some  cases  his  erroneous  inferences  instead  of  the 
facts  upon  which  his  inferences  were  founded,  or  to  exaggerate 
or  misunderstand  some  strange  phenomenon  that  he  had  seen. 

Fa  Hian  is  not  denounced  as  a  "  lying  Buddhist  priest "  be 
cause  modern  travelers  fail  to  find  the  "  venomous  dragons," 
mentioned  by  him,  "  which  dart  their  poison  if  they  happen  to 
miss  their  prey."  1336  Other  Chinese  mediaeval  travelers  refer  to 
two-headed  snakes,786  describe  the  ostrich  as  feeding  upon  fire,788 
mention  "  dragon-horses  with  scales  and  horns," 789  and  eagles 
which  lay  eggs  from  which  dogs  are  hatched  out ;  79°  and  yet  there 
is  no  question  that  they  actually  visited  the  countries  which  they 
attempt  to  describe.  Some  of  these  travelers  heard  of  the  cot 
ton-plant  :  this  bears  "  wool,"  and  hence  may  be  considered  as  a 
vegetable-sheep.1834  From  this  simple  fact  the  following  marvel 
ous  tale  gradually  grew  in  neighbouring  lands,  and  was  gravely 
narrated  by  the  travelers  :  "The  *  sheep  planted  on  hillocks'  are 
produced  in  the  western  countries.  The  people  take  the  navel 
of  a  sheep,  plant  it  in  the  ground  and  water  it.  When  it  hears 
thunder  it  grows,  the  navel  retaining  a  connection  with  the 
ground." 791 

Is  the  whole  story  of  the  traveler  who  gives  an  account  of 
this  nature  to  be  rejected  because  of  his  credulity  ?  Not  at  all. 
The  critic  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  separate  the  true  from 
the  false,  and  to  extract  from  the  false  the  kernel  of  truth  which 
lies  concealed  in  it,  will  learn  much  which  would  never  be  other 
wise  discovered. 

Pliny  tells  many  a  marvelous  tale,  and  yet  mixes  many  valu 
able  facts  with  his  accounts.  Herodotus  was  for  centuries  de 
nounced  as  the  "  father  of  liars  "  by  critics  who  were"  too  igno 
rant  or  too  indolent  to  find  the  truth  in  his  history.  When  he 
.told  of  a  land  in  which  the  air  was  filled  with  feathers,1038  he 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY. 

himself  detected  the  fact  that  this  was  merely  a  figurative  de 
scription  of  snow  ;  but  when  he  mentioned  a  land  in  which  it 
was  said  that  men  were  found  who  slept  six  months  at  a  time, 
1537  he  could  not  credit  the  tale,  although  it  is  now  evident  that 
the  Arctic  region,  with  its  long  night  of  nearly  six  months'  dura 
tion,  was  the  land  which  was  described.  The  value  of  his  his 
tory  is  but  little  lessened  by  the  tales  which  he  repeats  of  mon 
sters  with  dogs  '  heads,1540  of  winged  serpents,1538  and  of  ants 
larger  than  foxes.1535 

It  is  well  known  that  for  a  long  period  after  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  an  account  of  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo, 
of  Venice,  first  made  its  appearance  and  was  circulated,  in  manu 
script,  the  information  it  gave  of  countries  till  that  time  unheard 
of,  and  of  manners  incompatible  with  every  idea  that  had  been 
entertained  of  the  barbarians  of  Tartary,  was  treated  with  levity 
or  ridicule  by  the  generality  of  his  countrymen,  and  read  with 
suspicion  by  the  best-instructed  persons  in  every  part  of  Europe  ; 
88  and  yet  the  general  truth  of  his  account  is  now  recognized  by 
all  scholars,  notwithstanding  his  description  of  the  rukh,  or  roc,  of 
the  Arabian  Nights,  a  bird  so  large  and  strong  as  to  seize  an  ele 
phant  with  its  talons  and  to  lift  it  into  the  air  ;1819  of  oxen 180T  as 
large  as  elephants  ;1795  of  men  with  tails,1811  and  of  dogs  the  size  of 
asses.1805 

Sir  John  Maundevile  repeats  Pliny's  accounts  of  the  land  in 
habited  by  people  having  but  one  foot,1828  of  the  Cynoccephali, 
129  of  the  one-eyed  people,1838  of  the  Androgynes,  and  others,  and 
also  repeats  other  wild  stories  that  he  has  heard,  such  as  those  re 
garding  two-headed  geese,  and  hens  without  feathers,  but  having 
wool,  etc.  ;  and  yet  Maundevile  repeated  his  marvels  in  good 
faith,  and  added  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  Asia 
during  the  middle  centuries. 

Caesar's  accounts  of  his  military  expeditions  are  not  discred 
ited  because  he  indulges  in  a  few  wonderful  tales,  such  as  the 
following  : 

"  There  is  an  ox  of  the  form  of  a  deer,  from  the  middle  of  the 
forehead  of  which,  between  the  ears,  there  rises  a  single  horn 
higher  and  straighter  than  the  horns  of  any  of  the  animals  known 
to  us,  and,  from  its  summit,  palm-like  branches  are  widely  spread 
out.  The  appearance  of  the  male  and  female  is  the  same,  and 
the  form  and  size  of  their  horns  are  similar." 918 


452  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"There  are  also  animals  that  are  called  * alces'  (elks),  of 
which  the  figure  and  the  varied  skins  resemble  those  of  the  deer, 
but  their  size  is  somewhat  greater  ;  they  shed  their  horns,  and 
their  legs  are  without  joints  or  articulations.  They  do  not  lie 
down  to  rest,  and,  if  they  fall  down,  or  are  thrown  down  by 
any  accident,  they  are  not  able  to  rise.  The  trees  serve  them 
for  beds  ;  they  lean  against  them,  and  thus,  slightly  reclining, 
they  take  their  rest.  When  the  hunters  discover  from  their 
tracks  the  places  to  which  they  are  accustomed  to  resort,  they 
either  undermine  all  the  trees  at  the  roots,  or  they  cut  into  them 
so  far  that  the  upper  part  has  only  the  appearance  of  standing 
firmly,  and,  when  the  animals  lean  against  them,  according  to 
their  habit,  the  weakened  trees  are  overthrown  by  their  weight, 
and  they  fall  to  the  ground  together." 919 

Any  one  who  has  seen  deer,  antelope,  or  elks,  cantering  along 
at  a  little  distance,  will  easily  discover  the  grain  of  fact  upon 
which  this  ridiculous  story  is  based.  These  animals  leap  so 
nimbly  that  the  slight  fraction  of  a  second  during  which  their 
legs  are  bent  is  too  short  to  enable  the  eye  to  detect  the  motion, 
and  the  animals  appear  to  be  bounding  along  stiff-legged,  as  if 
they  were  thrown  forward  by  springs.  One  seeing  them  leaping 
along  in  this  style  would  imagine  that  "  their  legs  are  without 
joints  or  articulations."  Csesar  evidently  reached  this  conclu 
sion  ;  but  then  came  the  question,  How,  then,  could  they  lie  down 
to  sleep,  or  rise  again,  being  down,  without  levers  to  lift  them 
up?  Imagine  imperial  Caesar  asking  this  question  of  some  griz 
zly,  bare-limbed  Gaul,  and  unsuspectingly  writing  down  the  out 
rageous  reply  of  the  fun-loving  barbarian,  who  dared  to  gravely 
jest  with  the  conqueror  of  the  world  ! 

The  accounts  of  the  discovery  of  "  Vinland  "  by  the  North 
men  or  Icelanders,  about  the  year  1000  A.  D.,  are  now  generally 
believed,  and,  undoubtedly,  with  good  reason  ;  and  yet  there  are 
many  difficulties  in  the  stories  that  have  never  been  explained 
away.  They  speak  of  finding  "  wheat," 2132  but  do  not  describe  it 
as  being  remarkable  in  any  way  ; 2133  and  they  make  no  mention 
of  maize,  unless  it  is  considered  as  thus  referred  to.  They  say 
that  no  snow  fell  during  the  winter,*134  and  that  cattle  found 
their  food  throughout  the  winter  in  the  open  field,  thus  describ 
ing  the  winters  as  very  different  from  those  which  now  occur 
in  this  country.  They  describe  Rhode  Island  or  Massachusetts 


THE  NARRATOR  OF  THE  STORY.  453 

as  being  inhabited,  not  by  Indians,2135  but  by  Esquimaux,2131 
and  this  at  a  time  when  the  Esquimaux  had  not  reached  Green 
land.2105  Four  names  are  given  213T  which  seem  never  to  have 
been  identified  with  any  American  language.  They  state  that 
the  "  Skrellings  "  had  a  sort  of  war-sling.  They  elevated  on  a 
pole  a  tremendously  large  ball,  almost  the  size  of  a  sheep's  stom 
ach,  and  of  a  bluish  colour  ;  this  they  swung  from  the  pole  upon 
land  and  over  Karlsefne's  people,  and  it  descended  with  a  fearful 
crash,  striking  terror  into  the  Northmen  as  they  fled  along  the 
river.2136  Schoolcraf t,  to  be  sure,  states  that,1110  many  generations 
ago,  the  natives  used  to  sew  up  a  round  bowlder  in  the  skin  of 
an  animal,  and  hang  it  upon  a  pole  which  was  borne  by  several 
warriors,  and  which,  when  brought  down  suddenly  upon  a  group 
of  men,  produced  consternation  and  death  ;  but  there  is  strong 
reason  for  believing  that  the  Northmen's  account  was  his  only 
authority  for  the  statement,  as  it  is  certain  that  nothing  of  the 
kind  is  mentioned  by  any  other  writer. 

Finally,  we  come  to  the  following  description  of  a  nation  of 
one-legged  men  :  11U 

"  It  chanced  one  morning  that  Karlsefne  and  his  people  saw 
opposite,  in  an  open  place  in  the  woods,  a  speck  which  glittered 
in  their  sight,  and  they  called  out  toward  it,  and  it  was  a  Uni- 
ped  (Einfoetingr,  from  em,  one,  and  fotr,  foot),  which  there 
upon  hurried  down  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  they  lay. 
Thorvald  Ericson  stood  at  the  helm,  and  the  Uniped  shot  an 
arrow  into  his  bowels.  Thorvald  drew  out  the  arrow,  and  said  : 
'  It  has  killed  me  !  To  a  rich  land  we  have  come,  but  hardly  shall 
we  enjoy  any  benefit  from  it.'  Thorvald  soon  after  died  of  his 
wound.  Upon  this  the  Uniped  ran  away  to  the  northward  ; 
Karlsefne  and  his  people  went  after  him,  and  saw  him  now  and 
then,  and,  the  last  time  they  saw  him,  he  ran  out  into  a  bay. 
Then  they  turned  back,  and  a  man  sang  these  verses  : 

'  The  people  chased 
A  Uniped 

Down  to  the  beach. 
Behold  he  ran 
Straight  over  the  sea — 
Hear  thou,  Thorfinn ! ' 

They  drew  off  to  the  northward,  and  saw  the  country  of  the 
Unipeds." 


4:54:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  in  Charlevoix,1114  we  find  an  account 
of  Unipeds.  (See  Shea's  edition,  vol.  i,  p.  124.)  Nevertheless, 
their  mention  by  the  Northmen  would  seem  to  require  some  ex 
planation.  Whether  this  is  forthcoming  or  not,  the  account  con 
tains  so  much  that  is  true,  and  which  could  not,  by  any  possi 
bility,  have  been  guessed  by  one  who  had  not  visited  America, 
that  the  story  must  be  the  record  of  a  visit  to  this  continent. 

Major  says  of  the  voyages  of  the  Venetian  brothers  Nicolo 
and  Antonio  Zeno  : 1778 

"  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  one  of  the  leading  causes  of 
the  .  .  .  puzzle  having  remained  unsolved  till  now  has  been  the 
tendency  to  cope  with  outlying  difficulties  instead  of  first  directing 
attention  to  the  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  document.  .  .  . 
Indeed,  the  authenticity  of  the  document  is  so  preponderating  an 
element  in  the  case,  that,  when  once  it  is  well  established,  the 
minor  objections  might  be  fairly  left  to  shake  themselves  into 
their  places  as  best  they  could." 

This  remark  is  equally  true  of  the  travels  of  the  Northmen, 
and  it  may  be  justly  claimed  to  apply  with  equal  force  to  the 
journey  of  Hwui  Shan. 

At  the  time  that  America  was  discovered  by  Columbus,  Europe 
lay  in  a  singular  state  of  ignorance,  even  as  to  the  countries  that 
might  have  been  reached  by  a  land  journey,  or  by  an  easy  coast 
ing  voyage.  Asia  and  Africa  were  almost  as  unknown  regions  as 
America.  The  edition  of  Zachariah  Lily's  "  Orbis  Breviarum," 
published  in  1493,  gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  little  that  was  taught 
on  the  subject.  No  modern  travelers  were  considered  worthy 
of  notice,  and  all  the  accounts  were  based  upon  the  statements 
of  the  classical  authors.  Among  the  countries  described  are  the 
lands  of  the  Amazons,  of  the  Androgynae,1751  of  the  Centaurs,175* 
of  the  Gorgons,1753  and  of  the  Satyrs,1757  while  Paradise  1755  and 
Inferno 1754  are  not  forgotten. 

As  to  the  early  explorers  and  historians  of  America,  Acosta,2 
Charlevoix,949  Sharp,486  Wafer,2461  and  others,487  all  insist  that  the 
peccary  has  its  navel  on  its  back.  Herrera  ("  Hist.  Gen.,"  dec.  2f 
lib.  10,  chap,  xxi)  says  that  the  humming-birds,  when  the  rainy 
season  is  over  and  the  dry  weather  sets  in,  fasten  themselves  to 
the  trees  by  their  beaks  and  soon  die  ;  but  in  the  following 
year,  when  the  new  rains  come,  they  come  to  life  again.2075 

Purchas  mentions  winged  serpents  2109  and  tribes  of  Indians 


THE  BARRATOR   OF  THE   STORY.  455 

who  lived  to  be  more  than  three  hundred  years  of  age.2103  Her 
nandez,  in  his  exceedingly  valuable  description  of  the  plants  and 
animals  of  Mexico,  gives  plates  of  the  flying  dragon  15-4  and  of 
the  two-headed  serpent ; 1&23  and  Pigaf  etta,2033  Yon  Nord,1232  O viedo, 
Argensola,  Hawkins,  de  Weert,2C04  and  others,  all  united  in  the 
statement  that  Patagonia  was  inhabited  by  giants,  and  only  dif 
fered  as  to  whether  their  average  height  was  eight  or  ten  feet. 

In  all  these  cases  allowances  are  charitably  made  for  natural 
causes  of  error.  Should  less  allowance  be  made  in  the  case  of 
Hwui  Shan,  who  not  only  had  that  liability  to  mistake  which  is 
common  to  all  human  beings,  but  who,  in  addition,  laboured  under 
the  disadvantage  of  telling  his  story  in  a  language  with  which  he 
was  but  slightly  acquainted,  and  of  having  the  text  of  his  narra 
tion  more  or  less  corrupted  in  its  transmission  to  us  ?  Should  not 
allowance  be  also  made  for  our  own  ignorance  of  the  countries 
which  he  describes,  and  for  the  changes  which  must  there,  as 
elsewhere  throughout  the  world,  have  taken  place  during  the 
last  fourteen  centuries  ? 

These  questions  are  asked  because  it  appears  to  have  been 
taken  for  granted  that  if  a  single  point  could  be  found  in  his 
story  which  seemed  to  be  untrue  of  America,  then  his  whole  ac 
count  should  be  rejected.  When  the  theory  has  been  presented, 
however,  that  his  journey  was  to  some  portion  of  Japan,  then  it 
has  not  been  thought  necessary  to  prove  that  his  account  was 
true  of  that  country  in  more  than  one  particular  ;  and  the  one 
particular  which  has,  as  a  rule,  been  insisted  upon,  is  the  ex 
tremely  probable  theory,  that,  when  he  said  east,  he  meant 
south,  and,  when  he  said  twenty  thousand  li,  he  meant  two  or 
three  thousand. 

Is  this  fair  treatment  of  his  story  ?  Is  it  not  to  be  expected 
that  some  difficulties  will  be  found  ?  If  it  is  shown  that  so  many 
of  his  statements  are  true,  that  it  is  inconceivable  that  they  can 
be  the  result  of  anything  else  than  an  actual  visit  to  the  country, 
can  we  not  afford  to  temporarily  accept,  as  to  a  few  doubtful 
points,  explanations  which,  if  they  stood  by  themselves,  might 
seem  improbable ;  and  wait  for  time  and  further  investigation 
to  bring  about  their  complete  elucidation  ? 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    ASIATIC    CIVILIZATION. 

The  former  ignorance  of  the  people — The  introduction  of  Buddhism — The  changes 
of  a  thousand  years — The  two  places  of  confinement — Meaning  of  the  char 
acter  FAH — Two  species  of  prisons — One  for  those  sentenced  to  death — The 
other  for  minor  criminals — The  Mexican  Hades — The  future  abode  of  the  Az 
tec  hero — The  sojourn  but  temporary — The  dark  and  dismal  "  Place  of  the 
Dead,"  in  the  north — Confinement  here  eternal — The  slave  children — Treat 
ment  of  illegitimate  children  and  of  orphans— Age  at  which  children  were 
taken  to  the  temple — Boys  at  seven  years  of  age — Girls  at  eight — Chinese 
custom  of  calling  children  a  year  older  than  they  would  be  considered  by  us — 
The  punishment  of  the  family  of  a  criminal — Mourning  customs — Fasts — Fu 
nerals — Images  of  the  deceased — Reverence  of  these  images  and  offerings  to 
them — The  custom  in  China — The  absence  of  mourning-garments — The  king 
not  fully  crowned  until  some  time  after  his  accession  to  the  throne. 

ONE  of  the  assertions  that  is  made  indicates  that  the  account 
that  is  given  is,  as  to  some  of  its  details,  rather  a  description  of 
the  customs  existing  as  the  result  of  the  teachings  of  the  Bud 
dhist  priests,  some  forty  years  after  they  first  entered  the  coun 
try,  than  an  attempt  to  picture  the  condition  of  the  people  at 
the  time  that  the  party  discovered  the  land.  This  is  the  follow 
ing  statement  : 

XV. — FORMERLY  THEY  WERE  IGNORANT  (uncultured  or  un 
civilized),  and  KNEW  NOTHING  OF  BUDDHA'S  RULES  (or  religion)  ; 
.  .  .  but  the  five  mendicant  priests  who  came  to  the  country 
.  .  .  MADE  BUDDHA'S  RULES  AND  HIS  RELIGIOUS  BOOKS  AND 
IMAGES  KNOWN  AMONG  THEM,  TAUGHT  THE  COMMAND  TO  FOR 
SAKE  THE  FAMILY  (for  the  purpose  of  entering  a  monastery), 

AND   FINALLY  REFORMED  THE    RUDENESS    OF   THEIR   MANNERS. 

It  is,  therefore,  to  be  presumed  that  the  account  of  the  coun 
try  will  be  coloured  with  statements  as  to  Asiatic  customs,  beliefs, 
and  arts  introduced  by  these  missionaries,  and  existing  at  the 
time  of  Hwui  Shan's  story,  but  which  have  since  died  out. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     457 

Sahagun,  in  his  day,  remarked  with  reason  that,  in  spite  of 
fifty  years  of  continual  preaching  to  the  Mexicans,  and  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  of  the  numerous  priests  working  for  their  conversion, 
and  the  Christian  establishments  raised  upon  the  ruins  of  their 
temples,  less  than  fifty  years  more  would  suffice  to  make  them  lose 
all  remembrance  of  Christianity,  if  they  were  left  to  themselves. 7" 

"We  may,  therefore,  expect  that  some  of  the  effects  of  the 
teachings  of  the  Buddhist  missionaries  would  be  found  to  be 
only  temporary  in  their  nature  ;  and  the  real  occasion  for  sur 
prise  is  that,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  so  much  of  the  results 
of  their  efforts  survived  the  storms  of  over  a  thousand  years, 
rather  than  that  some  few  of  the  customs  and  beliefs  then 
founded  should  have  perished. 

XVI. — According  to  their  RULES  (of  government  or  of  re 
ligion)  they  HAVE  A  SOUTHERN  AND  A  NORTHERN  PLACE  OF  CON 
FINEMENT.  AN  OFFENDER  WHO  HAS  TRANSGRESSED  BUT  SLIGHTLY 
ENTERS  THE  SOUTHERN  PLACE  OF  CONFINEMENT,  BUT  IF  HE 
HAS  SINNED  HEAVILY  HE  ENTERS  THE  NORTHERN  PLACE  OF  CON 
FINEMENT.  IF  THERE  IS  PARDON  FOR  HIM,  THEN  HE  IS  SENT 

AWAY  TO  (or,  possibly,  from)  THE  SOUTHERN  PLACE  OF  CON 
FINEMENT,  BUT  IF  HE  CAN  NOT  BE  PARDONED,  THEN  HE  IS  SENT 
AWAY  T"O  THE  NORTHERN  ONE.  THOSE  MEN  AND  WOMEN  DWELL 
ING  IN  THE  NORTHERN  PLACE  OF  CONFINEMENT,  WHEN  THEY 

MATE   (or  have  mated),  and  BEAR  (or  have  borne)  CHILDREN, 

THE  BOYS  ARE  MADE  SLAVES  AT  THE  AGE  OF  EIGHT  YEARS, 
AND  THE  GIRLS  AT  THE  AGE  OF  NINE  YEARS.  THE  CRIMINAL 

(or  the  criminal's  body)   is  NOT  ALLOWED  TO   GO  OUT   UP   TO 

(or  at)  THE    TIME    OF    HIS    DEATH. 

The  character  FAH,  ^J,  which  I  have  translated  "rules,"  and 
as  to  which  I  am  not  certain  whether  the  reference  is  to  rules  of 
government  or  to  a  religious  belief,  or  to  both,  has  heretofore 
been  rendered  "laws."  This  is  the  natural  translation  if  the 
character  meaning  "  country,"  which  immediately  precedes  it,  is 
construed  in  connection  with  it ;  for,  while  FAH,  by  itself,  or  in 
other  connections,  usually  means  "religious  canons,"  the  com 
pound,  "a  country's  FAH,"  usually  means  "a  country's  laws," 
rather  than  a  country's  religion.  Still,  it  is  not  certain  that  the 
words,  "in  that  country"  (see  characters  Nos.  103  and  104, 
Chapter  XVI),  are  not  the  concluding  clause  of  the  preceding 
paragraph,  rather  than  the  beginning  of  a  new  sentence. 


458  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

This  character  FAH  (often  spelled  FA)  is  used  by  the  Bud 
dhists  as  a  technical  term  for  the  translation  of  the  Sanskrit 
word  "Dharma,"  signifying — 1st,  morality  or  virtue  ;  2d,  the  law 
or  the  moral  code  ;  and,  3d,  the  material  effects  or  the  phe 
nomenal  world.853 

The  "Three  Precious  Ones"  are  Buddha,  the  personal 
teacher ;  Dharma,  the  Law  or  body  of  doctrine  ;  and  Sangha, 
the  Priesthood.1274 

There  are  three  treasures,  i.  e.,  Buddha,  the  Law,  and  the 
Church.566  This  word  Dharma  has  various  meanings,  but  is 
usually  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  "truth."  It  is  not  un- 
f requently  translated  "  the  law  "  ;  but  this  interpretation  gives 
an  idea  contrary  to  the  entire  genius  of  Buddhism.  The  Dharma 
is  therefore,  emphatically,  "  the  truth."  1439 

In  the  Pali  canon  there  is  a  remarkable  book  called  Dham- 
ma-pada,  which  was  evidently  of  great  authority  in  the  Buddhist 
church.  The  Chinese  translation  of  this  is  called  the  FA-KHEU 
KING,  the  character  FA  being  used  as  the  translation  of  the  Pali 
word  Dhamma  (the  Sanskrit  Dharma). ml 

Beal  translates  FA  by  the  phrase  "system  of  religion,"  in 
the  sentence,  "Venerable  sir,  what  system  of  religion  (FA) 
has  engaged  your  mind  during  your  contemplation  to 
night?"565 

Edkins  translates  the  phrase  FA-SHEN  "  the  embodiment  of 
the  (religious)  law,"  125°  and  C'HU-KIA  FA  (see  characters  Nos.  451 
and  452,  Chapter  XVI),  "the  monastic  principle."  1245  Other  in 
stances  of  the  use  of  this  character  in  a  religious  sense  are  in  the 
compounds  "  Buddha's  FAH,"  for  the  rites  and  ordinances  of  Bud 
dhism  ;1472  "to  develop  FAH,"  meaning  to  disseminate  or  propa 
gate  religious  doctrine  ; 1474  "  FAH  conversation,"  for  preaching  a 
discourse  on  religious  subjects  ; 1476 "  FAH  clothing,"  for  a  garment 
worn  by  Buddhist  priests  ; 1477  "  FAH  assembly,"  for  an  assembly 
of  Buddhist  priests  ; 1478  and  "  FAH  body,"  meaning  shaven-headed, 
like  a  Buddhist  priest.1479 

This  technical  use  of  the  character  by  the  Buddhists  seems  to 
make  it  probable  that  Hwui  Shan,  a  Buddhist  priest,  would  em 
ploy  the  word  in  this  religious  sense  ;  particularly  as  he  might 
have  used  some  other  character,  if  it  had  been  his  intention  to 
speak  of  the  laws  of  the  government. 

On  investigating  the  history  of  the  Aztec  empire,  however, 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     459 

we  find  that  the  statement  is  substantially  true,  no  matter 
whether  FAH  is  understood  to  refer  to  law  or  to  religion. 

They  had  two  species  of  prisons  :  one  similar  to  ours,  which 
was  called  Teilpilojan,  for  debtors  who  refused  to  pay  their 
debts,  and  for  those  who  had  not  merited  the  punishment  of 
death  ;  and  the  other,  smaller,  which  was  called  Quauh  calli, 
made  like  a  cage,  for  the  prisoners  who  were  to  be  sacrificed, 
and  for  those  who  were  guilty  of  capital  crimes.1076  The  Abbe 
Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  71°  and  Mr.  Bancroft 8n  follow  Clavigero 
in  this  statement. 

There  is  no  indication  as  to  whether  it  was  the  custom  to 
build  the  prison  for  those  condemned  to  death  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  town,  and  the  other  place  of  confinement  in  the  south 
ern  part,  unless  such  an  indication  is  given  in  the  fact  that,  in 
the  only  case  in  which  the  location  of  this  prison  for  condemned 
criminals  is  mentioned,  the  one  for  the  city  of  Mexico  is  said  to 
have  been  situated  "  over  a  mile  north  west-by-north  of  the  cen 
tral  plaza  of  Mexico."  («  Hist.  Verdad.,"  pp.  70-71.) 461 

If  FAH  is  understood  to  refer  to  religious  belief,  however, 
then  the  "prisons,"  or  "places  of  confinement,"  must  be  the 
supposed  abodes  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  The  usual  term  for 
"  Hades,"  148°  or  the  place  in  which  the  Buddhists  suppose  the  spirits 
of  the  wicked  to  be  punished,  is  TI-YUH,  or  "  earth's  prison." 1267 
The  Roman  Catholics  designate  purgatory  by  the  phrase  LIEN 
YUH,  "fire-separating  prison."2679  The  characters  TI-YUH,  or 
"earth's  prison,"  which  are  usually  applied  to  "Hades,"  are 
sometimes  also  used 1044  to  designate  a  jail.963 

The  future  abode  of  the  Mexicans  had  three  divisions,1064  to 
which  the  dead  were  admitted  according  to  their  rank  in  life 
and  manner  of  death.350  .  .  .  The  Aztec  hero  was  borne  in  the 
arms  of  Teoyaomiqui  herself,  the  consort  of  Huitzilopochtli,  to 
the  bright  plains  of  the  Sun-house,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
heavens,  where  shady  groves,  trees  loaded  with  luscious  fruit,  and 
flowers  steeped  in  honey,  vied  with  the  attractions  of  vast  hunt 
ing-parks,  to  make  his  time  pass  happily.  Here  also  awaited  him 
the  presents  sent  by  affectionate  friends  below.  Every  morn 
ing,  when  the  sun  set  out  upon  his  journey,  these  bright,  strong 
warriors  seized  their  weapons  and  marched  before  him,  shout 
ing  and  fighting  sham  battles.  This  continued  until  they  reached 
the  zenith,  where  the  sun  was  transferred  to  the  charge  of  the 


460  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Celestial  Women,  after  which  the  warriors  dispersed  to  the  chase 
or  the  shady  grove. 

The  members  of  the  new  escort  were  women  who  had  died 
in  war  or  child-bed,  and  lived  in  the  western  part  of  the  Sun- 
house.  Dressed,  like  the  warriors,  in  martial  accoutrement,  they 
conducted  the  sun  to  his  home,  some  carrying  the  litter  of 
quetzal  feathers  in  which  he  reclined,  while  others  went  in  front, 
shouting  and  fighting  gayly.  Arrived  at  the  extreme  west, 
they  transferred  the  sun  to  the  dead  of  Mictlan,  and  went  in 
quest  of  their  spindles,  shuttles,  baskets,  and  other  implements 
necessary  for  weaving  or  household  work.  The  only  other  per 
sons  who  are  mentioned  as  being  admitted  to  the  Sun-house,  were 
merchants  who  died  on  their  journey.  After  four  years  of  this 
life,  the  souls  of  the  warriors  pass  into  birds  of  beautiful  plum 
age,  which  live  on  the  honey  of  flowers  growing  in  the  celestial 
gardens,  or  seek  their  sustenance  on  earth. 

The  second  place  of  bliss  was  Tlalocan,*  the  abode  of 
Tlaloc,  a  terrestrial  paradise,  the  source  of  the  rivers,  and  all 
the  nourishment  of  the  earth,  where  joy  reigns  and  sorrow  is 
unknown,  where  every  imaginable  product  of  the  field  and  gar 
den  grows  in  profusion  beneath  a  perpetual  summer  sky.  .  .  . 
To  this  place  went  those  who  had  been  killed  by  lightning,  the 
drowned,  those  suffering  from  itch,  gout,  tumors,  dropsy,  leprosy, 
and  other  incurable  diseases.  Children,  also,  at  least  those  who 
were  sacrificed  to  the  Tlalocs,  played  about  in  its  gardens,  and 
once  a  year  they  descended  among  the  living,  in  an  invisible 
form,  to  join  in  their  festivities.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether 
this  paradise  was  perpetual ;  for,  according  to  some  authors,  the 
deceased  stayed  here  but  a  short  time,  and  then  passed  on  to 
Mictlan  ;  while  the  children,  balked  of  their  life  by  death  or 
sacrifice,  were  allowed  to  essay  it  again. 

The  third  destination  of  the  dead,  provided  for  those  who 
died  of  ordinary  diseases  or  old  age,  and,  accordingly,  for  the 
great  majority,  was  Mictlan,  "  the  Place  of  the  Dead,"  which  is 
described  as  a  vast  pathless  place,  a  land  of  darkness  and  desola 
tion,  where  the  dead,  after  their  time  of  probation,  are  sunk  in  a 
sleep  that  knows  no  waking.  In  addressing  the  corpse,  they 
spoke  of  this  place  of  Mictlan  as  "  a  most  obscure  land,  where 

*  Tlalocan  is  the  name  given  by  some  old  writers  to  the  country  between  Chi 
apas  and  Oajaca.701 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC   CIVILIZATION.     4G1 

light  cometh  not,  and  whence  none  can  ever  return."  .  .  .  The 
indications  are  that  Mictlan  was  situated  in  the  antipodean  re 
gions,  or  rather  in  the  center  of  the  earth,  to  which  the  term 
"  Dark  and  Pathless  Region  "  also  applies.  This  is  the  supposi 
tion  of  Clavigero,1066  who  bases  it  on  the  fact  ihatTlalzicco,  the 
name  of  Mictlantecutli's  temple,  signifies  "center  or  bowels  of 
the  earth."  But  Sahagun  and  others  place  it  in  the  north,  and 
support  this  assertion  by  showing  that  Mictlampa  signifies 
""  north."  The  fact  that  the  people  turned  the  face  to  the  north 
when  calling  upon  the  dead,  is  strongly  in  favour  of  this  theory. 

McCulloh  1MI  and  others  give  a  similar  account  of  the  religious 
belief  of  the  Aztecs. 

It  is  evident  that  these  three  abodes  of  the  dead  are  re 
ducible  to  only  two,  which  are  radically  distinct  from  each 
other :  a  land  of  bliss,  situated  in  the  region  in  which  the  sun  is 
placed — a  country  of  "perpetual  summer"  (and,  therefore,  nec 
essarily  in  the  south),  which  could  be  left  by  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  after  a  time  ;  and  a  dark  and  gloomy  region,  "a  place  of 
punishment," 853  from  which  there  was  no  escape. 

The  Central  Americans  say  that  the  future  life  is  divided  into 
good  and  bad.  The  first  is  for  the  good.  They  represent  it  as 
a  life  of  delights,  where  they  enjoy  all  the  comforts  of  peace  and 
of  abundant  supplies,  all  the  pleasures  of  the  body,  eating  and 
drinking,  without  pain  or  fatigue,  under  the  perfumed  shade  of 
a  delicious  tree,  where  they  repose,  sheltered  from  all  the  suffer 
ings  of  the  world.  The  second,  on  the  contrary,  is  represented 
as  a  place  situated  below  the  other,  where  they  suffer  all  the  tor 
ments  of  frost,  of  hunger,  and  of  sorrow,  without  any  species  of 
consolation.645 

That  the  "  Hades  "  of  the  Mexicans  was  located  in  the  north 
is  proved  by  the  following  quotations  : 

"  Mictlan,  the  Mexican  Hades,  a  place  of  the  dead,  signifies, 
either  primarily  or  by  an  acquired  meaning,  northward  or  toward 
the  north."329 

"  Mictlampa — to  Hades —  to  the  north.  Mictlampa  ehecatl, 
the  north  wind." 874 

"  Mictlampa-ehecatl,  the  north  wind,  is  said  to  come  from 
hell."361 

"  The  second  wind  blows  from  the  north,  where  the  natives 
believe  the  infernal  regions  to  be  placed," ?201 


462  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

"  The  realm  of  Mictla,  the  Aztec  god  of  death,  lay  where  the 
shadows  pointed."805 

"  It  is  believed  that  the  dead  go  to  the  north.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that,  among  their  superstitious  practices  regarding 
the  dead,  after  they  have  enveloped  them  in  their  wrappings, 
the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  seated  with  their  faces  toward  Mict- 
lampa,  or  the  north." 2202 

"In  cases  of  interment  [of  the  Mexican  kings],  the  de 
ceased  was  deposited  in  the  grave  seated  on  a  throne,  in  full 
array,  facing  the  north,  with  his  property  and  his  victims  around 
him."  26° 

The  assertion  of  Hwui  Shan  as  to  the  existence  of  two 
places  of  confinement,  one  in  the  north  and  the  other  in  the  south, 
is  therefore  fully  confirmed. 

There  is  a  difficulty  in  explaining  the  statement  as  to  the  chil 
dren  that  are  made  slaves,  and  in  my  opinion  it  may  be  found  that 
its  source  lies  in  the  character  P'EI,  JJ(i,  which  I  have  translated 
"mate."  The  word  means  "to  compare,  to  place  together, 
to  pair,  to  match,1475  to  couple  with,  to  unite,"  1874  and  hence 
frequently  refers  to  marriage,  although  it  is  not  the  character 
which  is  generally  used  for  this  purpose.  There  are  some 
traces,  however,  of  an  earlier  and  different  meaning.  Thus  the 
Japanese  use  the  character  not  only  with  the  signification  above 
stated,  but  also  with  the  meaning  "  to  exile,  to  transport  a  crimi 
nal,"  and,  when  it  is  followed  by  a  character  meaning  "  a  place," 
the  compound  signifies  "a  place  of  banishment  (for  nobles)."1475 
Prof essor  Williams  also  gives  the  phrase  gji  J|L  ^  ^  as  meaning, 
"let  him  enjoy  perpetual  felicity  in  Hades."2454  Here  the  last 
three  characters  mean  "to  enjoy  a  thousand  seasons,"  and  the 
reference  to  Hades  must  therefore  be  expressed  by  the  first 
character. 

It  therefore  seems  possible  that  the  character  may  refer  either 
to  a  temporary,  illegal  connection — in  which  case  the  children 
referred  to  are  illegitimate  children — or  else  to  the  banishment 
or  sending  away  (to  an  earthly  prison,  or  to  Hades)  of  the  par 
ents  ;  and  in  the  latter  case  the  children  would  be  orphans.  In 
this  case  it  would  appear  that  Hwui  Shan  meant  to  refer  to 
children  born  before  the  parents  were  banished  or  sent  away. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  slavery  existed  among  the 
Mexicans180  as  well  as  among  the  nations  to  the  south.125 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     463 

Although  it  is  stated  by  some  authorities  that  the  children  of 
slaves  were  invariably  born  free,180  there  is  much  dispute  on 
the  subject,  and  it  is  probable  that  this  was  a  reform  introduced 
by  King  Nezahualpilli,  not  long  before  the  coming  of  the  Span 
iards.4*6  The  statement  is  repeatedly  made  "6  that  parents  could 
sell  their  children 427  as  slaves,179  and  that  this  was  often  done,  par 
ticularly  in  times  of  famine.424 

But  little  is  said  as  to  the  condition  of  either  orphans  or 
illegitimate  children  ;  it  is  stated,  however,  that  the  latter  were 
not  allowed  to  share  in  the  property  or  the  dignities  of  their 
father,670  and  that  they  were  excluded  from  all  public  offices.526 
Brasseur  de  Bourbourg667  and  Bancroft270  both  state  that 
victims  for  sacrifices  were  chosen  from  among  the  young  boys, 
from  six  to  twelve  years  of  age,  born  among  them,  but  of  ille 
gitimate  birth.  De  Olmos  defines  the  word  tlanamiqui,  "  he  who 
is  born  a  slave  or  bastard,"  I992  thus  indicating  that  the  two  con 
ditions  were  practically  identical ;  and  las  Casas,  speaking  of  the 
permission  given  to  the  Spaniards  to  demand  a  certain  number 
of  slaves  from  the  Indian  chiefs,  says  that  the  latter 925  seized 
the  children  of  their  households  to  furnish  the  number  demanded, 
after  having  disposed  of  all  the  orphans,  who  were  sacrificed 
first.  De  Landa  also  states  that  in  Yucatan  the  orphans  who 
had  been  reduced  to  slavery  were  induced  to  carry  their  com 
plaint  to  the  monks.1692 

If,  therefore,  Hwui  Shan  meant  to  refer  either  to  illegitimate 
children,  or  to  orphans  who  were  left  behind  when  their  parents 
were  banished  to  the  place  of  confinement  in  the  north  (i.  e.,  to 
the  land  of  the  dead),  it  seems  quite  possible  that  his  statement, 
that  they  were  made  slaves,  is  true. 

There  is  nothing  to  show  the  exact  age  when  slave-children 
were  compelled  to  commence  active  labour,  but  it  may  reason 
ably  be  supposed  to  have  been  at  about  the  same  age  as  that  at 
which  their  more  fortunate  companions  were  first  sent  to  school. 
Cortez  states  this  age  to  have  been  "  seven  or  eight  years," 1103 
which  is  the  same  as  the  custom  in  Japan 1372  and  China.  Bras 
seur  de  Bourbourg  says  : 668  "  At  the  age  of  seven  years  the  father 
brings  his  son  to  the  priest,  and  shows  him  how  to  draw  blood 
from  various  parts  of  his  body,"  and  669  "  the  young  girls  are 
also  brought  to  the  temple  at  the  age  of  eight  years." 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  case  the  age  of  the  girl  is 


464:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

one  year  greater  than  that  of  the  boy,  just  as  it  is  in  Hwui 
Shan's  statement,  but  that  the  ages  are  seven  and  eight  years 
instead  of  eight  and  nine.  This  difference  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  Buddha  allowed  the  age  to  be  counted  from  the  date 
of  conception,1194  instead  of  that  of  birth  ;  and  that  in  Japan,  and 
(as  I  was  informed  by  the  late  Professor  Williams)  in  China  also, 
all  children  born  during  the  year,  even  as  late  as  the  last  day  of 
the  twelfth  month,  are  considered  as  being  one  year  of  age  on 
the  next  New  Year's  day.1681  Hence,  children,  whom  the  Spaniards 
would  call  seven  and  eight  years  old,  would  be  described  by  the 
Chinese  as  eight  and  nine  years  of  age,  and  the  ages  mentioned 
by  Hwui  Shan  are  thus  brought  into  exact  accord  with  those 
named  by  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg. 

XVII. — FOB  A  SINGLE  CRIME  (or  a  crime  of  the  first  magni 
tude),  ONLY  ONE  PERSON  (the  Culprit)  WAS  HIDDEN  (or  SCllt) 

AWAY.     FOR  TWO  CRIMES  (or  a  crime  of  the  second  magnitude), 

THE    CHILDREN    AND    GRANDCHILDREN    WERE     INCLUDED    IN    THE 

PUNISHMENT.  FOR  THREE  CRIMES  (or  a  crime  of  the  third  mag 
nitude),  SEVEN  GENERATIONS  WERE  INCLUDED  IN  THE  PUNISH 
MENT. 

The  "  seven  generations,"  to  which  reference  is  made,  prob 
ably  included  the  parents,  grandparents,  and  great-grandpar 
ents,  the  criminal  himself,  with  his  wife,  brothers  and  sisters, 
and  his  children,  grandchildren,  and  great-grandchildren. 

This  custom  of  punishing  not  only  the  criminal,  but  also  his 
relatives,  when  a  heinous  crime  has  been  committed,  exists  in 
Asia.  Thus  Hardy  says  that,  146°  if  one  man  strikes  another  in 
the  street,  he  is  merely  fined  for  the  offense  ;  but  if  he  were  to 
strike  the  king,  his  hands  and  feet,  and  then  his  head,  would  be 
cut  off,  and  all  his  relatives,  both  on  the  side  of  his  father  and 
mother,  to  the  seventh  degree  of  relationship,  would  be  de 
stroyed. 

As  to  the  existence  of  this  custom  in  Mexico,  Clavigero  says 
1074  that  the  traitor  to  the  king  or  to  the  state  was  torn  in  pieces, 
and  his  relatives,  who  knew  of  his  treason  and  did  not  make  it 
known  in  time,  were  deprived  of  liberty. 

Ixtlilxochitl  writes 219  that  the  children  and  relations  of  the 
traitor  were  enslaved  till  the  fifth  generation. 

Bancroft 17S  repeats  these  statements,202  and  the  Abbe  Brasseur 
de  Bourbourg  states  that  M4  the  robbery  of  sacred  things,  prof  a- 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC   CIVILIZATION.     465 

nation  of  the  temples,  and  insult  to  the  ministers  of  religion  or  to 
the  person  of  the  monarch,  were  considered  as  high  treason,  and 
that  the  culprit  was  punished  with  death,  his  goods  were  con 
fiscated  to  the  public  treasury,  and  his  family  declared  infamous. 
In  another  place  he  mentions  that 671  the  property  of  every  man 
condemned  to  death  is  confiscated  to  the  public  treasury,  and  that 
his  wife  and  children  are  sold  as  slaves,  without  regard  to  the 
rank  to  which  they  may  have  belonged,  while673  all  treason 
against  the  state  or  the  sovereign,  the  discovery  of  the  secrets  of 
the  government,  or  desertion  to  the  enemy,  brings  the  penalty 
of  death  down  upon  the  culprit ;  his  wife  and  children  being 
sold,  and  his  goods  confiscated. 

He  adds  that 672  the  vassal  who  runs  away  from  his  master  or 
his  lord,  if  he  is  captured,  is  put  to  death,  and  his  wife  and  chil 
dren  are  reduced  to  slavery. 

Fig.  14  is  a  fac-simile  of  an  illustration  of  a  Mexican  manu 
script,  contained  in  the  collection  of  Mendoza,  preserved  in  the 
Bodleian  Library  of  Oxford,  and  copied  by  Lord  Kingsborough 
in  the  first  volume  of  his  "  Antiquities  of  Mexico."  The  expla 
nation  is  given  in  vol.  vi 1M6 — and  in  a  French  work  entitled 
"  Histoire  du  Mexique,"  published  without  name  of  author,  date, 
or  place — that  the  central  figure  represents  a  cacique  who  re 
belled  against  Montezuma,  and  who,  having  been  conquered, 
was  strangled  by  two  executioners.  The  figures  at  the  right  are 
those  of  his  wife  and  son,  and  the  "  collars  "  upon  their  necks 
show  that  they  have  been  reduced  to  slavery.  In  fact  they  indicate 
that  their  wearers  were  reduced  to  a  particularly  severe  form  of 
slavery,  to  which,  as  a  rule,  only  the  vilest  were  condemned.283 


Punishment  of  a  criminal,  by  the  Aztecs. 


466  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

XVIII. FOB  A  FATHER,  MOTHER,  WIFE,  OE  SON  THEY  MOUEN 

FOE  SEVEN  DAYS,  WITHOUT  EATING.  FOB  A  GEANDFATHEE  OE 
GEANDMOTHEE  THEY  MOUEN  FOE  FIVE  DAYS,  WITHOUT  EATING. 
FOE  AN  ELDEE  BEOTHEE,  YOUNGEE  BEOTHEE,  FATHEB's  ELDEE 
BEOTHEE  OE  FATHEE's  YOUNGEE  BEOTHEE,  OE  FOE  THE  COBEE- 
SPONDING  FEMALE  EELATIVES,  OE  FOE  AN  ELDEE  SISTEE  OE 
YOUNGEE  SISTEE,  THEEE  DAYS,  WITHOUT  EATING.  THEY  SET  UP 

AN  IMAGE  OF  THE  spiEiT  (of  the  deceased  person),  AND  BEVER- 

ENCE  IT,  AND  OFFEE  LIBATIONS  TO  IT  MOENING  AND  EVENING. 
IN  THEIR  MOUENING  USAGES  THEY  DO  NOT  WEAE  MOUBNING-GAR- 

ME:NTS    OE  MOUENING-BADGES.      A   KING   WHO   INHEEITS    THE 

THEONE  DOES  NOT  OCCUPY  HIMSELF  WITH  THE  AFFAIES  OF  THE 
GOVEENMENT  FOE  THE  FIEST  THEEE  YEAES  AFTEE  HIS  ACCESSION. 

According  to  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,646  the  Mayas  had  a 
horrible  fear  of  death.  When  they  had  lost  a  relative,  they 
wept  for  four  days  together,  maintaining  a  sorrowful  silence 
during  the  day-time,  and  spending  the  nights  in  dolorous  wail- 
ings.  During  this  time  the  wife  of  the  deceased,  if  she  was  nurs 
ing  a  child,  retained  her  milk,  not  permitting  the  child  to  suckle  ; 
the  fifth  day  a  priest  came  to  say  that  the  dead  was  with  the  gods, 
and  that  it  was  time  to  proceed  with  his  funeral.  De  Landa  adds 
that  they  observed  abstinences  and  fasts  for  the  deceased, 
especially  in  the  case  of  a  husband  who  mourned  the  loss  of  his 
wife.1693 

For  the  death  of  a  chief,  or  any  of  his  family,  the  Pipiles 
lamented  for  four  days,  silently  by  day  and  with  loud  cries  by 
night.  At  dawn,  on  the  fifth  day,  the  high-priest  publicly  for 
bade  the  people  to  make  any  further  demonstration  of  sorrow, 
saying  that  the  soul  of  the  departed  was  now  with  the  gods.282 
In  Michoacan  all  remained  seated,  for  five  days,  with  bowed  heads, 
without  uttering  a  word,  except  the  grandees,  who  went  in  turn 
by  night  to  watch  and  mourn  at  the  grave.584  Upon  the  graves 
were  placed  flags,  ornaments,  and  various  offerings  of  food,  dur 
ing  the  four  days  of  mourning.  Visits  of  condolence,  with  attend 
ant  feasting,  extended  over  a  period  of  several  days,  however.261 
The  dead  had  a  difficult  road  to  travel  before  reaching  their 
future  abode,  which  was  on  the  fifth  day  after  the  burial.255 
On  that  day,  before  daybreak,  a  grand  procession  formed  for 
the  temple.257 

If  a  Mexican  merchant  was  killed  by  the  enemy  while  he  was 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC   CIVILIZATION.     467 

on  a  journey,  his  family  made  a  mannikin  of  splinters  of  pine, 
such  as  were  used  for  torches.  These  were  fastened  together 
and  covered  with  cloth.  When  made,  the  puppet  was  clothed 
with  the  garments  of  the  defunct,  and  then  was  carried  to 
the  temple.  Here  it  was  left  for  all  of  one  day,  during  which 
his  friends  wept  over  it  as  if  it  were  the  real  corpse  of  the  de 
ceased  merchant.  At  midnight  the  mannikin  was  taken  and 
burned  in  the  court  of  Quauhxicalco  and  the  ashes  were  interred 
as  usual.711 

Although  cremation  was  frequently  resorted  to  in  later  days, 
it  seems  to  have  been,  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  by  the  Span 
iards,  a  comparatively  recent  custom,  and  it  is  asserted  that  the 
Toltecs  who  remained  in  the  country  after  the  destruction  of  the 
empire  adhered  to  interment,  as  did  the  early  Chichimecs.258 

According  to  Clavigero,  when  a  king  died  they  cut  off  some 
of  his  hair,  which,  with  some  that  had  been  cut  off  in  his  infancy, 
they  preserved  in  a  little  box,  to  perpetuate,  as  they  stated,  the 
memory  of  the  deceased.  Upon  the  box  they  placed  the  image 
of  the  deceased,  made  of  wood,  or  else  of  stone.1010 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  says  that,709  as  soon  as  a  king  died,  a 
statue  was  always  made  in  his  image  and  placed  upon  the  bed  of 
state.256  The  chiefs  of  the  senate,  having  the  Cihuacohuatl  at 
their  head,  first  paid  their  homage  to  it.  It  was  then  stripped  of 
its  garments,  and,  after  being  washed  from  head  to  foot  with 
blue  water,  was  reclothed  and  crowned  with  a  diadem  ornament 
ed  with  a  heron's  plume.  The  singers  approached  it  in  turn, 
having  their  faces  tinted  blue,  and  bearing  flowers  and  perfumes 
in  their  hands,  to  chant  the  praises  of  the  king.  .  .  .  Both  the 
body  and  the  statue  were  then  transported  to  the  temple  of 
Huitzilopochtli. 

Bancroft  gives  the  following  account  of  the  obsequies  of  a 
king  or  chief  : 2M  "  When  the  body  had  been  thoroughly  burned, 
the  fire  was  quenched,  the  blood  collected  from  the  victims  being 
used  for  this  purpose,  according  to  Duran,  and  the  ashes,  sprinkled 
with  holy  water,  were  placed  with  the  charred  bones,  stones,  and 
melted  jewelry,  in  the  urn  or  casket,  which  contained  also  the 
hair  of  the  deceased.  On  the  top  of  this  was  placed  a  statue  of 
wood  or  stone,  attired  in  the  royal  habiliments,  and  bearing  the 
mask  and  insignia,  and  the  casket  was  deposited,  at  the  feet  of 
the  patron  deity,  in  the  chapel.  On  the  return  of  the  procession, 


468  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

a  grand  banquet  was  given  to  the  guests,  ending  as  usual  with  a 
presentation  of  gifts.  For  four  days  the  mourners  paid  constant 
visits  to  the  shrine,  to  manifest  their  sorrow,  and  to  present  the 
offerings  of  food,  clothes,  or  jewels." 

In  Yucatan,  people  of  condition  made  wooden  statues  of 
their  parents,  of  which  the  occiput  was  hollow  ;  they  burned  a 
part  of  the  body,  and  deposited  the  ashes  in  this  receptacle,  and 
closed  the  opening.  They  preserved  these  statues,  with  much 
veneration,  among  the  idols,  and  kept  both  statues  and  idols  in 
the  oratorios  of  their  houses,  where  they  were  looked  upon  with 
tenderness  as  well  as  reverence.  On  all  feast-days  and  days 
of  general  rejoicing  they  made  offerings  of  food  to  them.1694 

It  is  manifest  from  these  statements  that  the  Mexicans  and 
natives  of  Yucatan  had  a  well-defined  period  of  mourning,  which 
was  usually  of  five  days'  duration.  The  early  chroniclers  would 
hardly  have  paid  attention  to  the  deaths  of  the  common  people  ; 
and  the  customs  of  the  indigenes  were  so  soon  swept  out  of  exist 
ence,  that  periods  of  seven  days'  mourning  for  the  nearer  rela 
tives,  and  three  days  for  the  more  distant,  may  have  existed  un 
noticed. 

The  practice  of  making  an  image  of  the  dead,  which  is  men 
tioned  by  Hwui  Shan,  and  the  reverence  bestowed  upon  it,  re 
call  a  similar  custom  existing  in  China,  which  is  probably  to  be 
found  in  other  Asiatic  countries  also.  From  the  quotations 
given  above,  it  appears  that  this  custom,  with  some  modification 
and  distortion,  survived  in  America  until  the  sixteenth  century. 

As  no  mention  of  the  use  of  mourning-garments  in  Mexico  is 
made  by  any  of  the  historians,  it  is  evident  that  the  Aztecs 
did  not  wear  them.  In  China  the  mourning-dress  consists  of 
coarse,  unbleached  linen  robes  and  a  white  girdle.994  This  refer 
ence  to  the  absence  of  mourning-garments  is  conclusive  proof 
that  Fu-sang  can  not  have  been  any  part  of  Japan  ;  for,  as  will 
be  hereafter  shown,  the  Japanese  used  them  from  the  earliest 
dates  mentioned  in  their  histories.  Klaproth  must  have  been  ac 
quainted  with  this  fact,  and  it  is,  therefore,  somewhat  amusing 
to  observe  the  discretion  which  he  exhibited  in  omitting  from 
his  translation  the  clause  which  states  that  mourning-garments 
were  not  worn  in  Fu-sang. 

The  custom  of  prohibiting  the  king  from  actively  engaging 
in  government  affairs,  for  some  time  after  his  accession  to  the 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     469 

throne,  was  probably  of  Asiatic  origin.  At  the  time  of  the  Span 
ish  conquest,  it  was  the  rule  in  Mexico  that,425  before  the  corona 
tion  of  a  new  monarch  could  be  celebrated  with  fitting  solemnity, 
and  in  a  manner  worthy  of  his  predecessors,  victims  for  sacrifice 
must  be  captured  in  large  numbers  ;  it  had  become  an  established 
custom  for  each  newly  elected  king  to  undertake,  in  person,  a 
campaign  with  the  sole  object  of  procuring  captives,161  and  it 
was  always  required  that  he  should  obtain  some  victory  over  his 
enemies,  or  reduce  some  neighbouring  or  rebellious  province  to 
subjection,  before  he  could  be  crowned,  or  ascend  the  royal 
throne.2356  Special  mention  is  made  of  an  expedition  of  this  na 
ture  against  the  Chalcas,  undertaken  by  Montezuma  before  his 
coronation.423 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF   ASIATIC    CIVILIZATION. — (Concluded.) 

The  colour  of  the  king's  garments — Colours  in  Asia — Green  and  blue  confounded — 
The  dyes  used  by  the  Mexicans — Changes  of  the  king's  garments — Dresses  of 
different  colours  for  different  occasions — Various  species  of  mantles  worn — 
Changes  because  of  superstitious  ideas — Length  of  the  "  year  " — Divisions  of 
the  day — The  marriage  ceremonies — Chinese  customs — Mexican  customs  at 
tributed  to  Quetzalcoatl — Mexican  weddings — The  horse-carts,  cattle-carts, 
and  deer-carts — Difficulties  of  this  passage — Explanations  suggested — The 
introduction  of  the  horse  into  America — Extinct  species  of  horses  in  Ameri 
ca—Indian  traditions — Name  may  have  been  applied  to  some  other  animal — 
Mirage — The  Buddhist  description  of  the  "  three  carts  "  or  "  three  vehicles." 

HAVING  thus  examined  the  account  of  the  king's  coronation, 
we  may  now  turn  back  to  the  description  of  his  clothing. 

XIX. — THE  COLOUR  OF  THE  KING'S  GARMENTS  is  CHANGED 

ACCORDING   TO    THE   MUTATIONS    OF   THE  TEARS.       THE  FIRST  AND 

SECOND  YEARS  (of  a  ten-year  cycle)  THEY  ARE  BLUE  (or  green)  ; 

THE  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  YEARS  THEY  ARE  RED  ;  THE  FIFTH  AND 
SIXTH  YEARS,  YELLOW  J  THE  SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  YEARS,  WHITE  ; 
AND  THE  NINTH  AND  TENTH  YEARS,  BLACK. 

This  connection  between  certain  colours  and  the  divisions 
of  time  exists  among  a  great  number  of  the  nations  of  Asia,  and 
the  order  of  enumeration  of  the  colours  is,  usually,  exactly  that 
above  named,  i.  e.,  blue,  red,  yellow,  white,  and  black.934  Klap- 
roth 1649  mentions  the  same  symbolism  of  the  years,  of  a  ten-year 
cycle,  by  the  five  colours  above  named,  among  the  Mongols, 
that  Hwui  Shan  says  was  recognized  by  the  dress  of  the  king 
of  Fu-sang.  The  ten  years  were  by  the  Tartars  designated  re 
spectively  by  the  colours  blue  and  bluish,  red  and  reddish,  yel 
low  and  yellowish,  white  and  whitish,  and  black  and  blackish. 
Hue,  also,  repeats  the  statement  that,1576  among  the  Tartars  and 
Thibetans,  the  signs  of  the  denary  cycle  are  expressed  by  the 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     471 

names  of  the  five  elements  repeated  twice,  or  by  the  names  of 
the  five  colours  with  their  shades. 

The  Chinese  emperor,  acting  as  a  high-priest,977  when  he  wor 
ships  heaven,  wears  robes  of  azure  colour,  in  allusion  to  the  sky. 
When  he  worships  the  earth,  his  robes  are  yellow,  to  represent 
the  clay  of  this  earthly  clod.  When  the  sun  is  the  object,  his 
dress  is  red  ;  and  for  the  moon  he  wears  a  pale  white. 

Neither  the  Chinese  nor  the  Mexicans  discriminated  between 
different  colours  to  a  refined  extent,  both  failing  to  distinguish 
green  from  blue,814  and  the  two  colours  are  therefore,  in  both 
languages,  designated  by  the  same  word. 

Brinton  says  that  in  Central  America 814  the  names  of  the  five 
main  colours  are  constantly  recurring  as  signs  and  metaphors. 
They  are  white,  black,  red,  green,  and  yellow.  The  poverty  of 
this  list  was  eked  out  by  certain  terminations  which  modified 
the  force  of  the  root  indicating  that  the  colour  was  light  or 
shaded  toward  white. 

It  is  almost  impossible 'to  doubt  that  the  coincidence  of  the 
connection  of  the  divisions  of  time  with  five  colours  in  a  certain 
order^  which  existed  both  in  Asia  and  Fu-sang,  must  have  been 
the  result  of  the  introduction  of  the  custom  into  Fu-sang  from 
Asia — probably  by  the  five  Buddhist  priests  themselves. 

In  the  preparation  of  dyes  and  paints  by  the  Mexicans,  min 
eral,  animal,  and  vegetable  colours  were  all  employed,  the  latter 
extracted  from  woods,  barks,  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruits.  In  the 
art  of  dyeing  they  probably  excelled  the  Europeans,  and  many  of 
their  dyes  have,  since  the  conquest,  been  introduced  throughout 
the  world.  Chief  among  these  was  the  cochineal,  nochiztle,  an 
insect  fed  by  the  Nahuas  on  the  leaves  of  the  nopal,  from  which 
they  obtained  beautiful  and  permanent  red  and  purple  colours 
for  their  cotton  fabrics.  The  flower  of  the  matlalxihuitl  sup 
plied  blue  shades  ;  indigo  was  the  sediment  of  water  in  which 
branches  of  the  xiuhquilipitzahuac  had  been  soaked  ;  seeds  of 
the  achiotl  boiled  in  water  yielded  a  red,  the  French  roucou  • 
ocher,  or  tecozahuitl,  furnished  yellow,  as  did  also  the  plant  xochi- 
palli,  the  latter  being  changed  to  orange  by  the  use  of  nitre  ; 
other  shades  were  produced  by  the  use  of  alum  ;  the  stones 
chimaltizail  and  tizatlalu,  being  calcined,  produced  something 
like  Spanish  white  ;  black  was  obtained  from  a  stinking  mineral, 
tlaliac,  or  from  the  soot  of  a  pine,  called  ocotl.™ 


472  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

Sahagun 2205  gives  a  long  description  of  the  colours  and  dyes 
used  by  the  Mexicans,  and  says  that 2219  they  include  cochineal 
and  several  other  red  colours,  yellow  and  a  light  golden  colour, 
black,  indigo  and  other  blues  and  greens,  violet,  and  fawn  colour. 
Palacio  tells  us  of  priestly  robes  in  Salvador  of  different  colours, 
black,  blue,  green,  red,  and  yellow.273 

It  is  said  that  among  the  Mexicans  the  king  changed  his  dress 
four  times  each  day,  and  that  a  dress  once  worn  could  never  be 
used  again.163  Concerning  this  custom,  Peter  Martyr,  translated 
into  the  quaintest  of  English,  writes  :  "  Arising  from  his  bed,  he 
is  cloathed  after  one  manner,  as  he  commeth  forthe  to  bee  scene, 
and  returning  backe  into  his  chamber  after  he  hath  dined,  he 
changeth  his  garments  ;  and  when  he  commeth  forthe  againe  to 
supper  hee  taketh  another,  and  returning  back  againe  the  fourth, 
which  he  weareth  vntill  he  goe  to  bed.  But  concerning  his  gar 
ments,  which  he  changeth  every  day,  many  of  them  that  returned 
have  reported  the  same  vnto  me  with  their  owne  mouth  ;  but 
howsoeuer  it  be,  all  agree  in  the  changing  of  garments,  that  be 
ing  once  taken  into  the  wardrope,  they  are  there  piled  vp  on 
heaps,  not  likely  to  see  the  face  of  Muteczuma  any  more." 

In  fact,  there  appears  to  have  been  a  different  dress  for  every 
occasion.208  We  are  told,  for  instance,  that  when  going  to  the 
temple  the  king  wore  a  white  mantle,  another  when  going  to 
preside  at  the  court  of  justice,  and  here  he  again  changed  his 
dress,  according  as  the  case  before  the  court  was  a  civil  or  crimi 
nal  suit.  Sahagun  also  states  that  the  king,  when  offering  in 
cense  to  the  god  Huitzilopochtli,  during  the  ceremony  of  anoint 
ment,  was  dressed  in  a  tunic  of  dark-green  cloth.  The  veil  was 
also  of  green  cloth,  ornamented  with  skulls  and  bones,  and,  in 
addition  to  the  articles  described  by  other  writers,  this  author 
mentions  that  they  placed  dark-green  sandals  upon  his  feet. 
("Hist.  Gen.,"  tome  ii,  p.  319.)  16° 

Cortez  says  that  Muteczuma  was  dressed  every  day  in  four 
different  suits,  entirely  new,  which  he  never  wore  a  second  time  ; 1104 
but  Diaz  makes  the  much  more  probable  statement  that mi  a  gar 
ment  which  the  Mexican  king  had  worn  one  day  was  not  per 
mitted  to  be  brought  to  him  again  earlier  than  after  four  days. 

Sahagun,2204  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  his  eighth  book,  de 
scribes  sixteen  species  of  mantles  used  for  clothing  the  kings. 
A  first  species,  very  rich,  called  coaxayacayo  tilmatli  (i.  e.,  a 


THE  INTRODUCTION   OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     473 

cloak  with  the  figures  of  serpents),  is  of  a  reddish  colour,  covered 
with  silver  circles,  bearing  upon  a  red  field  a  figure  of  a  monster 
or  a  demon.  The  border  is  fringed  and  ornamented  within  with 
figures  like  the  letters  S  S,  contained  in  little  squares  alternated 
with  others  that  are  destitute  of  ornaments.  On  the  ends  this 
fringe  has  small  massive  balls  not  very  near  to  one  another. 
The  kings  wear  these  mantles,  and  give  them  to  personages  of 
eminence,  and  to  men  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in 
war,  with  permission  to  wear  them.  They  also  wear  other  man 
tles,  called  teccizyo  tilmatli  (i.  e.,  a  mantle  with  large  shells), 
which  are  given  this  name  because  they  are  woven  with  designs 
representing  sea-shells  in  red  tochomitl  upon  a  field  representing 
the  waves  of  the  sea  figured  in  light  blue.  This  mantle  is  bor 
dered  by  a  first  band,  half  light  blue  and  half  dark  blue,  and  by 
a  second  band  of  white  feathers,  with  a  fringe  of  red  tochomitl, 
not  fringed  out,  but  pierced  with  small  holes. 

They  also  wear  another  mantle,  called  temalcacayo  tilmatli 
tenixio  (i.  e.,  a  mantle  having  mill-stones  and  with  a  border  of 
eyes).  It  is  made  of  a  cloth  with  a  reddish-brown  ground,  in 
which  there  are  woven  designs  representing  a  sort  of  mill-wheel, 
of  which  the  circumference  is  black  ;  a  circle,  made  of  a  larger 
white  band,  is  inscribed  ;  in  the  center  there  is  a  small  ring  sur 
rounded  by  another  of  a  black  colour.  There  are  twelve  of  these 
figures  grouped  together,  three  and  three,  and  forming  a  square. 
The  border  of  this  mantle  is  formed  by  a  fringe  in  which  eyes 
are  represented  upon  a  black  ground.  It  is  on  this  account  that 
it  is  called  tenixio. 

They  also  wear  another  mantle,  called  itzcoayo  tilmatli  (i.  e.,  a 
mantle  with  obsidian  serpents).  It  has  six  saw-like  figures  placed, 
two  upon  each  side  and  two  in  the  middle,  upon  a  reddish  field. 
Between  these  groups  there  are  figures  like  the  letters  S  S  alter 
nating  with  others  like  O  O.  The  remainder  of  the  entire  de 
sign  consists  of  two  bands  upon  a  fawn-coloured  field.  A  fringe 
extends  all  about  the  mantle,  with  a  lace-work  of  feathers  upon 
a  black  field. 

They  also  wear  a  mantle,  called  ome  tetecomayo  tilmatli  (i.  e., 
a  mantle  having  two  vases),  which  is  strewed  with  representations 
of  very  beautiful  and  very  rich  vases,  with  three  feet,  and  orna 
mented  with  two  wings  like  those  of  butterflies.  The  lower  part 
is  round,  and  red  and  black  in  colour.  The  wings  are  green, 


474  Atf  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

with  a  yellow  border  and  three  small  rings  of  the  same  colour  in 
each.  The  neck  of  this  vase  has  the  form  of  the  ornaments  of 
the  vestments  of  a  marquis,  surmounted  by  four  small  staves 
embroidered  with  blue  and  red  feathers.  The  designs  of  the 
vases  are  represented  upon  a  white  field.  This  mantle  has  upon 
its  border,  in  front,  two  red  bands,  which  cross  the  white  bands 
close  together,  two  and  two. 

We  will  not  describe  the  other  mantles,  as  they  are  commonly 
worn  by  all  the  world.  But  it  is  important  that  we  should  call 
attention  to  the  skill  of  the  women  whose  trade  it  is  to  weave 
them.  It  is  they  who  trace  the  designs,  when  manufacturing 
the  cloth,  and  weave  the  coloured  thread  in  place  according  to 
the  design  ;  taking  care  to  weave  in  the  same  fashion  that  they 
have  designed,  and  changing  the  shade  of  the  thread  in  conform 
ity  with  the  pattern  which  they  follow. 

They  wear  other  mantles,  called  papaloyo  tilmatli  tenixio 
(i.  e.,  mantles  which  have  butterflies  and  borders  furnished  with 
eyes),  which  have  a  reddish  ground,  upon  which  butterflies  are 
woven  in  white  feathers,  each  bearing  a  human  eye  upon  the 
middle  of  its  body.  These  butterflies  are  placed  in  a  row,  reach 
ing  from  one  corner  of  the  mantle  to  the  other,  the  edge  being 
terminated  by  a  border  bearing  eyes  woven  upon  a  black  ground, 
with  a  red  fringe  pierced  with  small  holes. 

They  also  wear  another  mantle,  covered  with  flowers  called 
ecacozcatl,  grouped  in  threes,  and  separated  by  small  bouquets  of 
white  feathers  woven  in  the  stuff.  This  mantle  is  ornamented  all 
around  by  a  fringe  and  feathers,  with  a  border  of  eyes.  It  is 
called  xaualquauhyo  tilmatli  tenixio  (i.  e.,  a  mantle  having  an 
ornament  of  eagle  feathers  and  a  border  garnished  with  eyes). 

They  wear  other  mantles,  called  ocelotentlapalli  yitic  ica 
ocelotl  (i.  e.,  having  a  tiger  within,  and  a  red-coloured  border). 
A  tiger's  skin  is  figured  in  the  center  of  these,  and  for  a  border 
they  have  a  red  band  terminated  exteriorly  by  a  web  of  white 
feathers. 

The  said  mantles  are  worn  because  of  superstitious  ideas. 
There  is  among  them  one  called  ixneztlaciulolli  (i.  e.,  that  which 
is  worked  in  a  manner  very  apparent),  and  another  called  ottin, 
upon  which  the  sun  is  figured  in  different  colours  and  embroid 
eries. 

The  sentence  in  italics,  above,  shows  that  the  changes  in  the 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     475 

dress  of  the  monarchs  were  connected,  in  some  way,  with  their 
religious  belief,  and  it  seems  that  the  different  mantles  were 
used  as  symbols. 

Prescott  says  that  the  dress  of  the  courier  denoted  by  its 
colour  the  nature  of  the  tidings  that  he  brought,2064  thus  indi 
cating  that  his  dress  also  was  governed  by  a  similar  symbolism. 
Bancroft,  quoting  from  Zuago,262  mentions  similar  changes  of 
garments,  even  in  the  case  of  the  wrappings  of  a  corpse.  The 
statement  is  that  the  corpse  was  decorated  with  feathers  of  vari 
ous  colours,  and  seated  in  a  chair  to  receive  the  expressions  of 
sorrow  and  respect  of  friends,  and  their  humble  offerings  of 
flowers,  food,  or  dresses.  After  a  couple  of  hours  a  second  set  of 
shrouders  removed  the  garments,  washed  the  body  again,  re 
dressed  it  in  red  mantles,  with  feathers  of  the  same  colour,  and  left 
it  to  be  viewed  for  an  hour  or  more,  according  to  the  number 
of  the  visitors.  A  third  time  the  body  was  washed  by  a  fresh 
corps  of  attendants,  and  arrayed,  this  time,  in  black  garments, 
with  feathers  of  the  same  somber  colour.  These  suits  were 
either  given  to  the  temple  or  buried  with  the  body. 

In  the  case  of  the  customs  of  courtship,  the  doubt  was  ex 
pressed  as  to  whether  Hwui  Shan  may  not  have  intended  to  indi 
cate  some  other  period  of  time  than  a  year  by  the  character  4£. 
The  very  similar  character  ^  is  used  for  noon,1876  or  the  time 
from  11  A.  M.  to  1  P.M.,2675  and,  although  there  is  no  proof  that 
the  one  first  above  given  ever  meant  anything  else  than  a  year, 
I  can  not  help  thinking  that  Hwui  Shan  may  have  used  it  to 
denote  the  fractional  parts  either  of  a  day  or  of  the  Mexican 
week  of  five  days.241 

The  Javanese,  who,  like  the  Mexicans,  had  a  week  of  five 
days,  consider  the  names  of  the  days  of  their  native  week  to  have 
a  mystical  relation  to  colours,  and  to  the  divisions  of  the  horizon. 
According  to  this  whimsical  interpretation,  the  first  means  white 
and  the  east ;  the  second,  red  and  the  south  ;  the  third,  yellow 
and  the  west  ;  the  fourth,  black  and  the  north  ;  and  the  fifth, 
mixed  colour  and  the  focus  or  center.1134 

The  Mexicans  had  not  only  a  week  of  five  days,  but  also  had 
an  accurate  system  of  dividing  the  day  into  fixed  periods,  corre 
sponding  somewhat  to  our  hours.234 

The  day  commenced  with  sunrising,  and  was  divided  into 
eight  portions  of  time,  a  division  recognized  by  the  Hindus, 


476  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Romans,  etc.1850  The  hours  of  the  night  were  regulated  by  the 
stars,2595  and  the  ministers  of  the  temple,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
watch  them,  sounded  certain  instruments  like  trumpets,  by  which 
the  town  was  informed  of  the  time. 

Among  both  the  Mayas  and  the  Mexicans,  the  natural  day 
is  divided  into  four  principal  parts  ;  the  first  commences  at  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  and  closes  at  noon.  Noon  is  called  by  names 
which,  both  in  Maya  and  in  Aztec,  signify  the  center  or  middle  of 
the  day.  Oc  na  Jcin,  in  Yucatan,  and  Quaqui  Tonatiuh,  in  Mexi 
co,  designate  the  commencement  of  the  night,  and  Chumuc  Akdb 
and  Yohual  Nepanila  the  hour  of  midnight.  Each  of  these  four 
parts  is  subdivided  again  into  two  other  equal  parts,  which  corre 
spond  to  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  nine  o'clock  at  night  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing.  Gama  remarks  that,  besides  these  subdivisions,  the  civil  day 
is  divided  into  sixteen  parts,  each  having  its  own  name  ;  eight 
for  the  day  and  eight  for  the  night.  They  commenced  at  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  as  among  most  of  the  nations  of  Asia.693 

Now,  although  it  may  be  admitted  that  some  of  the  customs 
existing  in  Mexico  in  the  sixteenth  century  do  not  precisely 
correspond  with  the  statements  of  Hwui  Shan,  it  seems  to  be 
conclusively  proved  that,  in  each  case,  the  Spaniards  found  in 
Mexico  something  very  much  like  the  custom  described  by  the 
Buddhist  traveler  ;  and  I  can  not  help  thinking  that  the  differ 
ences  are  no  greater  than  would  be  naturally  produced  by  the 
gradual  changes  which  would  inevitably  occur  during  the  period 
of  more  than  a  thousand  years. 

XX. — THE  MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES  ARE,  FOR  THE  MOST  PART, 
LIKE  THOSE  OF  THE  MlDDLE  KlNGDOM  (i.  6.,  China). 

In  China  there  are  six  ceremonies  which  constitute  a  regular 
marriage  : 2502 

1.  The  father  and  elder  brother  of  the  young   man   send 
a  go-between  to  the  father  and  brother  of  the  girl,  to  inquire 
her  name  and  the  moment  of  her  birth,  that  the  horoscope  of  the 
two  may  be  examined,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  proposed 
alliance  will  be  a  happy  one. 

2.  If  so,  the  young  man's  friends  send  the  mei-jin  (go-be 
tween)  back  to  make  an  offer  of  marriage. 

3.  If  that  be  accepted,  the  second  party  is  again  requested  to 
put  their  assent  in  writing. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC   CIVILIZATION.     477 

4.  Presents  are  then  sent  to  the  girl's  parents,  according  to 
the  means  of  the  parties. 

5.  The  go-between  requests  them  to  choose  a  lucky  day  for 
the  wedding  ;  and, 

6.  The  preliminaries  are  concluded  by  the  bridegroom  going, 
or  sending  a  party  of  his  friends,  with  music,  to  bring  the  bride 
to  his  own  house. 

The  principal  formalities  of  marriage  are  everywhere  the 
same,2503  but  local  customs  are  observed  in  some  regions  which 
are  quite  unknown,  and  appear  very  singular,  elsewhere.  In  Fuh- 
kien,  when  the  lucky  day  for  the  wedding  comes,  the  guests 
assemble  in  the  bridegroom's  house  to  celebrate  it,  where  also 
sedans,  a  band  of  music,  and  porters  are  in  readiness.  The 
courier,  who  acts  as  guide  to  the  chair-bearers,  takes  the  lead 
of  the  procession,  and,  in  order  to  prevent  the  onset  of  malicious 
demons  lurking  in  the  road,  a  baked  hog  or  large  piece  of  pork  is 
carried  in  front,  that  it  may  safely  pass  while  they  are  devouring 
the  meat.  Meanwhile  the  bride  arrays  herself  in  her  best  dress 
and  richest  jewels.  Her  girlish  tresses  have  already  been  bound 
up,  and  her  hair  arranged  by  a  matron,  with  all  due  formality  ; 
an  ornamental  and  complicated  head-dress,  made  of  rich  mate 
rials,  not  unlike  a  helmet  or  corona,  often  forms  part  of  her  coif 
fure.  Her  person  is  nearly  covered  by  a  large  mantle,  over 
which  is  an  enormous  hat,  like  an  umbrella,  that  descends  to  the 
shoulders  and  shades  the  whole  figure.  Thus  attired,  she  takes 
her  seat  in  the  red  gilt  marriage  sedan,  called  hwa-Jciau,  borne 
by  four  men,  in  which  she  is  completely  concealed.  This  is 
locked  by  her  mother  or  some  other  relative,  and  the  key  given 
to  one  of  the  bridemen,  who  hands  it  to  the  bridegroom,  or  his 
representative,  on  reaching  the  house. 

The  procession  is  now  rearranged,  with  the  addition  of  as 
many  red  boxes  to  contain  her  wardrobe,  kitchen-utensils,  and 
the  feast,  as  the  means  of  the  family,  or  the  extent  of  her  par 
aphernalia,  require.  As  the  procession  approaches  the  bride 
groom's  house,  the  courier  hastens  forward  to  announce  its  com 
ing  ;  whereupon  the  music  at  his  door  strikes  up,  and  fire-crackers 
are  let  off  until  she  enters  the  gate.  As  she  approaches  the  door, 
the  bridegroom  conceals  himself,  and  the  go-between  brings  for 
ward  a  young  child  to  salute  her,  while  she  goes  to  seek  the 
closeted  bridegroom.  He  approaches  her  with  becoming  gravity, 


478  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  opens  the  sedan  to  hand  out  his  bride,  she  still  retaining  the 
hat  and  mantle  ;  they  approach  the  ancestral  tablet,  which  they 
salute  with  three  bows,  and  then  seat  themselves  at  a  table  upon 
which  there  are  two  cups  of  spirits.  The  go-between  serves 
them,  though  the  bride  can  only  make  the  motions  of  drinking, 
as  the  large  hat  completely  covers  her  face.  They  soon  retire 
into  a  chamber,  where  the  husband  takes  the  hat  and  mantle 
from  his  wife,  and  sees  her,  perhaps,  for  the  first  time^  in  his  life. 

The  bridal  procession  is  as  showy  and  stylish  as  the  means 
of  the  parties  will  allow,2504  consisting  of  friends,  a  band  of  mu 
sic,  sedans,  and  boxes  containing  the  marriage-feast  and  other 
things,  all  of  them  painted  red,  and  their  bearers  wearing  red 
jackets..  The  tablets  of  literary  rank  held  by  members  of  the 
family,  wooden  dragons'  heads,  titular  lanterns,  and  other  offi 
cial  insignia,  are  borne  in  the  procession,  which,  with  all  these 
additions,  sometimes  stretches  along  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or 
more.  In  some  cases,  an  old  man  elegantly  dressed  heads  the 
procession,  bearing  a  large  umbrella  to  hold  over  the  bride  when 
she  enters  and  leaves  the  sedan  ;  behind  him  come  bearers  with 
tablets  and  lanterns,  one  of  which  bears  the  inscription,  "  The 
phoenixes  sing  harmoniously."  To  these  succeed  the  music  and 
the  honourary  tablets,  titular  flags,  state  umbrella,  etc.,  and  two 
stout  men  as  executioners,  dressed  in  a  fantastic  manner,  wearing 
long  feathers  in  their  caps,  and  lictors,  chain-bearers,  and  other 
emblems  of  office.  Parties  of  young  lads,  prettily  dressed,  and 
playing  on  drums,  gongs,  and  flutes,  or  carrying  lanterns  and  ban 
ners,  occasionally  form  a  pleasing  variety  in  the  train,  which  is 
continued  by  the  trays  and  covered  tables  containing  the  bride's 
trousseau,  and  ended  with  the  sedan  containing  herself. 

The  ceremonies  attending  her  reception  at  her  husband's 
house  are  not  uniform.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  she  is 
lifted  out  of  the  sedan,  over  a  pan  of  charcoal  placed  in  the 
court,  and  carried  into  her  chamber.  After  a  brief  interval  she 
returns  into  the  hall,  bearing  a  tray  of  betel-nuts  for  the  guests, 
and  then  worships  a  pair  of  geese,  brought  in  the  train  with  her 
husband— this  bird  being  an  emblem  of  conjugal  affection.  On 
returning  to  her  chamber,  the  bridegroom  follows  her,  and  takes 
off  the  red  veil,  after  which  they  pledge  each  other  in  wine,  the 
cups  being  joined  by  a  thread.  While  there,  a  matron  who  has 
borne  several  children  to  one  husband  comes  in  to  pronounce  a 


TOE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC   CIVILIZATION.     479 

blessing  upon  them,  and  make  up  the  nuptial  bed.  The  assem 
bled  guests  then  sit  down  to  the  feast,  and  ply  the  sin  lang, 
"  new  man,"  or  bridegroom,  pretty  well  with  liquor  ;  the  Chi 
nese  on  such  occasions  do  not,  however,  overpass  the  rules  of 
sobriety.  The  sinfu-jin,  "  new  lady,"  or  bride,  and  her  mother- 
in-law  also  attend  to  those  of  her  own  sex,  who  are  present  in 
other  apartments  ;  but  among  the  poor  a  pleasanter  sight  is  now 
and  then  seen  in  all  the  guests  sitting  at  one  table. 

In  the  morning,  the  pair  worship  the  ancestral  tablets,  and 
salute  all  the  members  of  the  family.  The  pledging  of  the  bride 
and  groom  in  a  cup  of  wine,  and  their  worship  of  the  ancestral 
tablets,  and  in  some  cases  a  united  prostration  to  his  parents, 
may  be  considered  as  the  important  ceremonies  of  a  wedding 
after  the  procession  has  reached  the  house.  Marriage  processions 
are  heard  at  all  hours,  though  twilights  and  evenings  are  consid 
ered  the  most  propitious ;  the  spring  season,  or  the  last  month 
in  the  year,  being  regarded  as  the  most  felicitous  nuptial  peri 
ods.  The  Chinese  do  not  marry  another  woman  with  these  ob 
servances  while  the  first  one  is  living  ;  but  they  may  bring  home 
concubines,  with  no  other  formality  than  a  contract  with  her 
parents. 

The  foregoing  account  is  from  Professor  Williams's  work 
entitled  "  The  Middle  Kingdom."  A  very  similar  description 
of  the  marriage  ceremonies  of  the  country  will  also  be  found  in 
the  "  Chinese  Repository."  1032 

The  ceremonies  of  marriage  which  were  in  use  among  the 
Aztecs  were  attributed  to  Quetzalcoatl,  the  mysterious  stranger 
to  whom  most  of  their  civilization  and  of  their  arts  was  also  at 
tributed.828  (See  Veytia,  cap.  xvii,  in  Lord  Kingsborough's  work.) 

The  laws  of  Mexico  and  those  of  Michoacan  severely  prohibit 
all  marriages  between  relatives  of  the  first  degree,  either  by  con 
sanguinity  or  affinity,  except  between  a  brother-in-law  and  sister- 
in-law.706  The  father,  having  made  choice  of  a  wife  for  his  son, 
first  consults  the  priests,  and,  if  the  prognostics  are  unfavourable, 
he  looks  for  another.  Certain  female  go-betweens,  named  cihua- 
tlanque,  demand  her  of  her  parents,  repeating  their  overtures  two 
or  three  times,  and  offering  presents,  until  the  latter  respond  to 
their  requests.  On  the  day  of  the  wedding,  the  father  and  mother 
of  the  betrothed  give  her  a  long  discourse  upon  conjugal  fidelity 
and  obedience,  and  exhort  her  to  honourable  conduct.  Finally 


480  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

they  conduct  her  in  pomp  to  the  house  of  her  future  husband. 
The  latter  comes  forth  to  meet  them  with  his  relatives,  preceded 
by  four  women  bearing  torches,  and  the  two  parties,  when  they 
meet,  scatter  perfume  upon  each  other  from  their  censers.  The 
young  man  then  takes  his  bride  by  the  hand  and  leads  her  into 
his  house,  and  they  sit  down  together  upon  a  mat  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  room,  having  a  lighted  brazier  before  them  ;  a 
priest  ties  one  end  of  the  gown  of  the  bride  to  the  extremity  of 
the  mantle  of  the  bridegroom,  this  ceremony  being  the  true  es 
sence  of  the  matrimonial  contract.  After  this  they  walk  together 
around  the  hearth  or  brazier  seven  times  and  throw  into  it  some 
grains  of  copal,  and  return  to  sit  upon  the  mat,  where  they  offer 
presents  to  each  other.  The  banquet  then  takes  place — the  guests 
eating  with  the  relatives,  while  the  young  couple  remain  upon 
their  mat  and  wait  upon  each  other. 

McCulloh,1849  Sahagun,2198  and  Bancroft181  all  give  substan 
tially  the  same  account  of  the  marriage  ceremonies  in  Mexico, 
and  it  can  not  be  denied  that  they  present  a  great  similarity  to 
those  of  China,  although  they  are  mixed,  as  will  hereafter  be 
shown,  with  some  of  the  customs  of  India. 

XXI. — THEY  HAVE  HOUSE-CARTS,  CATTLE-CARTS,  AND  DEER- 
CARTS. 

This  is  the  statement  which  has  usually  been  relied  upon  to 
prove  that  Fu-sang  could  not  have  been  located  in  America,  and 
that  it  must  have  been  situated  in  some  part  of  Japan  ;  and  yet 
it  is  just  as  untrue  of  Japan  as  of  America,  for  the  Japanese 
have  had  no  roads  upon  which  carts  of  any  nature  could  be  used, 
and,  until  very  lately,1314  the  only  vehicle  employed  in  traveling  in 
Japan  was  the  palanquin.  In  fact,  there  has  never  been  a  country 
in  which  horse-carts,  cattle-carts,  and  deer-carts  were  all  in  com 
mon  use  at  the  same  time.  A  nation  possessing  horses  would  not 
be  likely  to  employ  deer  as  draught  animals  ;  and  the  only  coun 
tries  in  which  deer  (i.  e.,  reindeer)  are  employed  are  countries 
in  which  horses  and  cattle  could  not  well  be  used. 

The  statement  in  question  might  therefore  be  used  in  support 
of  the  hypothesis  of  the  utter  falsity  of  Hwui  Shan's  story.  So 
many  of  the  details  mentioned  by  him  are  shown  to  be  true,  how 
ever,  that  it  is  impossible  to  entertain  this  theory.  The  only 
alternative  is,  therefore,  to  believe  that  the  statement  does  not 
correctly  convey  the  idea  which  he  meant  to  express. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     481 

A  number  of  explanations  may  be  given,  no  one  of  which  is 
very  satisfactory,  and  yet  it  is  infinitely  easier  to  accept  some 
one  of  them,  or  to  believe  that  an  explanation  of  some  kind  will 
hereafter  be  found  for  the  statement,  than  to  think  that  Hwui 
Shan  can  have  invented  the  account  of  his  travels. 

First. — The  character  CH'E,  jfC,  translated  "  carts,"  may  possi 
bly  have  been  used  as  a  sign  of  the  plural.  One  of  its  meanings 
is,  "to  be  piled  up,  heaped  up  by  laying  one  upon  another,  to  in 
crease  in  number  by  adding  one  to  another,"  11S3  and  it  is  used  as 
the  numeral  for  things  placed  one  above  another,  as  boxes,  stairs 
of  a  tower,  or  folds  of  cloth.1481  The  character  ]fr,  differing  from 
it  by  only  the  addition  of  two  strokes,  is  employed  as  the  classi 
fier  of  "  heavens." 1029  The  character  J}£  (also  very  similar) 
means  "  a  concourse,  a  sign  of  the  plural  of  persons,  an  adjective 
of  number,  much,  many,  all  ; 2525  but  it  should  precede  the  noun. 
PEI,  S||,  or  ^,  means  "  a  class,  a  sort,  things,  kinds,"  2553  and  is  a 
sign  of  the  plural,1875  or,  as  Summers  expresses  it,  is  one  of  the 
characters  "used  after  nominal  notions  to  express  plurality."8407 
Still  another  similar  character,  jf,  Klins,  means  "numerous,  many, 
a  legion,1872  an  army,  troops." 2451 

It  is  possible  that  the  character  may  have  originally  been 
some  one  of  those  above  named,  and  that  the  text  may  have 
been  corrupted  so  as  to  read  jjl. 

Second. — Some  of  the  characters  may  have  been  used  as 
phonetics,  instead  of  with  their  usual  meaning.  Thus  the  phrase 
may  have  been  meant  for  "  they  have  MA-CH'JS-NIU  armies,  or 
deer-armies";  in  which  case,  if  the  third  character  is  pronounced 
LIU  (I  and  n  being  frequently  interchanged  by  the  Chinese),  it 
might  possibly  be  considered  as  an  attempt  to  transcribe  the 
Mexican  word  "mazatl,"  meaning  deer.1513 

Third. — It  is  well  known  that,  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  by 
the  Spaniards,  the  Mexicans  had  no  horses,  or  other  beasts  of 
burden,755  and  that  their  only  way  of  transporting  property  was 
by  the  use  of  porters.229  In  New  Mexico,1784  dogs  were  used  to 
carry  burdens.1288  They  were  the  only  animals  pressed  into  the 
service  of  the  natives  of  North  America,  and  they  merely  drag 
ged  along  the  tent-poles,  with  possibly  a  few  articles  laid  upon 
them  ;  nothing  of  the  nature  of  a  vehicle  having  ever  been 
known.1851  The  horse  was  introduced  into  America  from  Spain.13 
Nevertheless,  there  seems  a  bare  possibility  that  this  animal  may 
31 


482  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

have  existed  in  America  fourteen  hundred  years  ago.  Professor 
Leidy  says: 1975  "The  horse  did  not  exist  in  America  at  the  time 
of  its  discovery  by  Europeans  ;  but  its  remains,  consisting 
chiefly  of  molar-teeth,  have  now  been  so  frequently  found  in 
association  with  those  of  rodent  animals,  that  it  is  generally 
admitted  to  have  once  been  an  aboriginal  inhabitant.  When  I 
first  saw  examples  of  these  remains,  I  was  not  disposed  to  view 
them  as  relics  of  an  extinct  species  ;  for,  although  some  presented 
characteristic  differences  from  those  of  previously  known  species, 
others  were  indistinguishable  from  the  corresponding  parts  of 
the  domestic  horse,  and  among  them  were  intermediate  varieties 
of  form  and  size.  The  subsequent  discovery  of  the  remains  of 
two  species  of  the  closely  allied  extinct  genus  Hipparion,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  discovery  of  the  remains  of  two  extinct  equine 
genera  (Anchitherium  and  Merychippus)  of  an  earlier  geological 
period,  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  the  former  existence  of  the  horse 
on  the  American  Continent,  contemporaneously  with  the  masto 
don  and  megalonyx  ;  and  man  probably  was  his  companion." 

In  another  place  Professor  Leidy  says  that,1709  though  no  in 
digenous  species  of  horse  appears  to  have  existed  on  the  Ameri 
can  Continent  during  the  period  of  man,  a  number  of  them  in 
habited  the  country  just  previously  and  contemporaneously  with 
the  great  mastodon,  the  elephant,  etc.  The  name  of  Equmfra- 
ternus  has  been  proposed  for  a  species,  based  on  remains  found 
in  association  with  those  of  the  mastodon,  etc.,  although  they 
are  neither  distinguishable  in  size  nor  details  of  form  from  cor 
responding  parts  in  the  domestic  horse. 

The  proof  will  be  presented  in  another  chapter,  that  a  species 
of  elephant  or  mastodon  probably  existed  in  America  up  to  quite 
a  recent  period,  and  the  horse  also  may  have  lived  during  the 
same  time,  and  have  recently  become  extinct. 

Professor  Powers  says  that,2060  many  hundreds  of  years  ago, 
according  to  the  old  Indians,  there  existed  on  earth  a  horse  and  a 
mare  which  were  extremely  small.  The  Indians  called  them  by 
a  name  (sd-to-icats)y  which  they  at  once  applied  to  the  first  horses 
brought  by  the  Spaniards.  They  perished  long  before  white 
men  ever  saw  California.  It  is  possible  that  these  liliputian 
ponies  of  the  Indian  fable  were  the  extinct  species  of  horse 
of  which  the  remains  have  been  discovered  by  Mr.  Condon,  in 
Oregon* 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     483 

Mr.  E.  L.  Berthoud,  in  an  article  entitled  "  The  American 
Horse," 698  contained  in  the  "  Kansas  City  Review,"  for  Novem 
ber,  1881,  mentions  reasons  for  believing  that  horses  were  found 
in  South  America  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  country,  and 
at  a  time  and  place  when  and  where  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
they  could  have  been  the  progeny  of  any  horses  that  could  have 
been  introduced  into  the  country  from  Europe. 

Fourth. — It  is  possible  that  the  name  "  horse  "  may  have  been 
applied  by  Hwui  Shan  to  some  other  indigenous  animal  ;  or  that 
he  may  have  seen  a  troop  of  far-off  animals,  and,  because  of  the 
great  distance,  or  because  of  a  mirage,  have  mistaken  them  for 
horses.  Marcy  says  that 1785  the  very  extraordinary  refraction  of 
the  atmosphere  upon  the  elevated  American  plateaus  causes  ob 
jects  in  the  distance  to  be  distorted  into  the  most  wild  and 
fantastic  forms,  and  often  exaggerated  to  many  times  their  true 
size.  A  raven,  for  instance,  would  present  the  appearance  of  a 
man  walking  erect,  and  an  antelope  often  be  mistaken  for  a 
horse  or  a  buffalo.  James  states  that 1612  nothing  is  more  difficult 
than  to  estimate  by  the  eye  the  distance  of  objects  seen  in  these 
plains.  A  small  animal,  as  a  wolf  or  turkey,  sometimes  appears 
of  the  magnitude  of  a  horse,  on  account  of  an  erroneous  impres 
sion  of  distance.  Three  elks,  which  were  the  first  he  had  seen, 
crossed  his  path  at  some  distance  before  him.  The  effect  of  the 
mirage,  together  with  his  indefinite  idea  of  the  distance,  magni 
fied  these  animals  to  a  most  prodigious  size.  For  a  moment  he 
thought  he  saw  the  mastodon  of  America  moving  in  those  vast 
plains,  which  seem  to  have  been  created  for  his  dwelling-place. 
An  animal  seen  for  the  first  time,  or  any  object  with  which  the 
eye  is  unacquainted,  usually  appears  much  enlarged,  and  inaccu 
rate  ideas  are  formed  of  the  magnitude  and  distance  of  all  the 
surrounding  objects. 

Some  of  the  early  explorers  say  that  wild  horses  existed  in 
Newfoundland  prior  to  the  year  1600,30  while  others  mention 
goats  and  wild  swine  in  Canada,  and  monkeys  and  apes  in  Vir 
ginia  ;  all  of  these  statements  being  evidently  erroneous.  Elks 28 
are  called  cows  or  buffaloes,29  and  there  is  scarcely  a  conceivable 
case  of  misunderstanding  or  misnomer  into  which  some  of  the 
first  explorers  did  not  fall. 

Montezuma,460  and  the  Mexicans  generally,454  called  the  horses 
of  the  Spaniards  "gigantic  deer."  Some  of  the  Indians  with. 


484  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

whom  Cortez  left  a  wounded  horse  called  it  a  "  white  tapir"  ; 198S 
and  Acosta,3  Clavigero,1057  and  Charlevoix,944  941  all  compare  the 
tapir  to  a  horse,  mule,  or  ass.  Hwui  Shan  may  have  confounded 
these  animals,  in  the  same  way,  and  applied  the  term  "  horse  " 
either  to  some  species  of  deer  or  to  the  Central  American  tapir. 

The  horse  commonly  seen  in  China  is  a  mere  pony,  not  much 
larger  than  the  Shetland  pony  ;  it  is  bony  and  strong,  but  kept 
with  little  care,  and  presents  a  worse  appearance  than  it  would  if 
its  hair  were  trimmed,  its  fetlocks  shorn,  and  its  tail  untied.2489 
The  antelopes,  which  are  very  common  in  Mexico 1514  and  the 
western  part  of  America,2412  the  females  of  which  are  devoid  of 
horns,1294  may  have  been  compared  to  these  small  Chinese 
horses. 

I  have  mentioned  these  possibilities,  not  that  I  think  any  of 
them  probable,  but  merely  because  the  truth  might  lie  hidden  in 
some  one  of  them.  There  is  another  possible  explanation,  how 
ever,  which  I  think  more  plausible,  although  it  is  not  completely 
satisfactory. 

Fifth.— The  Chinese  Buddhists  use  the  term  ^  $>  "  the  three 
carts,"  "  three  carriages,"  or  "  three  vehicles,"  for  three  modes  of 
crossing  sansara  to  nirvana,  as  if  drawn  by  sheep,  oxen,  or  deer, 
which  shadow  forth  the  three  degrees  of  saintship;  and  this  term 
is  further  used  for  three  developments  of  Buddhist  doctrine.2523 

One  of  the  notes  to  the  Pilgrimage  of  Fa  Hian  says  that 18SI 
the  less  translation  and  the  great  translation  are  expressions  of 
such  frequent  recurrence  in  the  narrative,  that  it  is  well  to  ex 
plain  their  import  :  Ta  ching ,  in  Chinese,  means  the  great  revolu 
tion  ;  Siao  ching,  the  little  revolution.  Ching  signifies  transla 
tion,  passage  from  one  place  to  another,  revolution,  circumference ; 
and  also  the  medium  of  transport,  as  a  car  or  riding-horse.  Its 
exact  Sanskrit  equivalent  is  ydna,  and  the  significations  of  these 
two  terms  are  identical.  But  each  of  these  acquires,  with  refer 
ence  to  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism,  a  characteristic  and  peculiar 
significance.  They  are  mystical  expressions,  indicating  that  in 
fluence  which  the  individual  soul  can  and  should  exercise  upon 
itself  in  order  to  effect  its  transference  to  a  superior  condition. 
As  this  action,  or  influence,  and  its  results  are  of  different  kinds 
or  degrees,  so  they  are  distinguished  into  two,  three,  or  more 
ydnas  (in  Chinese,  ching  ;  in  Mongol,  Jculguri)  ;  and,  according 
-as  his  efforts  are  directed  to  the  attainment  of  greater  or  less 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  ASIATIC  CIVILIZATION.     485 

perfection,  the  Sanga  (Buddhist  priest)  belongs  to  the  less,  the 
mean,  or  the  great  translation. 

The  vehiculum,  which  is  common  to  all  the  translations,  is 
the  contemplation  of  the  four  realities,  namely  :  pain,  reunion, 
death,  and  the  doctrine,  and  that  of  the  twelve  concatenations. 
By  this  means  man  is  transported  beyond  the  boundary  of  the 
three  worlds,  and  the  circle  of  birth  and  death.  Strictly  speak 
ing,  there  is  but  one  translation,  that  of  Buddha,  the  practice  of 
which  is  enjoined  upon  all  living  beings,  that  they  may  escape 
from  the  troubled  ocean  of  birth  and  death,  and  land  on  the 
other  shore,  namely,  that  of  the  absolute.  Buddha  would  at 
once  have  spread  abroad  the  knowledge  of  the  Law,  and  taught 
•  mankind  the  one  translation  ;  but  he  found  it  indispensable  to 
adapt  his  instructions  to  the  various  faculties  of  those  who  re 
ceive  them,  and  hence  arose  the  different  ydnas,  or  means  of 
transport.  We  may,  in  the  first  place,  distinguish  the  transla- 
tiohs  of  disciples  or  auditors  and  that  of  distinct  understandings. 
To  these  must  be  added  a  third,  that  of  the  Bodhi-sattwas,  who 
are  beings  far  more  nearly  approaching  to  absolute  perfection. 

It  is  to  the  Tri  ydna  that  the  double  metaphor  is  applied  of 
the  three  cars,  and  the  three  animals  swimming  a  river.  The  car 
is  to  be  taken  here  as  the  emblem  of  that  which  advances  by  re 
volving,  or  that  which  serves  as  a  vehicle  ;  and  the  idea  is  con 
nected  to  that  attached  to  ydna,  and  the  means  by  which  man 
may  escape  from  the  world  and  enter  upon  nirvana.  To  the 
first  car  is  yoked  a  sheep,  an  animal  which  in  flight  never  looks 
back  to  see  whether  itf be  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  flock  ;  and 
thus  it  represents  the  Shrdwakas,  a  class  of  men  who  seek  to  es 
cape  from  the  three  worlds  by  the  observation  of  the  four  reali 
ties,  but  who,  occupied  wholly  with  their  own  salvation,  pay 
no  regard  to  that  of  other  men.  The  second  car  is  drawn  by 
deer,  animals  that  can  look  back  upon  the  herd  which  follows 
them  ;  this  is  typical  of  the  Pratyeka  Buddhas,  who,  by  their 
knowledge  of  the  twelve  Niddnas,  effect  their  own  emancipation 
from  the  circle  of  the  three  worlds,  and  at  the  same  time  neglect 
not  the  salvation  of  other  men.  The  third  car  is  drawn  by  an 
ox,  which  typifies  the  Bodhi-sattwas  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
three  Pitakas,  who  practice  the  six  means  of  salvation,  and  seek 
the  emancipation  of  others  without  regard  to  themselves,  as  the 
ox  endures  with  patience  whatever  burden  is  imposed  upon  him. 


486  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

A  complete  exposition  of  all  that  is  understood  by  the  ob 
servance  of  these  various  classes  would  be  nothing  short  of  a 
treatise  of  Buddhism  ;  suffice  it  that  these  modes  of  translation 
are  so  many  probationary  steps,  by  which  men  are  led  to  a  higher 
or  a  lower  grade  in  the  psychological  hierarchy  extending  from 
inferior  beings  to  the  absolute.  Explained  according  to  Eu 
ropean  notions,  the  less  translation  consists  in  morality  and  ex 
ternal  religious  observances  ;  the  mean,  in  traditional  or  sponta 
neous  psychological  arrangements  ;  and  the  great  translation 
is  an  abstruse,  refined,  and  highly  mystical  theology. 

It  seems  possible  that  Hwui  Shan  may  have  meant  to  refer 
to  the  "  three  vehicles  "  as  above  defined  ;  and  to  say  that  these 
people  who  had  been  reformed,  who  had  accepted  Buddha's 
doctrines,  and  some  of  whom  had  undertaken  to  live  in  monas 
teries,  had  been  taught  the  mysteries  of  these  "  three  transla 
tions,"  "three  carts,"  or  " three  vehicles." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE    COUNTRY    OF   WOMEN    AND    ITS    INHABITANTS. 

Stories  of  Amazons — Account  of  Ptolemy — That  of  Maundevile — Marco  Polo— 
The  Arabs — The  Chinese — Similar  stories  in  America — Explanations  of  these 
accounts — "  Cihuatlan,"  the  Place  of  Women — The  account  given  by  Cortez 
— Nuno  de  Guzman — The  expedition  to  Cihuatlan — The  monkeys  of  Southern 
Mexico — Their  resemblance  to  human  beings — Stories  of  pygmies — Classical 
tales — Pliny's  account — That  of  Maundevile — The  worship  of  Hanuman  in 
India — Chinese  stories — The  Wrangling  People — The  Eloquent  Nation — The 
Long-armed  People — "  Chu-ju,"  or  the  Land  of  Pygmies — Pygmies  in  America 
— Mexican  monkeys — Their  long  locks,  queues,  or  tails — Their  migration — 
Their  bickering  or  chattering — Their  rutting-season — The  period  of  gestation 
— The  beginning  of  the  year  in  China,  Tartary,  and  Mexico — The  absence  of 
breasts — Nursing  children  over  the  shoulder — Young  monkeys  carried  on 
their  mothers'  backs — Long  hair  at  the  back  of  the  head — A  different  trans 
lation  suggested — Age  at  which  they  can  walk — That  at  which  they  become 
fully  grown — Their  timidity — Their  devotion  to  their  mates. 

HAVING  thus  completed  the  examination  of  Hwui  Shan's  ac 
count  of  Fu-sang,  we  will  next  consider  his  statements  regard 
ing  a  country  situated  some  three  hundred  miles  to  the  east. 
These  have  always  been  considered  so  wild  and  absurd  that  their 
supposed  falsity  has  been  used  as  a  strong  argument  for  casting 
discredit  upon  his  whole  story. 

I. — Hwui  SHAN  SAYS   THAT  THE  COUNTRY  or  WOMEN   is 

SITUATED  A  THOUSAND  LI  EAST  OF  Fu-SANG. 

It  is  strange  that  a  story  of  a  region  inhabited  exclusively  by 
women,  situated  in  some  unknown  or  distant  land,  has  existed 
in  almost  every  country.  The  classical  accounts  of  a  land  of 
Amazons  were  believed  in  up  to  the  time  of  Columbus,  and  even 
later. 

Amazonia,  as  described  by  Ptolemy  in  his  fifth  book,  is  a 
region  of  Scythia.  The  Amazons  are  female  Scythians,  who  first 
dwelt  in  the  country  near  the  river  Don.  Thence  they  removed 


488  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

to  a  place  near  the  river  Terma,  and  finally  they  conquered  a 
great  part  of  Asia  by  their  arms.1751 

Maundevile 1827  gives  the  following  account  of  this  mythical 
country  : 

"  Besyde  the  Loud  of  Caldee  is  the  Lond  of  Amazoyne.  And 
in  that  Reme  is  alle  Women,  and  no  man ;  noght,  as  sume  men 
seyn,  that  men  mowe  not  lyve  there,  but  for  because  that  the 
Women  will  not  suffre  no  men  amonges  hem,  to  ben  here  Sov- 
ereynes.  For  sum  tyme,  ther  'was  a  Kyng  in  that  Contrey  ;  and 
men  maryed,  as  in  other  Contreyes  :  and  so  bef elle  that  the  Kyng 
had  Werre,  with  hem  of  Sithie  ;  the  whiche  Kyng  highte  Colop- 
eus,  was  slayne  in  Bataylle,  and  alle  the  gode  Blood  of  his  Reme. 
And  whan  the  Queen  and  alle  the  othere  noble  Ladyes  sawen,  that 
thei  weren  alle  Wydewes,  and  that  alle  the  rialle  Blood  was  lost, 
thei  armed  hem,  and  as  Creatures  out  of  Wytt,  thei  slowen  alle 
the  men  of  the  Contrey,  that  weren  laft.  For  thei  wolde,  that 
alle  the  Women  weren  Wydewes,  as  the  Queen  and  thei  weren. 
And  fro  that  tyme  hiderwardes  thei  nevere  wolden  suffren  man 
to  dwelle  amonges  hem,  lenger  than  7  dayes  and  7  nyghtes  ;  ne 
that  no  Child  that  were  Male,  scholde  duelle  amonges  hem, 
lenger  than  he  were  noryscht ;  and  thanne  sente  to  his  Fader." 

Marco  Polo  says  that,1818  distant  from  Kesmacoran  about 
five  hundred  miles  toward  the  south,  in  the  ocean,  there  are  two 
islands,  within  about  thirty  miles  of  each  other,  one  of  which  is 
inhabited  by  men  without  the  company  of  women,  which  is 
called  the  Island  of  Males,  and  the  other  by  women  without 
men,  which  is  called  the  Island  of  Females. 

The  Arabs  had  a  similar  tradition  regarding  an  "  Island  of 
Women." im 

The  Chinese  writings  mention  many  countries  of  Amazons,23*6 
one  in  particular  being  known  as  ;£  -^  |jj,  NU-TSZ'-KWOH,  and 
said  to  be  situated  to  the  north  of  Wu-hien. 

In  the  fabulous  account  of  the  origin  of  Ceylon,  detailed  by 
Hiuen  Ts'ang,  it  is  stated  that  two  vessels  loaded  with  provisions 
and  necessaries  set  sail  from  Southern  India,  one  carrying  young 
men  and  the  other  young  women.  The  vessel  on  which  the 
damsels  embarked  arrived  at  the  western  part  of  Persia,  in  a 
country  inhabited  by  genii.  Those  who  landed  had  children  by 
their  intercourse  with  the  genii,  and  established  the  "  Great  Oc 
cidental  Kingdom  of  Women." 1361 


THE   COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  489 

De  Paravey,2013  after  enumerating  several  countries  of  Ama 
zons  mentioned  by  Chinese  writers,  says  : 

"The  Chinese  books  also  place  an  ancient  Country  of  .Ama 
zons  near  the  Caspian  Sea."  "The  Chinese  texts  name  them 
N'm-mou-yo,  and  also,  by  abbreviation,  Niu-mou,  and  in  this 
name  the  character  mou  is  written  in  three  or  four  different 
manners  ;  and  it  was  undoubtedly  the  same  with  the  character 
2/o,  which  originally  accompanied  it.  If  the  name  is  written 
-£,  N~iu,  J|L,  mou,  ^  yu,  it  signifies  l  Women  without  Breasts? 
and  exactly  translates  the  name  given  them  by  the  Greeks, 
A-mazons  (from  d,  without,  and  [la&s,  breast)" 

It  is  well  known  that  in  America  the  largest  river  of  the 
world  took  its  name  from  a  similar  story.2119  In  Charlevoix's 
"  History  of  Paraguay  "  it  is  stated  that,  when  Ribera  was  among 
a  tribe  of  Indians  named  the  Urtuezez,  he  examined  separately 
many  of  the  Indians  of  the  neighbourhood  concerning  the  coun 
try  that  lay  beyond  them,  and  they  unanimously  told  him  that, 
at  ten  days'  march  to  the  northwest,  there  were  large  towns  in 
habited  by  women,  who  were  governed  by  a  woman.943 

Cronise,  in  his  "  Natural  Wealth  of  California,"  makes  men 
tion  of  an  ancient  tradition  to  the  effect  that,  when  the  Spaniards 
first  arrived  in  California,  they  found  a  tribe,  in  what  is  now 
Mendocino  County,  in  which  the  squaws  were  Amazons,  and  exer 
cised  a  gynecocracy  ;  and  Powers  adds  that  he  is  inclined  to  think 
that  the  fable  was  not  without  some  foundation.2057  Hervas 1542  says 
that  among  the  Chulotecas  in  Nicaragua  the  men  "are  subject  to 
the  women."  Mention  is  also  made735  of  a  cape  of  Yucatan  called 
the  "  Cape  of  the  Women,"  and  said  to  be  so  called  because  of 
the  idols  of  women  which  were  found  in  a  temple  there. 

The  opinion  has  frequently  been  expressed  that  these  tradi 
tions  regarding  tribes  of  women  may  have  originated  from  the 
contemptuous  application  of  the  term  "women,"  by  warlike 
tribes,  to  those  in  their  neighbourhood  whom  they  thought  less 
valiant  than  themselves.  The  Mexicans  applied  this  epithet  to  the 
Tlascalans,2080  when  they  approached  the  capital  with  the  Span 
iards,  and  also  designated  the  Tlatilulcas  by  the  same  term.525 

A  more  likely  explanation  seems,  however,  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  when,  as  for  instance  among  the  Caribs,2116  the  men 
went  on  a  military  expedition,  the  women  defended  their  homes 
against  the  attacks  of  enemies  ;  or  else  in  the  custom — which  has 


490  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

been  made  use  of  by  some  timid  and  peaceful  tribes  when  they 
were  threatened  with  attack  by  powerful  enemies,  or  when  they 
wished  to  propitiate  strangers — of  sending  the  women  to  meet 
them,  while  the  men  remained  at  home  ;  this  action  being  con 
sidered  as  a  pledge  of  friendship  and  security.1125 

Whatever  the  cause  may  have  been,  the  fact  remains  that 
among  the  Mexicans  there  were  traditions  not  only  of  white 
men,  and  men  with  beards,  but  also  of  a  nation  of  Amazons.1860 

In  all  the  old  maps  of  Mexico  there  will  be  found,  upon  the 
Pacific  coast,  the  name  "  Cihuatlan,"  sometimes  spelled  with  an 
initial  S  or  with  the  h  replaced  by  g  or  q.  Scarcely  any  two  of 
them  agree  as  to  its  exact  location,  the  old  maps  of  the  coun 
try  being  so  incorrect  that  Clavigero  says  that  he  did  not  find  a 
single  one  among  them  which  was  not  full  of  errors,  as  well  in 
respect  to  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  places  as  in  regard 
to  the  division  of  the  provinces,  the  course  of  the  streams,  and 
the  direction  of  the  coast.1051 

In  the  "  Munich  Atlas,"  No.  6,  supposed  to  have  been  drawn 
between  1532  and  1540,  the  name  appears  with  the  termination  co, 
as  Ciguatanco.  De  Laet  gives  the  name  as  Cimatlan.1690  George 
Home  gives  it  as  Ciguatlan,  and  says  that  it  is  situated  in  Cul- 
vacan.1561  In  Clavigero's  map,  Cihuatlan  appears  upon  the  Pacific 
coast,  in  the  province  of  Zacatollan,  a  little  southeast  of  the  city 
of  that  name.1052  Ranking,  who  follows  Clavigero,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  rectifying  the  latitudes  and  longitudes,  places  this 
town  or  district  in  about  102°  30'  west  longitude,  and  18°  30' 
north  latitude,  some  distance  northwest  of  Acapulco.2141  Gage 
places  Ciguatlan  upon  the  Pacific  coast,  almost  due  west  of  the 
city  of  Mexico,  and  Siquatlan  near  Sacatula,  a  few  miles  back 
from  the  coast  ;1387  while  d'Avity  gives  two  places  named  Cigua 
tlan,  one  near  the  extreme  north  and  the  other  near  the  extreme 
south  of  Mexico.78 

Buschmann  says  that 894  " Cihuatlan"  (meaning  "the  Place  or 
Land  of  Women  ")  is  the  name  from  which  the  south  wind  takes 
its  designation,  and  is  applied  to  an  old  place  upon  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  somewhat  southerly  from  Zacatollan,  and  to  a  place 
southerly  from  Tabasco,  upon  the  eastern  coast,  apparently  in 
the  land  of  Guatemala.  Cihuatlampa  is  defined  as  meaning  "to 
the  west,"  and  the  west  wind  is  therefore  called  Cihuatlampa 
ehecatl  (ehecatl  meaning  wind),  and  he  says  that  the  word  in 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  491 

question  is  derived  from  Cihuatl,  "  woman,"  combined  with  the 
place-particle  tlan,  and  the  post-position  pa,  "  toward,  against, 
near";  thus  the  compound  means  "toward  the  Woman's  Land," 
or  from  there  here,  or  it  may  also  be  denned  as  "  toward  Cihuat- 
lan." 8™  Sahagun  says  that  Cihuatlampa  means  "near  the  wom 
en,"  and  adds  that  the  Indians  supposed  that  the  women  who 
died  in  childbed  went  to  that  part  of  the  heaven  where  the  sun 
sets  ;  hence  the  term  was  used  figuratively  to  denote  the  west. 

The  commander-in-chief  of  the  Mexican  army,  who  was  slain 
in  the  battle  at  Otumba  in  1520,  was  named  Cihuacatzin,  meaning 
"the  honoured  chief  of  Cihuacan,"  or  of  "the  Woman's  King 
dom."  892 

Cortez,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Spanish  emperor,  says  : 
"  Not  only  the  province  of  Zacatula,  but  many  others  adjoining 
it,  offered  themselves  as  vassals  of  your  imperial  majesty,  name 
ly,  Aliman,  Colimonte,  and  Ciguatan.  A  captain,  sent  on  an  ex 
pedition  to  Zacatula  and  its  neighbourhood,  brought  an  account 
of  the  land  of  Ciguatan,  in  which  there  is  affirmed  to  be  an  island 
inhabited  by  women  without  any  men,  although  at  certain  times 
they  are  visited  by  men  from  the  main-land  :  and  if  the  women 
bear  female  children,  they  are  protected  ;  but  if  males,  they  are 
driven  from  their  society.  The  island  is  ten  days'  journey  from 
that  province,  and  many  have  gone  there  and  seen  it.  They 
also  tell  me  it  is  very  rich  in  pearls  and  gold  ;  respecting  which 
I  shall  labour  to  obtain  the  truth,  and  to  give  your  majesty  a  full 
account  of  it." no° 

Nuno  de  Guzman  undertook  an  expedition  in  search  of  this 
land  of  Amazons,  which,  in  some  accounts,  was  stated  to  lie  at  a 
distance  of  only  three  days'  journey  from  the  city  of  Mexico.2222 

In  an  interview  with  the  chief  Tangaxoan,  he,  "  thinking  to 
obtain  information  that  would  be  useful  to  him  in  the  expedition 
which  he  contemplated  making  to  the  north  of  Mexico,  inter 
rupted  him  to  demand  a  description  of  the  northern  provinces. 
*  Who  of  you,'  said  he,  *  has  heard  mention  made  of  the  cele 
brated  cities  of  Teo-Culhuacan  and  Cihuatlan,  where  the  women 
are  sovereign  to  the  exclusion  of  the  men  ?  '  They  answered  that 
they  had  no  knowledge  of  them.  '  Ah  well !  I  know  where  they 
are  situated,'  replied  Guzman,  'and  I  am  in  hope  of  going  there 
to  conquer  them,  and  one  of  you  shall  accompany  me.'  "  754 

After  a  month's  stay  at  Chametla,  the  army  proceeded  north  to 


492  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  Quezala  province,  and  thence  to  Piastla,  easily  subduing  the 
natives  of  the  district.  The  women  were  becoming  more  beauti 
ful  as  they  continued  their  course,  which  seemed  to  indicate  that 
they  were  approaching  the  object  of  their  dreams  ;  and  indeed 
glowing  reports  of  Cihuatlan,  the  "  Place  of  Women,"  confirmed 
the  marvelous  tales  which  had  reached  the  capital.  .  .  .  These 
Spaniards  awoke  to  disappointment  when  they  learned,  at  Cihu 
atlan,  that  the  Indians  had  been  telling  stories  to  amuse  them  ; 
that  there  was  no  Amazon  island  or  other  great  wonder  there 
awaiting  them.  Yet  for  a  long  time  they  continued  to  talk  of 
these  things,  and  in  a  measure  to  believe  in  them,  though  they 
knew  them  to  be  false.473 

Bancroft,  in  his  "  History  of  the  North  Mexican  States,"  says 
that  Ciguatan, "  Place  of  Women,"  was  a  province  of  eight  pueb 
los,  on  a  river  of  the  same  name,  also  called,  in  Spanish,  Rio  de  las 
Mugeres,  and  apparently  to  be  identified  with  the  stream  now 
known  as  Rio  de  San  Lorenzo.  The  name  Quila,  used  in  the 
narratives,  is  still  applied  to  a  town  on  that  river.  The  rich  and 
mysterious  isles  of  the  Amazons  had  been  from  the  first  one  of 
the  strongest  incentives  to  northwestern  exploration  in  the  minds 
of  both  Cortez  and  Guzman.  The  cosmographer,  by  his  vagaries, 
had  furnished  the  romancer  with  sufficient  foundation  for  the 
fable  ;  the  tales  of  natives  from  the  first  conquest  of  Michoacan 
had  seemed  to  support  it  ;  and  as  Guzman  proceeded  northward, 
and  drew  nearer  to  Ciguatan,  his  hopes  were  greatly  excited.  Na 
tives  along  the  route  were  willing  to  gratify  the  Spanish  desire  for 
the  marvelous,  or  perhaps  the  interpreter's  zeal  outran  his  lin 
guistic  skill.  The  women  of  Ciguatan  were  represented  as  living 
alone,  except  during  four  months  of  the  year,  when  young  men 
from  the  adjoining  provinces  were  invited  to  till  their  fields 
by  day,  and  rewarded  with  their  caresses  at  night.  Boy  babies 
were  killed  or  sent  to  their  fathers  ;  girls  were  allowed  to  grow 
up.  These  details,  with  some  variations,  are  repeated  by  each 
writer  as  having  been  told  before  they  arrived  and  as  corrobo 
rated  more  or  less  completely  by  what  they  saw  and  heard  at 
Ciguatan,  where  they  found  many  women  and  few  men.  But, 
as  several  of  them  admit,  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  men  had 
either  fled  to  avoid  the  Spaniards,  or  to  make  preparations  for  an 
attack.  The  Amazon  bubble  had  burst ;  but  the  soldiers  were  by 
no  means  inclined  to  forget  the  marvels  on  which  their  imagina- 


THE   COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  493 

tion  had  so  long  feasted  :  they  continued  to  talk,  long  after  they 
returned  to  Mexico,  of  the  wonderful  City  of  Women. 

Lopez,  "  Rel.,"  p.  443,  says  only  three  males  and  one  thousand 
women  were  found  in  one  town.  Armienta,  "Apuntes  para  la 
Historia  de  Sinoloa,"  says  :  "  These  towns  were  found  to  be  at 
this  time  inhabited  by  women  alone,  in  conformity  with  a  religious 
vow  which  obliged  them  to  live  separate  from  their  husbands  for 
a  period  of  twenty  Aztec  years."  He  calls  the  Amazon  towns 
Abuya  and  Binapa,  at  the  base  of  the  Tacuchamona  range,  on 
the  other  side  of  which  was  Quezala — confounded  with  the  later 
and  more  northern  Casala.  He  also  describes  the  reception  at 
Navito  by  sixty  thousand  natives.  This  narration,  written  for  a 
Sinoloa  newspaper,  seems  to  be  mainly  taken  from  Tello's  work. 

Oviedo,  iii,  576-577,  heard  these  tales  from  the  soldiers  in 
Mexico  ;  but,  meeting  Guzman  later  in  Spain,  was  told  the  truth. 
This  author  says  the  chief  pueblo  was  a  well-built  town  of  six 
thousand  houses.  He  also  names  Orocomay  as  another  Amazon 
pueblo.  Herrera,  dec.  iii,  lib.  viii,  chap,  iii,  calls  the  town 
Zapuatan.491 

Gomara  suggests  that  all  the  stories  of  this  wonderful  land 
may  have  originated  from  the  name  "  Place  of  Women." 472 
Whatever  the  reason  may  have  been  for  the  existence  of  this 
name,  the  fact  is  beyond  dispute  that  there  was  a  region  of 
Mexico  so-called  ;  and  it  is  a  proof  of  the  lack  of  care,  in  former 
examinations  of  Hwui  Shan's  story,  that  no  one  has  ever  called 
attention  to  this  fact  in  connection  with  his  account.  As  to 
the  statement  that  the  Country  of  Women  lay  to  the  east  of 
Fu-sang,  a  glance  at  a  map  of  Mexico  will  show  that  the  Pacific 
coast  of  that  country  lies  almost  due  east  and  west,  and  that  a 
region  farther  down  the  coast  than  that  in  which  a  voyager  from 
Asia  would  naturally  land  would  lie  easterly  from  it,  as  well  as 
to  the  west  or  southwest  of  the  city  of  Mexico. 

II. — ITS  PEOPLE'S  BODIES  ARE  HAIRY,  AND  THEY  HAVE  LONG 

LOCKS,  THE  ENDS  OF  WHICH  REACH  TO  THE  GROUND. 

The  whole  account  of  these  inhabitants  of  the  "  Country  of 
Women  "  is  so  evidently  a  description  of  the  monkeys  of  South 
ern  Mexico,  that  it  is  surprising  that  it  has  never  before  been 
noticed. 

Where  monkeys  are  found,  the  idea  seems  often  to  have  oc 
curred  to  men  to  account  for  the  resemblance  of  the  monkey  to 


494:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

mankind  by  making  of  the  first  a  fallen  or  changed  form  of  the 
latter.305  According  to  the  Quiches,  when  man  was,  for  the  third 
time,  created,  the  gods  took  counsel  together.  It  was  decided 
that  a  man  should  be  made  of  wood  and  a  woman  of  a  kind  of 
pith.  They  were  made  ;  but  the  result  was  in  no  wise  satisfac 
tory.  They  led  a  useless  existence  ;  they  lived  as  the  beasts 
live  ;  they  forgot  the  Heart  of  Heaven.  Then  was  the  Heart 
of  Heaven  wroth  ;  and  he  sent  ruin  and  destruction  upon  those 
ingrates.  Thus  were  they  all  devoted  to  chastisement  and  de 
struction,  save  only  a  few  who  were  preserved  as  memorials  of 
the  wooden  men  that  had  been  ;  and  these  now  exist  in  the 
woods  as  little  apes.301 

The  stories  of  pygmies  have  probably  all  been  founded  upon 
the  existence  of  quadrumana ;  and  it  is  not  wonderful  that  a 
traveler,  passing  through  strange  lands,  and  meeting  many 
remarkable  tribes,  with  peculiarities  and  customs  formerly  un 
known,  should,  when  he  first  sees  monkeys  or  apes,  suppose  that 
they  too  are  some  strange  wild  tribe  of  human  beings. 

According  to  Latin  authorities,  the  Pygmies  are  a  small  kind 
of  people  living  in  Arabia,  as  stated  by  Pomponius  in  his  third 
book.  As  Pliny  also  writes,  in  his  seventh  book,  the  Pygmies 
inhabit  the  farthest  mountains  of  India,  a  region  always  health 
ful  and  spring-like,  opposite  to  the  northern  mountains,  and 
they  are  greatly  molested  by  the  cranes.  It  is  said  that,  in  the 
spring-time,  they,  being  armed  with  arrows,  all  descend  to 
gether,  in  an  army,  to  the  sea,  and  live  upon  eggs  and  young 
birds  ;  being  in  such  flocks  that  they  can  not  be  resisted.  Gelius 
testifies  that  their  height  does  not  exceed  two  feet  and  a  quarter. 
Their  females  bear  young  when  five  years  old,  and  they  become 
aged  at  the  age  of  eight  years. 1756 

Maundevile  states  that  in1832  "the  Lond  of  Pigmaus,  the 
folk  ben  of  litylle  Stature,  that  ben  but  3  Span  long  :  and  thei 
ben  right  faire  and  gentylle,  after  here  quantytees  bothe  the 
Men  and  the  Wommen.  And  thei  maryen  hem,  whan  thei  ben 
half  Yere  of  Age  and  geten  Children.  And  thei  lyven  not  but 
6  Yeer  or  7  at  the  moste.  And  he  that  lyvethe  8  Yeer,  men 
holden  him  there  right e  passynge  old." 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  accounts  of  the  pygmies  agree 
in  several  respects  with  Hwui  Shan's  statements  as  to  the  pecul 
iarities  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Country  of  Women. 


THE   COUNTKY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  495 

Maundevile's  account  of  an  "  Yle  "  in  which  "  ben  folk,  that 
gon  upon  hire  Hondes  and  hire  Feet,  as  Bestes  :  and  thei  ben 
alle  skynned  and  fedred,  and  thei  wolde  lepen  als  lightly  in  to 
Trees,  and  fro  Tree  to  Tree,  as  it  were  Squyrelles  or  Apes,"  mi 
is  evidently  another  variation  of  the  descriptions  of  the  quadru- 
mana. 

The  notion  of  mountaineers  with  tails  seems  to  have  its  origin 
in  the  name  of  orang  utan,  or  "  wild  men,"  given  to  certain  apes 
that  particularly  resemble  the  human  species.1812 

In  India,  the  worship  of  Hanuman,  a  rational  and  very 
amusing  ape  of  the  Hindu  mythology,  who,  with  an  army  of  his 
own  species,  assisted  Rama  in  the  conquest  of  Ceylon,  has  pro 
duced  a  feeling  of  veneration  for  the  whole  race  of  quadrumana, 
but  particularly  for  those  of  the  larger  class,  whose  form  ap 
proaches  nearest  to  that  of  the  human  race.  Here  we  have  a 
variation  of  the  customary  confusion,  however,  as  it  has  been 
conjectured,  with  much  plausibility,  that  in  this  case  the  so-called 
monkeys  of  llama's  army  were  in  fact  the  half -savage  mount 
aineers  of  the  country  near  Comorin.1817 

Several  cases  of  confusion  between  quadrumana  and  human 
beings  occur  in  the  Chinese  books.  Thus  the  "  Wrangling  or 
Remonstrating  People  "  are  described  as  a  race  of  pygmies  seven 
inches  high.2521  The  people  of  "  Lik-pit "  are  said  to  be  about 
three  inches  high,  having  wings,  and  because  of  their  skill  in 
talking  and  joking  they  are  called  "  the  Eloquent  Nation."  186S 

In  both  cases  there  is  an  evident  reference  to  the  almost 
ceaseless  chattering  of  a  troop  of  monkeys  ;  while  the  statement 
that  they  have  wings,  is  merely  a  figurative  method  of  expressing 
the  lightness  and  ease  with  which  they  vault  from  tree  to  tree, 
for,  as  Acosta  says, 14  "  they  almost  seem  to  fly  like  the  birds." 

The  Chinese  also  mention  a  country  of  Long-armed  People: 8556 
again  an  evident  allusion  to  some  species  of  ape.  One  of  the 
most  unquestionable  references  to  a  country  inhabited  by  apes 
is  found  in  their  account  of  the  country  of  Chu-ju,  the  Land  of 
Pygmies.1553  A  literal  translation  of  Ma  Twan-lin's  account  of 
this  land  is  given  below  : 

"  In  the  CHU-JU  (or  Pygmy)  country,  the  people  are  only 
four  (Chinese)  feet  tall  (or  four  feet  eight  inches  of  our  stand 
ard).  It  is  south  of  the  Black-teeth  and  Naked-people's  coun 
tries,  which  are  four  thousand  H  or  more  distant  from  Japan. 


496  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

The  ship  should  then  go  to  the  southwest  for  perhaps  a  year, 
some  ten  thousand  lit  when  the  Sea-people  are  reached.  They 
have  black  bodies  and  white  eyes,  and  are  naked  and  ugly. 
Their  flesh  is  delicious,  and  the  travelers  sometimes  shoot  and 
eat  them." 

The  last  sentence  has  usually  been  translated,  "The  travel 
ers  who  are  plump  run  the  risk  of  being  killed  with  their  arrows, 
and  then  eaten."  The  Chinese  text,  however,  clearly  indicates 
that  the  banquet  is  not  one  at  which  the  pygmies  eat,  but  one  at 
which  they  are  eaten.  As  the  travelers  referred  to  were  not 
cannibals,  these  pygmies  can  have  been  nothing  else  than  apes. 

In  America,  Hennepin  reports  that  some  of  the  Indians  who 
visited  him  from  the  extreme  west,  who  occupied  four  months 
in  making  the  journey,  said  that  beyond  them  there  were  pyg 
mies,  or  small  men.1469  Juan  Alvarez  Maldonado,  who  made  an 
expedition  from  Cuzco  in  the  year  1561,  reported  that  when  he 
descended  the  eastern  range  of  the  Andes,  he  had  scarcely  cleared 
the  rough  and  rocky  ground  of  the  slope  when  his  party  encount 
ered  two  pygmies.  They  shot  the  female,  and  the  male  died  of 
grief  six  days  afterward.1532 

It  will  be  seen,  from  the  references  that  have  been  given,  that 
travelers  in  all  parts  of  the  world  have  frequently  described 
monkeys  as  people,  or  as  pygmies,  and  yet  there  are,  undoubted 
ly,  many  who  will  be  ready  to  denounce  Hwui  Shan  as  "a  lying 
Buddhist  priest,"  because  he  falls  into  the  same  error,  notwith 
standing  the  fact  that  he  gives  an  accurate  description  of  the 
Mexican  monkeys,  and  mentions  many  peculiarities  which  were 
never  possessed  by  any  race  of  human  beings  ;  and  one  which 
distinguishes  them  from  all  other  monkeys  of  the  world. 

As  to  the  monkeys  of  Mexico,  the  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nica  says  that,1297  in  America,  north  of  Panama,  the  genera  as 
yet  known  to  be  represented  are  Chrysothrix,  NyctipitJiecus, 
Cebus,  Ateles,  Mycetes,  and  Hapale,  in  Veragua  ;  Nyctipithe- 
cus,  Cebus,  Ateles,  and  Mycetes,  in  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua  ; 
Ateles  and  Mycetes,  in  Guatemala  ;  and  Ateles,  in  Southern  Mexi 
co.  The  statement  is  added  that,1298  in  the  New  World,  the 
highest  northern  latitude  certainly  known  to  be  attained  is  18° 
or  19°  (Ateles  melanochir),  in  Southern  Mexico,  but  they  possi 
bly  reach  even  latitude  23°. 

Nott  and  Glidden,1979  quoting  from  Richardson's  "  Report  on 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  497 

North  American  Zoology,"  contained  in  the  publications  of  the 
British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  vol.  v, 
1837,  p.  138,  say  that  the  monkeys  which  enter  into  the  southern 
provinces  of  Mexico  belong  to  the  genera  Mycetes  and  Hapale. 
They  also  mention  Wagner's  statement  (found  in  the  publica 
tions  of  the  Bavaria  Academy  at  Munich  for  1846,  p.  51),  that 
apes  are  found  in  the  southern  provinces  of  Mexico.1978  Of  the 
two  hundred  and  ten  species  of  monkeys  which  were  classified 
in  1882,  twenty-six  belonged  to  the  genus  Hapale  and  seven  to 
the  genus  Mycetes™'1 

The  statement  is  made  by  Acosta  that 14  all  the  mountains 
of  the  islands,  of  the  main-land,  and  of  the  Andes,  have  an  in 
finite  number  of  Micos,  or  apes,  which  are  of  the  race  of  monk 
eys,  but  different  from  the  fact  that  they  have  a  very  long  tail. 
Among  them  are  some  species  which  are  three  times  or  even 
four  times  as  large  as  the  common  ones  ;  some  are  entirely 
black,  others  chestnut  coloured,  others  gray,  and  others  spotted 
and  mixed.  Their  agility,  and  their  manner  of  doing  things  (leur 
fa$on  defaire),  are  admirable  ;  for  they  seem  to  have  reason, 
and  to  discourse  with  each  other  as  they  travel  through  the  trees. 

Clavigero  says  that  1056  all  the  species  of  quadrumana  found 
in  that  kingdom  are  known  to  the  Mexicans  by  the  general 
name  of  OzomatU,  and  to  the  Spaniards  by  that  of  Monos. 
They  are  of  different  sizes  and  shapes,  some  small  and  singularly 
diverting,  others  of  medium  size,  about  as  large  as  a  badger,  and 
others  large,  strong,  ferocious,  and  bearded,  which,  by  some,  are 
called  Zambos.  These,  when  they  stand  erect,  as  they  sometimes 
do,  upon  two  feet,  almost  equal  a  man  in  stature. 

Hernandez  states  that 1502  they  are  of  various  sizes  and  colours, 
some  being  found  that  are  black,  others  whitish,  and  others 
brown  ;  some  being  large,  others  remarkably  small,  and  still 
others  of  medium  size  ;  others  have  canine  heads,  and  nearly  all 
are  burdened  by  clasping  their  young. 

It  is  wonderful  how  they  bend  and  throw  the  branches  of 
the  trees,  which  they  have  climbed  on  account  of  the  traveler  ; 
how  they  cross  rivers  by  grasping  each  other  with  their  tails, 
and  swinging  from  the  trees  over  the  neighbouring  rivers  ;  and, 
above  all,  how  well  they,  when  wounded  with  an  arrow  or  shot, 
bear  the  wound  as  well  as  men  would  do,  and  apply  moss  or  the 
leaves  of  the  trees  to  the  wound,  in  order  to  check  the  flowing 
32 


498  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

blood,  and  so,  if  possible,  to  save  their  lives.  They  raise  one 
little  one,  which  they  carry  about  with  them,  it  clinging  fast 
and  they  embracing  it  with  wonderful  devotion  and  love.  They 
are  found  near  the  heights  and  chief  peaks  of  the  mountains. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  Hwui  Shan  was  speaking  of  monkeys, 
his  statement,  that  they  had  hairy  bodies,  is  evidently  true,  and 
the  long  "  locks,"  the  ends  of  which  reached  to  the  ground,  are 
their  tails. 

The  character  translated  "  locks "  closely  resembles  the  one 
since  adopted  for  the  Chinese  queue.  The  ancient  Chinese  wore 
their  hair  long,  and  bound  upon  the  top  of  the  head,  somewhat 
after  the  style  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Loo  Choo  Islands,  and, 
taking  pride  in  its  glossy  black,  called  themselves  the  "  Black- 
haired  Race."  260°  But  in  1627,  while  the  Manchus  were  in  pos 
session  of  only  Liautung,  they  issued  an  order  that  all  the  Chi 
nese  under  them  should  adopt  their  coiffure,  on  penalty  of  death, 
as  a  sign  of  allegiance.1869  The  fashion  thus  begun  by  compul 
sion  is  now  followed  from  choice. 

III. AT    THE     SECOND     OB    THIRD     MONTH,    BICKERING,  THEY 

ENTER  THE  WATER  (possibly  "  come  down  to  the  low  lands  or  to 
the  streams,"  or  perhaps  "  enter  upon  a  migration  " — the  charac 
ter  SHUI  meaning  not  only  "  water,"  but  also  "  a  trip  from  one 
place  to  another").  THEY  THEN  BECOME  PREGNANT.  THEY 

BEAR   THEIR   YOUNG  AT  THE  SIXTH  OR  SEVENTH   MONTH.       (Prob- 

ably  of  gestation,  but  possibly  of  the  year.) 

Four  statements  are  made  here,  all  of  which  are  true  of 
monkeys,  and  none  of  which  can  be  considered  as  to  the  same 
extent  characteristic  of  any  tribe  of  human  beings  : 

1.  They  migrate  at  a  particular  season  of  the  year. 

2.  They  "  bicker  "  or  "  chatter  "  so  much  as  to  excite  atten 
tion  to  the  fact. 

3.  They  have  a  well-defined  rutting-season. 

4.  The  period  of  gestation  is  much  shorter  than  it  is  in  the 
case  of  the  human  race. 

Audebert  says  of  the  Sai  or  capuchin  monkeys,  that  they  go 
in  great  troops  in  the  trees,  and  it  is  particularly  during  the 
rainy  season  that  they  are  found  thus  collected  together.71 

The  migrations  of  monkeys,  and  their  habit  of  coming  to  the 
water,  in  great  troops,  in  the  spring,  are  mentioned  in  the  ac 
counts  of  the  pygmies  which  have  already  been  given. 


THE   COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND   ITS  INHABITANTS.  499 

The  character  fg,  KING,  translated  "bickering,"  was  originally 
formed  of  "  words  "  above  "  a  man,"  and  this  was  repeated  ;  thus 
picturing  two  men  talking  to  each  other,  both  at  once.  No 
more  appropriate  character  could  be  used  to  indicate  the  chat 
tering  of  monkeys. 

It  is  strange  that  former  translators  should  have  imagined 
that  the  statement  of  the  text  was  intended  to  convey  the  idea 
that  their  pregnancy  was  the  result  of  bathing,  rather  than  that 
these  beings  had  a  regular  rutting-season,  which  occurred  at  the 
same  season  each  year  as  that  at  which  they  came  to  the  water. 
The  period  of  gestation  is  sufficient  to  put  it  beyond  the  pale  of 
possibility  that  Hwui  Shan  can  have  been  speaking  of  any  race 
of  human  beings.  In  the  case  of  the  lower  Simiadce,  however, 
gestation  lasts  about  seven  months,  while  in  the  Hapilince  its 
duration  is  only  three  months.1296 

It  is  difficult  to  decide  as  to  the  exact  months  of  our  year  in 
which  the  second  or  third  months  referred  to  by  Hwui  Shan 
would  fall. 

In  China  the  year  is  lunar  ;  but  its  commencement  is  regu 
lated  by  the  sun,  and  the  new  year  begins  on  the  first  new  moon 
after  the  sun  enters  Aquarius,  which  makes  it  come  not  before 
the  21st  of  January,  nor  after  the  19th  of  February.2506  The  civil 
year  in  China  ordinarily  consists  of  no  more  than  twelve  luna 
tions  ;  but  an  intercalary  month  is  introduced  as  often  as  may 
be  necessary  to  bring  the  commencement  of  every  year  to  the 
second  new  moon  after  the  preceding  winter  solstice.961 

The  year  seems  to  have  commenced  on  the  same  day  in  Tar- 
tary,  for  Marsden  states,  in  his  notes  upon  the  "  Travels  of  Marco 
Polo,"  that1802  in  the  "  Epochs  Celebriores"  of  Ulugh  Beig  (the 
son  of  Shah  Rokh),  translated  by  the  learned  Greaves,  we  are 
informed  that  the  solar  year  of  the  Kataians  and  Igurians  com 
mences  on  that  day  in  which  the  sun  attains  the  middle  point  of 
the  constellation  of  Aquarius,  and  this  we  find  from  the  Ephe- 
meris  fluctuates  between  the  third  and  the  fifth  of  February,  ac 
cording  to  our  bissextile.  With  respect  to  their  civil  year,  we 
have  a  satisfactory  account  in  the  "  Voyage  de  la  Chine,"  of  P. 
Trigault,  compiled  from  the  writings  of  the  eminent  Matt.  Ricci, 
who  says,  "  At  each  new  year,  which  commences  with  the  new 
moon  which  precedes  or  closely  follows  the  fifth  of  February, 
from  which  the  Chinese  date  the  commencement  of  spring,  an 


500  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

embassador  is  sent  from  each  province  to  pay  an  official  visit  to 
the  king  "  :  by  which  we  should  understand  the  new  moon  that 
falls  the  nearest  to  (either  before  or  after)  the  time  of  the  sun's 
reaching  the  middle  point  of  Aquarius  ;  and  consequently  the 
festival  can  not  be  assigned  to  any  particular  day  of  the  Euro 
pean  calendar. 

It  has  been  frequently  attempted  to  fix  accurately  the  time 
when  the  Mexican  year  commenced,  according  to  our  dates  ; 143 
but  there  is  no  agreement  upon  this  point  between  the  old  histo 
rians,  and  although  many  elaborate  calculations  have  been  made, 
for  the  purpose  of  verifying  the  one  or  the  other  statement,  the 
results  seldom  agree  with  one  another. 

Sahagun  says  that 1407  in  some  places  they  told  him  that  it 
commenced  on  a  certain  day  in  January  ;  in  others,  on  the  first 
of  February  ;  in  others,  in  the  beginning  of  March.  Having 
assembled  in  the  Tlaltelolco  many  old  Indians,  the  most  sagacious 
that  could  be  found,  and  the  ablest  of  the  Spanish  professors, 
they  discussed  the  matter  several  days,  and  they  all  concluded  by 
saying  that  the  year  commenced  on  the  second  day  of  February. 

As  the  years  were  of  365  days,  and  thirteen  days  were  added 
at  the  end  of  fifty-two  years,  the  first  day  of  the  year  must  have 
varied  through  a  cycle  of  thirteen  days,  and  this  will  explain 
some  of  the  discrepancies  quoted  below. 

In  a  table,  presented  by  Bancroft,237  it  is  shown  that  Sahagun, 
Martin  de  Leon,  and  Veytia  say  the  year  began  on  February 
2d ;  Acosta,  de  Laet,  Clavigero,  Klemm,  and  Carbajal  Espinoso 
say  February  26th  ;  the  Codex  Vaticanus  and  Codex  Telleriano 
Remensis  say  February  24th  ;  Motolinia  and  Duran  say  March 
1st ;  Gemelli  Careri  says  April  10th  ;  Gama  (who  is  followed  by 
Humboldt  and  Gallatin)  says  January  9th  ;  Mueller  says  March 
20th.  In  the  fragment  of  the  Tarasca  calendar,  preserved  by 
Veytia,  it  is  said  that  the  year  commenced  on  March  22d.695 

There  is  a  similar  disagreement  as  to  the  name  of  the  month 
which  began  the  Mexican  year.  Sahagun,  Torquemada,  and 
Clavigero  say  that  the  first  month  was  the  one  variously  called 
Atlcahualco,  Quahuitlehua,  Cihuailhuitl,  or  Xilomanaliztli  ; 327 
Martin  de  Leon,  Duran,  Yetancurt,  Klemm,  Brasseur  de  Bour- 
bourg,  Carbajal  Espinoso,  and  the  Codex  Vaticanus  concur  in 
this  statement.  Gomara,  Gemelli  Careri,  de  Laet,  and  Mueller 
give  Tlacaxipehualiztli  as  the  first  month,  with  the  synonym  of 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  501 

Cohuailhuitl;  Veytia  and  Lorenzana  give  the  first  month  as  Ate- 
moztli ;  and  Leon  y  Gama  (repeated  by  Humboldt  and  Gallatin) 
names  Tititl  or  Itzcalli  as  the  first  month.236  Other  authors  as 
sign  the  first  place  respectively  to  those  months  which  are  either 
the  last,  the  third,  or  the  fourth  month,  according  to  Gama.1401 

Whatever  the  month  may  have  been,  the  calendar  was  sub 
stantially  the  same  in  Yucatan,  Chiapas,  Guatemala,  Nicaragua, 
and  Oaxaca  as  on  the  Aztec  plateau,  thus  furnishing  a  convincing 
proof  of  the  identity  of  their  civilization  ; 69S  with  the  exception 
of  some  variants  of  little  importance,  and  some  difference  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  names,  the  days  of  the  month  are  found  to 
be  everywhere  the  same,  their  meanings  being  probably  identical 
in  the  greater  number  of  the  different  languages.694 

The  weight  of  evidence  preponderates  so  greatly  that  the  first 
of  the  year  occurred  some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month 
of  February,  that  we  can  assume  with  a  tolerable  degree  of  cer 
tainty  that  the  "  second  or  third  month,"  referred  to  by  Hwui 
Shan,  corresponded  nearly  with  our  month  of  May. 

IV. THE    FEMALE-PEOPLE   ARE    DESTITUTE     OF    BREASTS    IN 

FRONT  OF   THE    CHEST,  but    BEHIND,  AT   THE    NAPE  OF   THE    NECK 

(or  back  of  the  head),  THEY  HAVE  HAIR-ROOTS  (short  hair,  or  a 
bunch  of  hair,  or  a  hairy  organ),  AND  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  THE 

WHITE  HAIR  IT  IS  PLEASING  TO  THE  TASTE  (or  there  is  juice). 

The  explanation  has  been  made  that  this  statement  probably 
arose  from  the  fact  that  in  some  countries  it  has  been  the  custom 
for  mothers  to  nurse  their  children  over  their  shoulders.  Mor 
gan  mentions  the  existence  of  this  practice  in  the  valley  of  the 
Columbia,  and  among  the  Esquimaux,  and  the  Village  Indians  of 
Colorado.1957  Petitot  says  that  the  women  of  the  Dene-dindjies 
carry  their  young  children  upon  their  back  ; 20J8  and  Powers 
refers  to  the  custom  as  in  existence  among  the  California  In 
dians.2058 

The  true  explanation  may  possibly  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  custom  of  monkeys  to  carry  their  young  upon  their 
back,  and  the  latter  hang  on  with  teeth  and  nails,  in  order  to 
retain  their  places  as  their  mothers  bound  from  tree  to  tree. 
Wafer  says,2463  "They  skip  from  bough  to  bough,  with  the 
young  ones  hanging  at  the  old  ones'  back."  Herndon  says 
that,1534  among  the  monkeys  of  Brazil,  the  mother  carries  the 
young  upon  her  back  until  it  is  able  to  go  alone.  Dobrizhoffer 


502  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

states  that,1210  in  the  woods,  when  quite  young,  they  are  carried 
about  on  the  backs  of  their  mothers,  round  whose  necks  they 
put  their  arms,  like  infants,  and  in  this  manner  are  borne  along 
the  boughs  of  trees,  wherever  there  is  any  chance  of  finding 
food ;  and  Dampier  confirms  the  statement  as  follows  : im  "  The 
female  monkeys  find  it  difficult  to  leap  with  their  young  after 
the  males.  They  usually  have  two,  of  which  they  carry  one 
under  one  of  their  arms,  and  the  other,  which  is  seated  upon  its 
mother's  back,  holds  on  with  its  two  paws  clasped  about  her  neck 
in  front." 

It  would  not  be  surprising  if  a  traveler,  seeing  the  young  so 
clinging  to  their  mothers,  should  fancy  that  they  were  nursing. 

Long  hair  at  the  nape  of  the  neck,  or  back  of  the  head, 
whitish  at  the  roots,  is  a  peculiarity  of  some  varieties  of  the  genus 
Hapale^  found  nowhere  else  in  the  world  except  in  Mexico  and 
south  of  that  country. 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  says,1295  "As  to  the  head, 
long  hair  is  found  thereon  in  Hapale  cedipus,  and  long  hair  is  de 
veloped  from  the  shoulders  in  Hapale  humeralifer"  Nott  and 
Glidden  give  a  picture  of  Hapale  cedipus,  showing  it  to  be  dis 
tinguished,  from  all  the  other  species  pictured,  by  longhair  at  the 
back  of  the  head  and  neck.1976  Audebert,  in  his  description  of 
this  species,  says  that 72  the  top  of  the  head  is  ornamented  with 
long,  white  hair,  which  forms  a  species  of  plume,  which  is  all  the 
more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  the  rest  of  the  head  is  bare. 

In  the  female  quadrumane  there  is  no  protrusion  of  the  breast 
as  in  the  human  being,1320  or,  in  the  words  of  Owen,2008  "  the  in 
tegument  covering  the  mammary  gland  is  not  protruded  by  its 
enlargement  in  the  form  of  a  hemispheroid  '  breast '  ;  it  is  cov 
ered  with  hair,  like  the  rest  of  the  body." 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written,  Mr.  Saum  Song  Bo  has 
suggested  to  me  a  translation  of  this  clause  of  the  Chinese  text 
which,  while  it  is  not  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  classical 
signification  of  the  characters,  yet  seems  to  me  to  convey  the 
idea  which  Hwui  Shan  intended  to  express. 

In  common,  every-day  use,  the  character  J|[,  HIANG,  is  some 
times  employed  for  J|(,  TING,  "the  top  or  tip"  of  anything  ;  this 
confusion  being  caused  partly  by  the  great  similarity  between 
the  two  characters,  and  partly  by  the  fact  that  the  signification 
of  "top"  is  merely  an  extension  of  the  original  meaning  of  HIANG, 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  503 

"  the  back  or  upper  part  of  the  head "  ;  very  many  Chinese 
characters  having,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  had  their  original 
power  so  enlarged.  HIANG  is  therefore  sometimes  applied  (col 
loquially)  to  the  top  of  a  mountain,  or  the  tip  of  a  finger. 

Doolittle's  "Vocabulary  and  Hand-Book  of  the  Chinese 
Language " 1215  gives  ^  B|>  as  meaning  "nipple." 

The  characters  are  so  much  alike  that  it  is  possible  that  Jg, 
HIANG,  has  been  substituted  for  Jf|,  TING,  or  jjjj,  T'EU,  in  the 
original  text.  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  this  change 
has  been  made,  or  that,  if  Hwui  Shan  used  the  character  HIANG, 
he  employed  it  with  the  meaning  "  top  "  or  "  tip  "  (of  the  breast), 
i.  e.,  the  "  nipple,"  and  that  what  he  intended  to  say  was  : 

"  The  female-people  are  destitute  of  breasts  in  front  of  the 
chest,  and  back  from  the  "  tip  "  (i.  e.,  the  nipple)  they  have  short- 
hair  (i.  e.,  the  whole  chest  or  breast  is,  with  the  exception  of  the 
nipple,  covered  with  hair),  and  the  milk  issues  from  the  midst  of 
this  whitish  hair." 

This  statement  is  strictly  true,  and  the  common  or  colloquial 
use  of  the  word  gives  some  ground  for  thinking  this  to  have 
been  Hwui  Shan's  meaning  ;  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
classical  dictionaries  recognize  only  the  fundamental  signification 
of  the  character. 

Y. — THEY  NURSE  THEIR  YOUNG  FOB  ONE  HUNDRED  DAYS,  AND 

THEY  CAN  THEN  WALK.  WHEN  THREE  OR  FOUR  YEARS  OLD,  THEY 
BECOME  FULLY  GROWN.  THIS  IS  TRUE  !  WHEN  THEY  SEE  A 
HUMAN  BEING,  THEY  ARE  AFRAID  AND  FLEE  TO  ONE  SIDE.  THEY 

VENERATE  (or  are  devoted  to)  THEIR  HUSBANDS  (or  mates). 

The  statements  regarding  the  age  at  which  they  are  able  to 
walk  and  become  fully  grown  are,  of  course,  untrue  of  any  race 
of  human  beings  ;  but  they  are  in  curious  accordance  with  the 
classical  tales  of  the  pygmies. 

The  assertion,  that  they  are  afraid  and  flee  to  one  side  when 
they  see  a  human  being,  states  a  characteristic  peculiarity  of  the 
quadrumana,  and  well  describes  their  timidity  and  agility.  Pro 
fessor  Williams's  translation,  in  which  he  substitutes  "  man  "  for 
"  human  being,"  seems  inadmissible,  as  the  Chinese  word  ^,  JAN, 
signifies  homo,  not  vir.  There  is  no  trace  of  sex  in  its  meaning ; 
it  is  applied  as  often  to  women  as  to  men,  and  it  is  necessary 
to  prefix  NAN,  "  male,"  or  NU,  "  female,"  whenever  it  is  wished  to 
express  the  gender.  His  translation,  "  They  are  afraid  of  having 


5(M  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

husbands,"  differs  from  that  of  all  others  who  have  transcribed 
the  phfase  ;  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  doubting  that 
the  true  rendering  is,  "  They  venerate  their  husbands "  :  the 
character  -g,  WEI,  expressing  veneration,  respect,  awe,  or  devo 
tion,  rather  than  an  abject  fear. 

It  is  well  known  that  monkeys  are  very  faithful  and  affec 
tionate  to  their  mates,  and  many  affecting  tales  are  told  of  the 
devotion  shown  by  these  animals  toward  their  mates  when  the 
latter  have  been  shot.1218 

It  is  very  singular  that  the  assertion  that  these  peculiar 
beings  inhabited  a  land  called  the  Country  of  Women  should, 
for  more  than  a  century,  have  caused  them  to  be  considered 
Amazons,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  were  expressly  stated  to 
have  "  husbands,"  to  whom  they  were  faithful  and  devoted. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE    COUNTRY    OF  WOMEN   AND    ITS    INHABITANTS. — (Concluded.) 

The  habit  of  standing  erect — The  colour  of  the  inhabitants — Albinos — Aztlan, 
"  the  White  Land  "—The  mountain  Iztaccihuatl,  or  "  the  White  Woman  "— 
The  Iztauhyatl,  or  "  salt-plant " — The  salt  of  the  Mexicans  and  Chinese — 
References  of  Sahagun  to  the  Iztauhyatl — An  erroneous  identification — 
References  to  it  by  Hernandez — The  salt-weed — The  sage-brush — The  char 
acteristic  vegetation  of  Mexico — Food  of  the  monkeys — Cattle  and  game 
fattened  upon  the  white  sage — Its  value  in  Asia — The  Mexican  rainy  season 
— The  preceding  month  of  "hard  times" — Difficulty  of  obtaining  food  at 
this  season — Animals  coming  to  lowlands  in  the  spring  to  feed  upon  the 
early  vegetation — A  sweet  variety  of  sage — The  use  of  an  herb  to  sweeten 
meat — Chinese  description  of  monkeys — An  Aztec  pun — Shipwreck  of  a 
Chinese  fishing-boat — Corean  fishing-boats — Japanese  vessels  wrecked  on 
the  American  coast — The  land  reached  thought  to  be  that  mentioned  by 
Hwui  Shfin — The  women  of  the  country — The  language  that  could  not  be 
understood — Heads  like  those  of  puppies — The  Cynocephali — Their  voices 
— Barking  Indians — Their  food — Their  clothing — Their  dwellings — The  door 
ways. 

THERE  seems  to  be  some  difficulty  in  accurately  translating 
the  sentence  next  to  be  considered. 

VI. — ITS  PEOPLE'S  MANNER  OF  APPEARANCE  is  STRAIGHT 
ERECT  (or  is  very  correct),  AND  THEIR  COLOUR  is  (or  their  coun 
tenances  are)  A  VERY  PURE  WHITE. 

The  two  characters,  translated  "  straight  erect,"  are  defined 
as  meaning  "  upright,  either  physically  or  morally."  The  two 
rendered  "  manner  of  appearance,"  mean  "  air,  manner,  appear 
ance,"  when  considered  separately,  and  "the  aspect  of  one's 
manner,  the  appearance,  air,  demeanour,"  when  taken  together. 
The  word  for  "  colour  "  also  means  "  countenance,"  or  "  beauty." 
D'Hervey  translates  this  phrase  :  "The  women  of  this  kingdom 
have  very  regular  features  and  very  white  faces,"  while  Professor 
"Williams  gives  the  rendering  :  "  The  people  are  very  sedate  and 
formal  ;  their  colour  is  exceedingly  clear  and  white." 


506  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

My  own  opinion  is  that  it  was  Hwui  Shan's  intention  to  men 
tion  a  fact,  to  which  he  would  never  have  thought  of  referring 
if  he  had  been  speaking  of  real  men,  and  that  was  the  ability  of 
these  peculiar  beings  to  stand  erect.  As  to  the  colour  (which 
may  be  no  more  than  the  colour  of  their  faces),  it  is  the  general 
statement  that,  while  many  or  most  of  the  monkeys  of  Southern 
Mexico  are  dark  in  colour,  some  of  them  are  white.2463  Audebert 
says  of  the  Hapale  cedipus 72  that  the  breast,  the  abdomen,  the 
arms,  the  fore  part  of  the  legs,  and  the  four  extremities  are  white  ; 
and  of  the  capuchin  monkey,  that,  while  it  has  undoubtedly  taken 
its  name  from  the  brown  colour  of  most  of  this  species,  it  varies  as 
to  colour,71  there  being  some  which  are  black  and  white,  and 
others  gray  and  yellowish.  He  mentions  particularly  a  white- 
throated  species,  which  differs  from  the  capuchin  monkey,  prop 
erly  so-called,  by  having  a  flesh-coloured  face,  and  hair  of  a 
beautiful  white  colour  over  the  cheeks,  the  fore-arms,  and  the 
breast. 

Possibly  Hwui  Shan  confounded  the  stories  of  these  peculiar 
inhabitants  of  Cihuatlan  with  the  accounts  of  albinos  which  seem 
to  have  always  existed  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Wheeler,2475 
Bell,582  Emory,1285  and  McCulloh,1858  all  speak  particularly  of  the 
number  of  albinos  to  be  found  among  the  Zuiiis  ;  Wafer  gives  a 
long  description  of  those  found  near  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,2464 
and  Gabb  139°  mentions  the  general  report  in  Costa  Rica  that 
some  of  the  Guatusos  are  of  light  colour,  and  have  brown  hair, 
one  woman  being  described  as  being  "  as  white  as  an  English 
woman."  Either  the  existence  of  these  Albinos,  or  the  fact  that 
Aztlan,  the  name  of  the  traditional  home  of  the  Nahuas,  or 
Aztecs,  means  literally  "  the  White  Land," 806  may  have  given  rise 
to  numerous  tales  of  a  tribe  of  white  people  to  be  found  some 
where  in  America. 

The  belief  that  the  inhabitants  of  Cihuatlan  were  white,  and 
were  women,  may,  however,  have  arisen  from  the  circumstance 
that  one  of  the  highest  mountains  of  Mexico  bears  the  name  of 
Iztaccihuatl,  an  Aztec  term  meaning  "  the  White  Woman,"  de 
riving  this  appellation  from  the  fact  that  it  mimics  in  its  form 
a  fantastic  dame  clothed  in  white  drapery.2596  The  accompany 
ing  engraving  (Fig.  15),  copied  from  a  photograph  by  Kilburn 
Brothers,  of  Littleton,  N.  H.,  contained  in  Mr.  Becher's  book 
entitled  "  A  Trip  to  Mexico,"  571  will  show  why  the  mountain  re- 


THE   COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  507 

ceived  its  name.  As  all  the  region  about  Pike's  Peak  was  once 
known  as  "  the  Pike's  Peak  country,"  so  the  district  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  "  the  White  Woman "  may  have  been  referred  to 


FIG.  15. — The  mountain  called  Iztaccihuatl,  or  "  the  White  Woman." 

as  "  the  White  Woman's  country,"  and  a  visitor  landing  upon  the 
coast  of  Mexico,  and  making  his  way  some  little  distance  into  the 
interior,  may  have  had  this  mountain  pointed  out  to  him,  rising 
far  off  in  the  southeast,  and  told,  "  There  :  there,  in  '  the  White 
Woman's  country,'  these  strange  beings  are  to  be  found." 

VII. — THEY  EAT  THE  SALT-PLANT.  ITS  LEAVES  RESEMBLE 
those  of  the  plant  called  by  the  Chinese  THE  SIE-HAO  (a  species 
of  absinthe  or  wormwood),  BUT  ITS  ODOUR  is  MORE  FRAGRANT, 

AND  ITS  TASTE  IS  SALTISH. 

Professor  Williams  translates  the  opening  words  of  this  sen 
tence,  "  They  eat  pickled  greens  "  ;  but  in  this  he  differs  from 
all  other  translators,  and  can  hardly  be  right.  As  the  Chinese 
characters  are  generally  used  to  express  an  idea  in  its  broadest 
sense,  the  same  word  which  is  used  for  "  salt "  might  also  be 
employed  for  "  saltish  "  and  "  salted,"  but,  while  the  character 
occurring  in  this  sentence  might  possibly  be  used  with  the  mean 
ing  "  salted  "  or  "  pickled,"  its  more  usual  signification  is  "  salt  in 
taste,  salty,"  149°  "saltish,  briny,  of  a  saltish  taste."  1871  The  char 
acter  TS'AO,  ffi  translated  "  plant,"  is  the  word  from  which  the 


508  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

English  term  "  soy  "  has  been  derived,  and  is  applied  to  all  plants 
used  for  salad — as  lettuce,  cabbage,  and  spinach — and  also  to  the 
leaves  of  turnips  and  radishes  when  used  as  greens.984  Hence 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  characters  translated  "  salt-plant "  might 
also  mean  "  salted  plants  "  or  "  pickled  greens  "  ;  but  the  con 
nection  is  such  that  there  seems  no  good  reason  to  doubt  that 
the  correct  rendering  is  that  given  at  the  head  of  this  section. 

When  I  first  saw  the  phrase,  "  They  eat  the  *  salt-plant,' "  I 
turned  to  the  Aztec  dictionaries  to  see  whether  they  gave  any 
term  equivalent  to  "  salt-plant,"  and  immediately  found  the  word 
"  IZTAUHYATL  " 606  defined  as  "  absinthe,"  "  axenxios,  o  asemios 
yerua"  m4  or  "  wormwood." 861  This  word  is  evidently  a  com 
pound  of  iztatl,1905  "salt" 607  (the  terminal  tl  being  dropped  in  com 
pounding,  according  to  the  usual  rule),  with  a  form  of  the  verbal 
root  hueya™  "to  grow,  to  increase."  The  plant  in  question 
therefore  corresponds,  both  in  its  name  and  in  the  botanical 
family  of  which  it  is  a  member,  with  the  description  of  Hwui 
Shan.  It  undoubtedly  derived  its  name  from  its  taste,  which 
must  more  resemble  that  of  the  crude,  bitter  salt,  containing 
magnesia,  which  is  made  in  China  by  the  evaporation  of  sea- 
water,2486  or  the  alkaline  efflorescence  used  by  the  Indians  of  Mexi 
co,2593  than  that  of  the  refined  article  to  which  we  are  accustomed. 

As  to  the  plant  in  question,  Sahagun  states  that,  the  evening 
before  the  feast  of  Uixtocihuatl*  (the  goddess  of  salt),  the  women, 
old  and  young,  and  the  girls,  devote  themselves  to  dancing,9180 
moving  in  a  ring,  united  by  small  cords,  of  which  each  holds  an 
end,  which  are  called  xochimecatl  (i.  e.,  flowery  ropes  ;  from  xoch- 
itl,  flowers,  and  mecatl,  a  rope,  cord,  or  garland),  and  which  are 
wreathed  with  the  flowers  of  the  absinthe  of  the  country,  which 
is  called  iztauhyatl.  The  French  translators  of  Sahagun's  work  add 
a  note,  stating  that  the  plant  is  the  Artemisia  laciniata,  and  is 
called  in  Spanish  estafiate  (an  evident  corruption  of  the  Aztec 
name).  The  botanical  name  was  probably  given  on  the  author 
ity  of  Colmeiro  ; 1089  but  Professor  Asa  Gray  informs  me  that  it  can 
not  be  correct,  as  the  Artemisia  laciniata  is  a  native  of  Asia,  and 
is  not  found  in  America. 

Sahagun,  in  other  places,  refers  to  it  as  an  odourif erous  plant, 
resembling  the  absinthe  of  Spain,2216  and  also  says  that  it  "  resem- 

*  This  name  should  evidently  be  spelled  Iztacihuatl,  from  iztatl,  salt,  and 
cihuatl,  woman. — E.  P.  V. 


THE  COUNTRY   OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  509 

bles  the  incense  used  in  Spain."  2185  Bancroft  describes  it  as  "  a 
sweet- smelling  herb."  188  Hernandez  makes  a  number  of  refer 
ences  to  it,  but  seems  to  treat  it  as  a  plant  too  common  and  too 
well  known  to  be  worthy  of  description.  He  says,  for  instance, 
that  the  tzaguangueni  is  an  herb  having  long,  large,  and  narrow 
leaves,  divided  into  five  parts,  and  resembling  the  iztauhyatl,  or 
Indicum  absinthium.1509  The  flowers  of  the  tlanoquilonipatU, 
which  are  described  as  "  yellowish  and  growing  in  a  thin  spike," 
are  said  to  be  not  dissimilar  to  those  of  the  absinthium.1507  A 
decoction  of  xoxocapatli  and  iztauhiatl  is  said  to  be  used  as  a 
remedy  for  pains  in  the  joints.1503  The  yztacchyatl,  or  "bitter 
salt "  (possibly  a  mere  variant  of  the  name  iztauhyatl),  is  de 
scribed  1506  as  an  herb  similar  in  form  and  properties  to  absinthe, 
and  is  said  to  be,  on  that  account,  indiscriminately  substituted 
for  the  latter  in  New  Spain.  Two  species  are  known,  the  broad- 
leaved  and  the  narrow-leaved.  It  grows  in  temperate  and  warm 
places,  and  its  seeds,  having  probably  been  carried  to  Spain  for 
sale,  have  been  dispersed  there.  It  is  used  to  cure  pains  arising 
from  cold,  for  colic,  and  for  the  bowels.  Quauh  yetl  or  picietl 
(two  species  of  tobacco)  is  usually  added,  to  strengthen  the  inter 
nal  organs  ;  it  is  beneficial  to  patients  who  are  suffering  from 
nausea,  and  to  infants  that  throw  up  milk.  Administered  with 
ecapatli,  or  the  Laurus  Indica,  it  acts  as  a  physic  :  the  decoc 
tion  is  used  to  bathe  the  swelled  legs  of  the  infirm.  Hernandez 
also  describes  a  plant  named  the  iztauhyapatli,  and  as  "patli " 
means  "  remedy,"  the  compound  is  equivalent  to  "  the  Iztauhyatl 
remedy,"  and  the  plant  is  therefore  very  probably  the  same  that 
is  elsewhere  called  the  yztauhyatl,  or  iztauhyatl.  This  is  de 
scribed  as  follows  :  "  The  root  is  ovate  and  ferruginous  ;  the  wil 
lowy  leaves  are  in  fours,  long,  not  serrated,  and  are  ash-coloured 
on  the  under  side  ;  the  length  of  the  leaves  is  about  six  inches, 
and  the  breadth  does  not  exceed  half  an  inch."  152° 

I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  the  botanical  name  of  the  plant, 
or  obtain  any  further  information  regarding  it,  but  it  must  be 
common  in  Mexico.  There  is  a  town  in  that  country,  in  Oaxaca, 
on  the  Rio  Grande,  called,  after  it,  Istayata.  Morgan  1955  and 
Bandelier 528  mention  a  plant  named  the  "  salt-weed"  as  growing 
in  the  adobe  soil  of  Southern  Colorado,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexi 
co,  which  may  or  may  not  be  the  same  plant. 

The  common  sage-brush  of  the  plains  was  called  absinthe  by 


510  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  Canadian  voyageurs,698  and  Bell  particularly  mentions  the  fact 
that,  in  the  uplands  of  the  valley  of  the  Colorado  River,  in  Ari 
zona,  most  of  the  plants,  including  especially  the  artemisias  and 
other  shrubby  composite,  are  smeared  with  a  resinous  varnish, 
which  gives  out  a  pleasant,  stimulating  aroma,  noticed  by  nearly 
all  desert  travelers.592  In  this  respect,  at  least,  the  artemisias 
described  by  him  therefore  corresponded  with  the  "  salt-plant " 
mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan.  Professor  Baird  informs  me  that,  while 
the  sage-brush  of  the  West  is  principally  the  Artemisia  triden- 
tata  of  Nuttall,  the  term  is  also  applied  to  two  or  three  other 
species  which  resemble  it,  mainly  Artemisia  arcana,  A.  arbus- 
cula,  and  A.  trifida.  Appletons'  Cyclopsedia  41  says  that  the  com 
mon  sage-brush  of  the  American  plains  is  Artemisia  Ludovi- 
ciana.  Hayden's  "Preliminary  Report  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  of  Wyoming  " 146e  mentions  the  A.  tridentata?™ 
Canadensis,  trifida,  cana,  lAidoviciana,  Michardsoniana,  fri- 
gida^  scopulonem,  borealis,  ar\djilifolia,md  as  different  varieties 
of  artemisia  found  in  that  Territory.  Whatever  the  species  or 
variety  may  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  iztauhyatl,  or 
"  salt-plant,"  of  Mexico,  is  some  variety  of  artemisia,  not  widely 
different  from  the  sage-brush  of  the  Northern  plains.  Those  who 
have  traveled  in  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico  will,  I  think, 
admit  that  the  characteristic  vegetation  of  the  country,  and  in 
fact  nearly  all  of  the  vegetation  that  can  be  seen  in  many  dis 
tricts,  consists  of  varieties  of  the  agave,  or  century-plant,  of  spe 
cies  of  cactii  (of  which  the  prickly-pear  is  an  exceedingly  common 
and  representative  form)  and  of  the  sage-brush.  With  the  ex 
ception  of  the  last,  this  vegetation  is  not  only  characteristic  of  the 
region  in  question,  but  it  is  indigenous  nowhere  else.  If  it  be 
thought  that  the  story  of  Hwui  Shan  is  a  fable,  it  is  certainly 
remarkable  that  he  gives  a  description  of  just  these  three  plants 
and  of  no  others.  In  Mexico  and  its  neighbourhood,  plants 
answering  his  descriptions  are  to  be  found,  and  they  can  not  be 
found  elsewhere  in  the  world. 

But  is  this  "  salt-plant "  ever  eaten  by  the  monkeys  of  Mexi 
co  ?  On  this  point  I  can  not  obtain  any  very  positive  informa 
tion,  although  those  whom  I  have  consulted,  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  habits  of  these  animals,  do  not  think  it  likely  that  they 
feed  upon  it.  Dr.  Oswald  informs  me  that,  although  their  natu 
ral  food  consists  of  fruits  and  nuts,  the  monkeys  of  Gibraltar 


THE   COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  511 

will  sometimes  eat  the  sprouts  of  currant-bushes.  It  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  however  dis 
tasteful  wormwood  or  sage  may  be  to  us  as  a  food,  numerous 
animals  feed  upon  these  plants  with  avidity.  Many  of  the  cattle 
of  the  far  West,  as  well  as  the  game  of  the  same  region,  feed  and 
fatten  upon  little  else  than  the  "  white  sage."  James  mentions 
the  fact  that  several  species  of  artemisia  are  eaten  by  the  bisons, 
and  that  his  horses  were  sometimes  "  reduced  to  the  necessity  " 
of  feeding  upon  them  ; 1613  and  Bell  says  that  a  species  of  wild 
sage,  which  grows  in  many  places  in  Mexico,  gives  the  beef  a 
peculiar  and  delicious  flavour.689  Pallas  mentions  that  the2009 
white  absinthium  (Artemisia  alba)  and  the  camphor-plant  (Cam- 
pkorosma  monspeliaca)  are  found  in  all  the  deserts  of  Asia, 
covering  extensive  regions  with  their  creeping  roots  and  their 
shoots,  which  make  a  species  of  turf,  like  fine  moss.  In  win 
ter  they  form  the  principal  food  of  the  numerous  herds  of  the 
Kalmucks  and  the  Kirguis,  as  they  preserve  their  natural  state 
under  the  snow,  which  is  but  scanty  in  this  country,  the  little 
that  falls  melting  almost  immediately.  The  herds  therefore 
have  but  little  difficulty  in  finding  these  plants.  They  eat  them 
but  little  during  the  summer,  as  they  have  a  great  number 
of  others  upon  which  they  rely.  The  Kirguis  call  these  two 
plants  jouschanu,  and  take  great  care  to  establish  their  win 
ter  habitations  in  places  in  which  they  grow.  This  small  species 
of  absinthium  is  remarkable  for  its  flower,  which,  in  its  odour, 
taste,  and  figure,  resembles  the  "worm-seed."  If  this  latter 
were  not  mixed  with  small  stems,  it  might  be  mistaken  for 
this  plant. 

In  Mexico  the  rainy  season  begins  as  a  rule  in  the  first  half 
of  May,321  or  in  some  districts  not  until  the  beginning  of  June,877 
and  lasts  until  October 632  or  November.2367  No  drop  of  rain  falls 
in  December  and  January,  and  but  little  in  February  or  April.878 
In  the  month  of  May  the  whole  country  seems  parched  and 
dry.2052  Not  a  leaf,  not  a  bud  ;  the  branches  and  boughs  are 
naked,  and  covered  with  a  thick  coating  of  gray  dust  ;  nothing 
to  intercept  the  sight  in  the  thicket  but  the  bare  trunks  and 
branches,  with  the  withes  entwining  them.  Early  in  June  come 
the  first  refreshing  showers.  As  if  a  magic  wand  had  been 
waved  over  the  land,  the  view  changes — life  springs  every 
where.  In  the  short  space  of  a  few  days,  the  forests  have  re- 


512  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

sumed  -their  holiday  attire  ;  buds  appear  and  the  leaves  shoot  ; 
the  flowers  bloom,  sending  forth  their  fragrance,  that,  wafted  by 
the  breeze,  perfumes  the  air  far  and  near ;  the  birds  sing  their 
best  songs  of  joy  ;  the  insects  chirp  their  shrillest  notes  ;  butter 
flies  of  gorgeous  colours  flutter  in  clouds  in  every  direction,  in 
search  of  the  nectar  contained  in  the  cups  of  the  newly  opened 
blossoms,  and  dispute  it  with  the  brilliant  humming-birds.  All 
creation  rejoices,  because  a  few  tears  of  mother  Nature  have 
brought  joy  and  happiness  to  all  living  beings,  from  the  smallest 
blade  of  grass  to  the  majestic  palm,  from  the  creeping  worm  to 
man. 

Of  the  months  occurring  at  the  dry  season  of  the  year, 
Atlcahualco  bears  a  name  meaning  "  the  buying  or  scarcity  of 
water," 327  Atemoztli means  "the  drying  up  of  the  waters,"  242  the 
following  month,  Tititl,  was  called  the  month  of  "  hard  times,"  m 
and  Itzcalli  *  means  "  revivification,"  or  "  the  sprouting  of  the 
grass."  24° 

From  the  name  "Tititl,"  the  month  of  "hard  times,"  it  ap 
pears  that  the  Aztecs  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  food  during  the 
dry  season,  when  the  old  crop  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  the  new 
one  had  not  commenced  to  grow.  If  they  found  this  a  season 
of  "  hard  times,"  the  quadrumana  can  hardly  have  fared  better. 
Living  upon  fruits  and  nuts,  when  they  could  be  obtained,  they 
must  have  found  some  substitute  during  the  season  when  these 
were  not  to  be  had.  Sahagun  says  of  the  raccoon  that,  "during 
the  winter,  when  neither  fruits  nor  maize  can  be  found,  it  eats 
rats  and  reptiles."2213  To  what  did  the  quadrumana  resort? 
Audebert,  quoting  from  Buffon,  says  that  the  capuchin  monkeys 
are  very  fond  of  cockchafers  and  snails.71  Wafer  claims  that  he 
saw  monkeys  breaking  oyster-shells  on  the  sea-shore,  and  eating 
the  oysters.2465  It  is  therefore  evident  that  they  are  not  wholly 
confined  to  fruits,  nuts,  and  roots. 

Why  did  the  peculiar  inhabitants  of  the  Country  of  Women 
come  to  the  water  at  the  second  or  third  month,  or  just  about 
the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season  ?  In  the  United  States,  the 
antelopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  which  spend  the  winter 
in  the  mountains,  come  down  to  the  plains  in  great  numbers  in 
spring  to  eat  the  tender  vegetation,  which  first  starts  in  the  low- 

*  Molina  defines  Izcalia  "  to  open,  to  expand,  to  come  to  one's  self,  to  resusci 
tate,  to  revive." 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  513 

lands  near  the  streams.  May  not  a  similar  cause  lead  the  quad- 
rumana  of  Mexico  to  the  lowlands  near  the  water  at  the  beginning 
of  the  rainy  season  ?  If  so,  they  could  not  find  either  fruits  or 
nuts,  but  would  be  compelled  to  live  upon  the  young  and  tender 
sprouts  of  some  one  or  more  species  of  plants.  It  would  seem  as 
if,  at  this  season  of  the  year,  no  other  plant  would  be  more  likely 
to  furnish  them  with  edible  sprouts  than  some  species  of  sage 
brush,  the  iztauhyatl,  or  "salt-plant."  This  is  of  course  a  mere 
presumption.  It  is  not  proved  that  the  monkeys  eat  the  plant 
in  question,  but  it  certainly  does  not  seem  impossible  that  they 
may,  and,  for  myself,  as  Hwui  Shan  tells  so  much  that  is  proved 
to  be  true,  I  do  not  think  it  unsafe  to  rely  upon  his  statement 
in  this  case. 

It  is  possible,  however,  that  there  is  a  reversion,  at  this  point 
in  his  account,  from  the  monkeys  of  Cihuatlan  to  the  people  of 
that  region,  and  that  he  means  to  say  that  the  latter  eat  the 
salt-plant.  Dupaix  mentions  that,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Tequilla,  he  found  a  species  of  sage  growing  vigorously  in  the 
shape  of  a  branching  bush,  its  taste  being  so  agreeable  that  it  is 
there  called  "  the  sweet  herb."  1222  Possibly  this  may  be  the  plant 
to  which  reference  is  made,  or  the  practice  mentioned  by  Gage 
may  be  referred  to.1383 

"  These  also  will  now  and  then  get  a  wild  Dear,  shooting  it 
with  their  bows  and  arrows.  And  when  they  have  killed  it,  they 
let  it  lie  in  the  Wood,  in  some  hole  or  bottom,  covered  with  leaves, 
for  the  space  of  about  a  week,  untill  it  stink  and  begin  to  be 
full  of  wormes  ;  then  they  bring  it  home,  cut  it  out  into  joints, 
and  parboil  it  with  a  herbe  which  groweth  there,  somewhat  like 
unto  our  Tanzy,  which  they  say  sweeteneth  it  again,  and  maketh 
the  flesh  eat  tender,  and  as  white  as  a  piece  of  Turkey." 

Although  it  seems  impossible,  with  our  present  information, 
to  decide  whether  the  iztauhyatl  is  eaten  either  by  men  or  monk 
eys,  the  fact  remains  that  there  is  in  the  region  indicated  by  Hwui 
Shan  a  plant  which  answers  to  his  description,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
called  "  the  salt-plant,"  and,  being  a  species  of  absinthe,  must  re 
semble  the  Chinese  plants  of  the  same  genus  ;  its  taste  is  saltish, 
and  its  odour  fragrant,  just  as  stated  by  our  Buddhist  traveler. 

Identifying  the  "  people  "  of  the  "  Country  of  Women  "  as 
monkeys,  it  seems  strange  that  mention  is  not  made  of  their 
size,  and  of  the  fact  that  they  live  in  the  trees. 
33 


514  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  as  possible  that  Yu  Kie  may  have  failed 
to  understand  Hwui  Shan  on  these  points,  or  may  have  doubted 
his  report,  and  so  suppressed  what  he  said  regarding  them.  One 
of  the  most  common  names  given  by  the  Chinese  to  a  mythical 
land  of  Amazons  is  -£  ^  g,  WOMAN-CHILD-LAND.  This  is 
usually  translated  the  "  Land  of  Women  and  Children  "  ;  but  the 
Chinese  frequently 2397  suffix  3f>,  CHILD,  as  a  diminutive  ; 2394  and 
the  compound  ^  •"?*>  WOMAN-CHILD,  is  used  for  "girl."1487  The 
name  of  the  Amazonian  country  may,  therefore,  have  meant 
originally  the  "  Land  of  Little  Women,"  rather  than  "  the  Land  of 
Women  and  Children "  ;  and  the  traditions  among  the  Chinese, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Fu-sang  have  the  power  of  flying  in 
the  air,  may  have  arisen  from  stories  of  the  gambols  among  the 
trees  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  "  Woman's  Land." 

We  should  hardly  expect  complete  accuracy  in  the  reports  ex 
tant  in  a  land  like  China,  in  which  the  most  scientific  account  that 
they  have  of  a  species  of  monkey  living  in  their  own  country  is 
that  "  its  nose  is  turned  upward,  and  the  tail  is  very  long  and 
forked  at  the  end,  and  whenever  it  rains  the  animal  thrusts  the 
forks  into  its  nose.  It  goes  in  herds,  and  lives  in  friendship  ; 
when  one  dies,  the  rest  accompany  it  to  burial."  2487 

In  closing  the  examination  of  this  account  of  the  Country  of 
Women,  it  may  be  well  to  endeavour  to  discover  the  origin  of 
the  term.  Several  explanations  have  already  been  suggested  ; 
but  none  of  them  seem  satisfactory.  It  is  my  opinion  that  the 
traditions  regarding  the  land  of  Amazons  arose  from  the  name, 
as  an  attempt  to  explain  it,  rather  than  that  the  name  arose  from 
the  existence  of  any  region  inhabited  exclusively  by  women.  It 
seems  to  me  to  be  possible  that,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the 
northern  part  of  Mexico  heard  vague  reports  of  the  remarkable 
beings  found  in  the  southern  part  of  that  country,  they,  not  hav 
ing  formerly  heard  the  word  opumatli™*  61°  or  opomatli 612  (for 
the  Mexicans  always  confounded  the  vowels  o  and  w,  some  pro 
nouncing  their  words  with  one  vowel  and  some  with  the  other,1990), 
which  was  the  term  applied  to  monkeys,  mistook  it  for  the  very 
similar  word  pouatl™  $ohuatl?^ ciuatl™  or  cihuatl™  meaning  a 
woman  ;  and  hence  supposed  the  term  Opomatlan,  meaning  "  the 
Region  of  Monkeys,"  to  be  the  compound  Qohuatlan,  or  Cilma- 
tlan,  signifying  "  the  Region  or  Country  of  Women."  After  this 
mistake  had  once  been  made  in  the  name,  traditions  of  a  land  in- 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  515 

habited  exclusively  by  women  would,  almost  inevitably,  spring 
up. 

Our  examination  of  the  official  record  of  Hwui  Shan's  state 
ments  has  been  completed,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  short 
account  next  given,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  believe  that 
the  lands  described  by  him  were  ever  visited  by  any  of  the  Chi 
nese.  Ma  Twan-lin  seems  to  have  thought,  however,  that  some 
Chinese  sailors,  who  were  shipwrecked  on  a  distant  seacoast,  and 
who  succeeded  in  making  their  way  back  to  China,  were  thrown 
upon  the  shores  of  the  same  Country  of  Women  that  was  de 
scribed  by  our  Buddhist  explorer,  and  he  therefore  joins  their 
story  to  the  account  of  that  land  given  by  Hwui  Shan. 

VIII. — In  the  reign  of  the  LIANG  dynasty,  under  the  em 
peror  WU-TI,  in  the  SIXTH  TEAR  of  the  period  designated  by  the 
name  TIEN-KIEN,  or  "Celestial  Protection"  (i.  e.,  in  507  A.  D.), 

SOME  MEN  OF  TsiN-NGAN,  WHO  WERE  CROSSING  THE  SEA,  WERE 
DRIVEN  BY  THE  WIND  TO  A  CERTAIN  ISLAND  (or  to  the  Same 

island  or  seacoast).  THEY  WENT  ASHORE  AND  FOUND  THE  IN 
HABITANTS'  DWELLINGS. 

Professor  Williams  says  "a  man,"  instead  of  "some  men," 
and,  as  the  Chinese  language  does  not,  as  a  rule,  distinguish  be 
tween  the  singular  and  the  plural,  it  can  not  be  determined,  other 
wise  than  by  inference,  which  was  meant  in  this  case.  It  seems 
more  probable,  however,  that  a  large  boat,  such  as  would  carry  a 
number  of  men,  would  live  through  a  storm  which  would  drive 
it  across  the  Pacific,  than  that  a  small  boat  with  only  a  single  man 
should  pass  through  such  a  tempest.  A  number  of  men  would  also 
be  more  likely  to  frighten  the  natives  away  from  their  homes, 
and  thus  protect  themselves  against  attack  by  the  inhabitants, 
than  would  a  solitary  sailor.  Oppert  says  of  the  Corean  fishing- 
boats  199S  that  they  resemble  the  Japanese  more  than  the  Chinese, 
but  that  they  are  of  rude  construction.  Each  of  these  boats 
usually  carries  a  crew  of  some  thirty  to  forty  men,  but  some 
have  a  crew  of  more  than  sixty. 

It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  vessel  which  was  wrecked  upon 
the  distant  land,  that  is  mentioned  by  Ma  Twan-lin,  may  have 
been  a  fishing-boat  of  the  kind  above  referred  to.  It  has  already 
been  stated  that  Japanese  junks  are  frequently  wrecked  upon  the 
coast  of  America  ;  but,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  other  case  is  mentioned 
in  which  the  survivors  of  the  shipwreck  succeeded  in  making 


516  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

their  way  back  home  again.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  case  men 
tioned  occurred  only  about  half  a  dozen  years  after  Hwui  Shan's 
story  was  told  in  China  ;  and  it  seems  not  impossible  that  these 
men  may  have  heard  the  story  of  his  travels,  and  of  the  route  by 
which  he  reached  China,  and  so  may  have  made  their  way  home 
up  the  coast  of  America  to  Alaska,  and  thence  across  to  Asia,  and 
down  the  coast  of  that  continent  via  the  route  pointed  out  by 
our  Buddhist  priest. 

I  have  ventured  to  suggest  that  the  characters  — -  Ji,  YIH 
TAG,  which  have  formerly  been  translated  "  an  island,"  "  a  certain 
island,"  or  "  an  unknown  island,"  may  possibly  mean  "  the  same 
seacoast."  The  first  character,  although  meaning  literally  "  one," 
is  sometimes  used  for  "the  same,"  and  as  it  is  not  customary  to 
use  the  character  merely  as  the  indefinite  article,  and  as  it  seems 
evident  that  Ma  Twan-lin  thought  this  land  to  be  the  same  as 
that  described  by  Hwui  Shan  (for  otherwise  he  would  not  have 
included  the  two  accounts  in  the  same  section),  it  seems  probable 
that  he  intended  to  use  it  here  in  its  secondary  meaning.  The 
second  character  is  a  picture  of  a  bird  and  a  mountain,  and  hence 
means  "  a  hill  on  which  birds  can  alight  in  crossing  seas,"  and 
thus  might  be  applied  to  a  seacoast  reached  after  crossing  a  vast 
expanse  of  water,  without  much  regard  to  the  size  of  the  land. 

IX. THE  WOMEN   RESEMBLED  THOSE  OF  THE    MlDDLE  KlNG- 

DOM  (China),  BUT  THE  WORDS  OF  THEIR  LANGUAGE  COULD  NOT 

BE  UNDERSTOOD.  THE  MALES  HAD  HUMAN  BODIES,  BUT  PUPPIES* 
HEADS,  AND  THEIR  VOICES  RESEMBLED  THOSE  OF  DOGS  BARKING 

(or  HOWLING). 

The  shipwreck  seems  to  have  occurred  at  a  point  where  there 
existed  the  custom,  formerly  referred  to,  of  leaving  the  women 
to  entertain  the  strangers,  while  the  men  ran  away  ;  and  the 
Chinese  seem  to  have  seen  only  these  women,  and  to  have  sup 
posed  the  apes  in  the  woods  to  be  the  males. 

Many  writers  have  spoken  of  the  great  resemblance  of  many 
of  the  tribes  of  the  western  coast  of  America  to  the  Chinese, 
and  Mr.  Leland  discusses  the  subject  at  length. 

It  is  noticeable  that  nowhere  else  in  the  accounts  is  it  men 
tioned  that  the  language  of  the  people  could  not  be  understood, 
and  this  statement  seems  applicable  rather  to  the  chattering  of 
monkeys,  than  to  any  human  language,  of  which  strangers  would 
soon  be  able  to  understand  a  few  words. 


THE   COUNTRY   OF   WOMEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  517 

Although  some  tribes  of  savages  have  been  referred  to  as  hav 
ing  dogs'  heads,1813  the  description  seems  rather  to  be  that  of  the 
Mexican  monkeys,  some  of  which,  according  to  Clavigero,  "  from 
having  the  head  of  a  dog,  appertain  to  the  class  of  the  Cyno- 
cephali." 10S8  It  is  probable  that  the  comparison  of  their  voices 
to  those  of  dogs  refers  rather  to  howling  than  barking  ;  but  as 
the  bark  of  the  Chinese  dogs  is  a  short,  thick  snap,  very  unlike 
the  deep,  sonorous  baying  of  our  mastiffs,2488  it  is  possible  that 
barking  may  be  meant. 

Attention  should  be  called,  in  this  connection,  to  the  singular 
fact  that  this  same  comparison  has  been  made  regarding  the 
conversation  of  a  tribe  living  near  the  northern  boundary  of 
Mexico.  Captain  Emory  says  of  one  of  his  interviews  with  the 
Indians  :  "  The  chief  person  talked  all  the  time  in  a  tongue  re 
sembling  more  the  bark  of  a  mastiff  than  the  words  of  a  human 
being.  They  were  supposed  by  some  to  be  the  Cayotes  (i.  e., 
Wolves),  a  branch  of  the  Apaches  ;  but  Londean  thought  they 
belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Tremblers,  who  acquired  their  name  from 
their  emotions  at  meeting  the  whites  ; im  while  Captain  A.  R. 
Johnston  says  of  the  Apaches,  '  They  bayed  at  us  like  their  kin 
dred  wolves.' " 1615 

X. — AMONG  THEIR  FOOD  WAS  "SIAO-TEU"  (LITTLE  BEANS). 
THEIR  CLOTHING  RESEMBLED  LINEN  (or  perhaps  cotton)  CLOTH. 
BEATING  DOWN  THE  EARTH,  THEY  MADE  ADOBE  WALLS  OF  A  ROUND 
SHAPE,  THE  DOORS  OF  WHICH  RESEMBLED  BURROWS. 

It  seems  not  impossible  that  the  characters  SIAO-TEU,  mean 
ing  "  little  beans,"  may  have  been  used  as  an  attempt  both  to 
transcribe  and  translate  the  Aztec  word  cintlijm  or  centli™* 
meaning  "  ears  of  maize,  cured  and  dried."  TEU  is  the  Chinese 
term  for  pulse  of  any  kind,984  and,  as  has  been  explained  by  M. 
the  Marquis  d'Hervey,  might  include  grains  of  maize.  It  is  a 
fact,  however,  that  the  Aztecs  raised  beans,121  which  formed  one 
of  their  principal  articles  of  diet,2598  while  it  was  a  matter  of  tradi 
tion  that  the  Olmecs  raised  both  maize  and  beans,  before  the  time 
of  the  Toltecs  (Veytia,  "  Hist.  Ant.  Mej."  tome  i,  p.  154).194  The 
cloth  made  by  the  Aztecs  from  the  fiber  of  the  agave  has  already 
been  described,  but  they  also  made  cotton  cloth.687  The  manner 
of  beating  down  the  earth,  to  make  the  adobe  walls  of  their  dwell 
ings,  seems  to  be  the  same  as  that  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan. 
Powers,  in  describing  the  houses  of  the  aboriginal  Calif ornians, 


518  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

says  that 2062  the  round,  dome-shaped,  earth-covered  lodge  is  con 
sidered  the  characteristic  one  of  California  ;  and  probably  two 
thirds  of  its  immense  aboriginal  population  lived  in  dwellings 
of  this  description.  The  doorway  is  sometimes  directly  on 
top,  sometimes  on  the  ground  at  one  side.1950  Wheeler  states 
that 2469  the  houses  of  the  Southern  Calif  ornians  were  probably 
of  a  simple  construction,  though  varying  somewhat  in  different 
localities.  Usually  they  are  described  as  conical  in  shape,  and 
built  over  a  hole  dug  to  the  depth  of  a  few  feet.  Around  this 
hole,  poles  were  set,  forming  the  frame,  which  was  covered  with 
rushes  and  earth.  The  door  was  sometimes  on  a  level  with  the 
ground,  while  in  other  houses  it  was  placed  near  the  top,  when 
it  also  served  for  an  exit  to  the  smoke. 

By  the  term  "  door,"  as  used  above,  it  is  evident  that  "  door 
way  "  is  meant,  for  they  had  no  doors  to  their  houses,  although 
among  some  of  the  American  tribes  a  curtain  was  hung  before 
the  entrance  to  prevent  any  inquisitive  examination.1845 

A  doorway,  which  might  be  well  compared  to  a  "  burrow," 
is  that  used  by  the  Esquimaux,  as  well  as  by  the  Mandans  and 
some  other  tribes  ;  the  entrance  to  their  dwellings  consisting  of 
a  passageway  some  five  feet  wide,  ten  or  twelve  feet  long,  and 
about  six  feet  high,  constructed  with  split  timbers,  roofed  with 
poles,  and  covered  with  earth.1951 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

YU   KIE'S    STATEMENTS    REGARDING   FU-SANG. 

The  envoy  from  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang — The  commission  of  Yu  Kie — Hwui  ShSn 
the  envoy  mentioned — Yu  Kie's  story — The  presents  given  to  the  emperor 
— The  custom  of  offering  tribute — The  yellow  silk — The  term  applied  to 
vegetable  fibers — Sisal  hemp — Its  strength — Probability  that  the  agave  fiber 
would  be  brought  home  by  a  traveler — The  semi-transparent  mirror — Mexi 
can  obsidian  mirrors — Nature  of  obsidian — The  "  Palace  of  the  Sun  " — The 
Chinese  zodiac — Their  horary  cycle — Concave  and  convex  mirrors— Obsidian 
mirrors  peculiar  to  Mexico — The  silk  taken  from  the  agave — Lack  of  cocoons 
— The  seeds  of  the  century-plant  carried  to  Corea — The  use  of  agave  leaves 
as  fuel — The  ashes  used  for  obtaining  lye — The  agave  fiber  steeped  in  an 
alkaline  solution— The  feast  of  Huitzilopochtli — Intercourse  between  Corea 
and  China — The  Corean  records — Possibility  that  further  information  may 
be  found  in  them — The  palace  of  the  king — The  glitter  of  obsidian  in  the 
morning  light — The  Country  of  Women  again — Serpent  husbands — The  ex 
pedition  of  Nuno  de  Guzman — The  Smoking  Mountain — Volcanoes — Hairy 
worms — The  "  nopal  de  la  tierra  "—The  fire-trees — The  fire-rats — The  Black 
Valley — The  Snowy  Range — Huitzilopochtli — The  intoxicating  liquor — The 
"  Sea  of  Varnish  " — Petroleum — Mineral  springs— Hot  springs — The  extent 
of  the  land — Animals — Winged  men — Birds  that  bear  human  beings. 

IN  the  appendix  to  the  account  of  Fu-sang,  given  by  the 
Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  contained  in  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  this  work,  and  in  the  slightly  different  version  which 
was  translated  by  Professor  Williams,  and  which  is  copied  in  the 
fourteenth  chapter,  it  is  stated  that,  in  the  commencement  of  the 
years  called  TIEN-KIEN — which  were  the  first  years  of  the  reign 
of  the  emperor  WU-TI,  of  the  LIANG  dynasty,  beginning  in  502 
A.  D. — an  envoy  from  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang  presented  him 
self,  and  offered  to  the  emperor  divers  objects  from  his  country. 
WU-TI  charged  an  official  of  his  court,  named  Yu  KIE,  to  inter 
rogate  him  regarding  the  customs  and  the  productions  of  Fu- 
sang,  the  history  of  the  kingdom,  its  cities,  its  rivers,  its  mount 
ains,  etc.,  as  was  the  custom  in  similar  cases  whenever  a  for- 


520  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

eign  embassador  visited  the  court.  D'Hervey  gives  conclusive 
reasons  for  believing  that  this  envoy  was  none  other  than  the 
monk  Hwui  Shan.  It  seems  that  Yu  Kie  wrote  down  the 
account  found  in  the  Chinese  official  records,  and  that  he  in 
cluded  in  it  only  such  statements  as  he  thought  worthy  of  a 
place  in  these  records,  and  as  he  felt  convinced  that  he  thor 
oughly  understood  ;  all  that  seemed  doubtful  or  unworthy  of 
belief  being  omitted. 

It  happened,  however,  that  'he  one  day  entertained  the  attend 
ants  at  court  with  an  account  of  the  wonders  of  Fu-sang,  and  a 
portion  of  his  narration  has  been  preserved.  This  was  told  in  a 
joking  way,  and  many  of  the  facts  were  evidently  exaggerated  or 
perverted ;  while  other  details  seem  to  be  founded  upon  a  mis 
understanding  of  the  imperfect  Chinese  of  a  man  who  had  been 
but  two  or  three  years  in  the  country.  Yu  Kie  appears  to  have 
thought,  however,  that  the  account  related  to  him  by  Hwui  Shan 
was  as  wonderful  as  anything  that  he  could  himself  invent, 
and  he  therefore  seems  to  have  adhered  quite  faithfully  to  the 
story  that  he  had  heard.  While  his  joking  account  can  not  be 
fully  relied  upon  as  to  any  particular  point,  many  statements 
are  contained  in  it  which  throw  light  upon  facts  which  are  but 
imperfectly  described  in  the  official  record. 

Before  examining  this  merry  tale,  however,  it  will  be  well  to 
notice  the  statements  made  in  regard  to  the  presents  which  were 
brought  to  the  emperor  by  Hwui  Shan.  The  account  of  these  gifts 
seems  as  reliable  as  any  portion  of  the  record  that  was  copied  by 
Ma  Twan-lin,  and  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  inquire  whether  the 
articles  were  such  as  were  produced  or  made  in  Mexico,  and  as 
would  be  likely  to  be  taken  by  a  foreigner,  when  about  to  leave 
the  country,  as  being  representatives  of  the  most  valuable  or 
most  wonderful  articles  to  be  found  in  it. 

I. THE  PRESENTS  WHICH  HE  OFFERED  CONSISTED  PRINCIPALLY 

OF  THREE  HUNDRED  POUNDS  OF  YELLOW  SILK,  SPUN  BY  THE  SILK 
WORM  OF  THE  FU-SANG  TREE,  AND  OF  AN  EXTRAORDINARY 
STRENGTH.  THE  EMPEROR  HAD  AN  INCENSE-BURNER  OF  MASSIVE 
GOLD,  OF  A  WEIGHT  OF  SOME  FIFTY  POUNDS.  THIS  COULD  BE 
LIFTED  AND  HELD  SUSPENDED  BY  SIX  OF  THESE  THREADS,  WITHOUT 
BREAKING  THEM. 

Maundevile,  in  speaking  of  the  emperor  of  China,  says  : 1833 
"  The  custom  is  suche,  that  no  Straungere  schalle  come  before 


YU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS   REGARDING  FU-SANG.      521 

him,  but  gif  he  geve  hym  sum  manere  thing,  af  tre  the  olde  Lawe, 
that  scythe,  Nemo  acceclat  in  conspectu  meo  vacuus." 

It  therefore  appears  that  Hwui  Shan,  in  his  offer  of  tribute, 
was  but  complying  with  one  of  the  necessary  conditions  of  an 
imperial  audience. 

The  "yellow  silk"  presented  by  him  was  unquestionably  the 
fiber  of  the  agave.  The  usual  Chinese  character  for  silk  is  J$, 
sz'.  This  is  defined  by  Prof essor  Williams  : 2568  "Silk  as  it  comes 
from  the  cocoons  ;  silk  in  general ;  the  fibers  of  nettle-hemp  (Boeh- 
meria)  and  other  plants"  Copper- wire  is  also  called  "copper- 
silk."  It  therefore  appears  that  the  character  j|J0  being  equally 
applicable  to  any  lustrous  vegetable  fiber,  does  not  necessarily 
mean  silk,  but  might  be  used  with  propriety  for  the  glossy  fiber 
of  the  American  agave.  This  is  of  a  beautiful  light  golden 
yellow  colour,  as  may  be  seen  by  any  one  who  will  take  the 
trouble  to  examine  a  strand  of  the  so-called  "  Sisal  hemp."  Its 
strength  is  such  that  a  weight  of  at  least  eight  pounds  can  be 
lifted  by  a  single  fiber  ;  and  the  statement  as  to  the  weight 
which  was  lifted  by  six  of  the  fibers  (probably  twisted  together) 
does  not  seem  to  be  exaggerated.  Here  Yu  Kie  seems  to  have 
misunderstood  Hwui  Shan.  He  gathered  from  his  account  the 
fact  that  the  so-called  "  silk  "  was  in  some  way  connected  with 
the  f u-sang  tree  (i.  e.,  the  agave),  but  failed  to  learn  what  the 
exact  connection  was.  His  reference  to  the  silkworm  of  the 
fu-sang  tree  seems  to  have  been  based  upon  the  belief  that  the 
fiber,  although  so  coarse  and  strong  as  to  differ  greatly  from 
common  silk,  was  in  reality  a  species  of  true  silk,  and  that  it 
must  therefore  be  the  product  of  a  silk-worm. 

The  weight  that  was  presented  to  the  emperor  is  not  in  ex 
cess  of  the  amount  that  could  be  carried  by  a  single  man  in  an 
open  boat,  coasting  along  the  shore  from  Mexico  to  China  by 
the  route  heretofore  pointed  out. 

As  the  fu-sang  tree,  or  agave,  was  not  only  the  plant  from 
which  the  country  took  its  name,  but  was  also  both  the  most 
wonderful  and  the  most  valuable  plant  contained  in  it,  and  as  its 
chief  value  lay  in  its  fiber  (which  was  used  for  making  cordage, 
cloth,  and  paper),  it  would  be  surprising  if  a  stranger  who  visited 
the  land,  and  who  wished  to  take  with  him  specimens  of  its 
strangest,  most  valuable,  and  most  characteristic  products,  should 
have  failed  to  include  among  them  the  fiber  in  question. 


522  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

II. — THERE  WAS  ALSO   AMONG  THE  PRESENTS  OFFERED  TO 

THE  EMPEROR  A  SORT  OF  SEMI-TRANSPARENT  PRECIOUS  STONE, 
CUT  IN  THE  FORM  OF  A  MIRROR,  AND  OF  THE  CIRCUMFERENCE 
OF  MORE  THAN  A  FOOT.  IN  OBSERVING  THE  SUN  BY  REFLEC 
TION,  BY  MEANS  OF  THIS  STONE,  THE  PALACE  WHICH  THE  SUN 
CONTAINS  APPEARED  VERY  DISTINCTLY. 

Nearly  all  the  historians  of  Mexico  mention  the  fact  that  the 
Aztecs  made  mirrors  of  obsidian,717  which  were  often  ornamented 
with  gold.  Bancroft  says  that  their  mirrors  of  rock-crystal,  ob 
sidian,  and  other  stones,  brightly  polished,  and  encased  in  rich 
frames,  were  said  to  reflect  the  human  face  as  clearly  as  the  best 
of  European  manufacture,227  and  he  refers  particularly  to  Peter 
Martyr  (dec.  v,  lib.  x),  who  says  of  the  obsidian  of  the  country  : 
"  Excellent  glasses  may  bee  made  thereof  by  smoothing  and  pol 
ishing  them,  so  that  we  all  confessed  that  none  of  ours  did  bet 
ter  showe  the  naturall  and  liuely  face  of  a  manne."  2S8  These 
mirrors  were  found  as  far  north  as  New  Mexico  893  or  Arizona,547 
and  as  far  south  as  Yucatan  and  Nicaragua,274  and  specimens  of 
them  are  still  preserved  in  the  National  Museum  of  the  City  of 
Mexico.388  Masks,  and  even  rings  and  cups,  were  sometimes 
worked  from  the  same  material,226  and  it  was  also  the  stone  of 
which  they  made  their  knives,  razors,  swords,  daggers,  and  other 
cutting  instruments.1516  Hernandez  says  of  this  stone  : 1516 

"Three  varieties  are  distinguished,  the  blue,  white,  and 
black,  all  of  which  are  translucent.  When  cut  into  shape,  they 
are  bright  and  sparkling,  and  of  wonderful  transparency.  They 
are  dug  out  of  veins,  of  which  many  are  found  in  Mexico,  and 
are  cut  into  moderately  small  pieces,  of  such  size  and  shape  as 
may  be  desired,  the  angles  being  rubbed  down  with  other  small 
stones  of  a  gritty  nature." 

Respecting  obsidian  relics,  Mr.  Tyler  says  : 389  "Any  one  who 
does  not  know  obsidian  may  imagine  great  masses  of  bottle- 
glass,  such  as  our  orthodox  ugly  wine-bottles  are  made  of,  very 
hard,  very  brittle,  and,  if  one  breaks  it  with  any  ordinary  im 
plement,  going,  as  glass  does,  in  every  direction  but  the  right 
one.  Out  of  this  rather  unpromising  stuff  the  Mexicans  made 
knives,  razors,  arrow  and  spear  heads,  and  other  things,  some  of 
great  beauty.  I  say  nothing  of  the  polished  obsidian  mirrors 
and  ornaments,  nor  even  of  the  curious  masks  of  the  human  face 
that  are  to  be  seen  in  collections,  for  these  were  only  labouriously 


YU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS  REGARDING  FU-SANG.      523 

cut  and  polished  with  jewelers'  sand,  to  us  a  commonplace  pro 
cess." 

But  if  the  semi-transparent  mirror  which  Hwui  Shan  present 
ed  to  the  emperor  was  brought  from  Mexico,  what  is  "  the  palace 
which  the  sun  contains,"  which  was  said  to  be  reflected  in  it  ? 
Here  there  is  a  possibility  of  error,  owing  to  the  fact  that  we 
have  no  copy  of  the  statement  in  Chinese.  It  seems  probable, 
however,  that  the  character  translated  "  palace  "  is  g,  KUNG, 
which  means  "  a  mansion  or  palace."  Now,  the  Chinese  divide 
the  zodiac  into  twenty-eight  KUNG,9507  constellations,  lunar  man 
sions,  houses,  or  palaces.2566  The  zodiac  is  further  divided  into 
twelve  signs,  or  palaces,  ranging  from  25°  to  38°  in  length, 
named  after  the  twelve  branches,  or  the  animals  representing 
them  ; 25C8  and  these  last  are  probably  the  divisions  referred  to  by 
Schlegel,  when  he  says  : 22S7  "  The  twelve  divisions  of  the  Chi 
nese  horary  circle  are  named  in  Chinese  the  twelve  KUNG,  or 
palaces."  As  the  phrase  YUEH  KUNG,  "the  moon's  palace," 
means  "  the  bright  moon," 2543  it  is  possible  that  "  the  sun's  pal 
ace  "  may  mean  "  the  bright  sun,"  or  "  the  brightness  of  the 
sun."  I  think,  however,  that  there  is  here  a  reference  to  the 
fact  that  a  spherically  concave  or  convex  mirror  will,  when  laid 
horizontally,  with  its  reflecting  surface  facing  the  zenith,  exhibit 
an  image  of  the  sun,  in  some  particular  part  of  the  mirror  ;  the 
exact  place  being  governed  by  the  position  of  the  sun  in  the 
heavens.  Hence,  the  distance  of  the  sun  above  the  horizon 
could  be  seen  represented  in  the  mirror,  and  from  this  it  would 
be  easy  to  determine  the  KUNG,  or  celestial  mansion,  or  palace, 
in  which  the  sun  then  was. 

We  have  unquestionable  proof  that  the  Aztecs  had  not  only 
plain  mirrors,  but  also  made  them  both  concave 
and  convex.  Herrera  says  that  they  had  mirrors 
"  as  large  as  one's  fist,  round  as  a  ball,  framed 
in  gold."  m  Castaneda's  plates  include  a  semi- 
spherical  mirror  of  copper-covered  lava,  three 
and  a  half  inches  in  diameter.380  Clavigero  gives 
the  accompanying  engraving,1080  and  says  that 1084 
it  is  a  picture  of  a  Mexican  mirror,  which  repre- 
sents  the  city  of  Tehuillojoccan,  which  name 
means  "the  Place  of  the  Mirrors."  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg 
says  :  m  "  They  sold  mirrors  having  two  faces,  polished  on  both 


524:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

sides,  and  made  some  of  them  concave,  of  white  or  black  stone." 
He  also  says  that  the  priests  of  Central  America,  by  the  use  of  a 
mirror,  caused  the  holy  fire  to  descend  upon  the  victim,  which 
was  thus  immediately  consumed.641  This  could  only  have  been 
done  by  a  concave  mirror.  Finally,  Sahagun  states  that  the 
Mexicans  made  mirrors  which  reflected  the  figure  differently  from 
what  it  really  was,  for  they  enlarged  the  different  parts  of  the 
visage,  and  made  them  appear  deformed.  They  were  given  dif 
ferent  forms,  round,  triangular,  etc.2217  These  must  have  been 
either  concave  or  convex. 

It  should  be  noticed  that,  in  the  cases  in  which  the  size  of  the 
mirrors  is  mentioned,  this  corresponds  closely  with  the  dimen 
sions  of  the  one  presented  to  the  emperor  by  Hwui  Shan  ;  and 
it  seems  that  a  concave  or  convex  mirror  of  obsidian,  such  as 
were  made  by  the  Aztecs,  would  fully  answer  the  description 
given  in  the  Chinese  account.  So  far  as  I  know,  these  peculiar 
mirrors  were  never  made  in  any  other  country  in  the  world,  and 
the  account  of  this  one  article  seems  sufficient  to  prove  that  its 
giver  must  have  brought  or  obtained  it  from  Mexico.  Accus 
tomed  as  the  Spanish  conquerors  were  to  excellent  mirrors,  they 
thought  that  these  of  Aztec  manufacture  were  worthy  of  special 
mention,  and  we  find  them  named  among  the  list  of  precious 
articles  which  Montezuma  and  other  chieftains  presented  to  their 
enslavers.224  The  only  reflectors  manufactured  by  the  Chinese 
in  the  days  of  Hwui  Shan  were  metallic  ; 2506  and,  as  they  were 
then  unacquainted  with  glass,  the  semi-transparent  mirror  pre 
sented  by  the  Buddhist  priest  must  have  struck  them  as  both 
new  and  wonderful. 

To  me,  the  presents  brought  by  Hwui  Shan  seem  to  be  ex 
actly  such  articles  as  a  traveler  would  be  likely  to  bring  from 
Mexico,  as  representative  of  its  most  characteristic  and  most  val 
uable  productions,  and  I  know  of  no  other  land  from  which  they 
could  have  been  obtained. 

Recurring  now  to  Yu  Kie's  statements,  we  find  the  following  : 

III. SlLK-WOKMS  ABE  FOUND  IN  Fu-SANG   WHICH  ABE  SEVEN 

FEET  LONG  AND  AS  MUCH   AS    SEVEN  INCHES    IN    CIBCUMFEKENCE. 

THEIB  COLOUB  is  GOLDEN.     IT  TAKES  A  YEAB  TO  BAISE  THEM. 

ON  THE  EIGHTH  DAY  OF  THE  FIFTH  MONTH  THEY  SPIN  YELLOW 
SILK,  WHICH  IS  EXTENDED  UPON  THE  BBANCHES  OF  THE  FU-SANG 
TBEE,  FOB  THEY  MAKE  NO  COCOONS.  THIS  SILK  IS  NATUBALLY 


YU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS  REGARDING  FU  SANG.      525 

VERY  WEAK,  BUT  IT  is  COOKED  (or  BOILED  ;  perhaps  the  meaning 
is  "  steeped ")  IN  LYE  PREPARED  FROM  THE  ASHES  OF  THE  WOOD 
OF  THE  FU-SANG,  AND  THUS  ACQUIRES  SUCH  STRENGTH  THAT  FOUR 
THREADS  TWISTED  TOGETHER  ARE  SUFFICIENT  TO  RAISE  A  WEIGHT 
OF  THIRTY  CHINESE  POUNDS.  THE  EGGS  OF  THESE  SILK  -  WORMS 
ARE  AS  LARGE  AS  SWALLOWS*  EGGS.  &OME  WERE  TAKEN  TO  Co- 
REA  ;  BUT  THE  VOYAGE  INJURED  THEM  SO  THAT  NOTHING  ISSUED 
FROM  THEM  BUT  SILK-WORMS  AS  SMALL  AS  THOSE  OF  CHINA. 

Here,  for  the  second  time,  we  find  an  error  arising  from  an 
imperfect  understanding  of  Hwui  Shan's  faulty  Chinese,  and 
from  the  belief  that  the  fiber  shown  was  true  silk,  and,  therefore, 
the  product  of  a  silk-worm.  The  fiber  of  the  agave  is  produced 
from  something  which  is  about  seven  feet  long  and  about  seven 
inches  in  circumference  (or  rather  breadth)  ;  this  much  Hwui 
Shan  succeeded  in  causing  Yu  Kie  to  understand  ;  but  that  some 
thing  is  not  a  silk-worm,  but  the  leaf  of  the  plant.  The  golden 
or  yellow  colour  is  the  tint  of  the  fiber. 

It  may  easily  be  imagined  that  the  explorer  endeavoured  to 
explain  that  the  fiber  was  in  the  leaf  of  the  fu-sang  tree  and  ex 
tended  through  it ;  and  all  that  Yu  Kie  could  make  of  his  few 
Chinese  words,  helped  out  by  signs,  and  possibly  by  rude  draw* 
ings,  was  that  the  "  yellow  silk  "  was  "  extended  upon  the  branches 
of  the  fu-sang  tree,"  while  Hwui  Shan's  attempt  to  set  him  right, 
by  explaining  that  there  were  no  cocoons,  was  unsuccessful. 

The  so-called  "  eggs  "  are  undoubtedly  the  seeds  of  the  agave. 
Some  of  these  he  brought  with  him  as  far  as  Corea,  and  there 
they  were  either  found  to  have  been  killed  by  the  cold  of  the 
Arctic  regions,  through  which  he  had  passed,  or  else,  having 
been  planted,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  young  plants  there 
while  they  were  small. 

As  to  the  reference  to  the  lye  prepared  from  the  ashes  of  the 
wood  of  the  fu-sang  :  we  find,  first,  that  the  leaves  of  the  agave,  or 
maguey,  formed  a  common  fuel123  in  Mexico.572  Becher  says  that 
tortillas  "  are  cooked  in  an  earthen  dish  over  a  fire,  generally  of 
dried  maguey  leaves "  ;  and  Sahagun  names,  among  the  articles 
sold  by  the  dealer  in  fire- wood,  "  the  leaves  of  the  maguey," 2208 
and  adds  that  S22°  "  they  make  an  excellent  fire,  and  the  ashes  are 
very  good  for  lye." 

The  general  statement  of  the  Mexican  historians  is,  that  the 
maguey  fibers  were  prepared  for  use  by  the  same  process  as 


526  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

that  adopted  for  the  preparation  of  flax  in  other  countries.231  The 
Aztecs  macerated  the  leaves,  steeping  them  in  water,721  then 
cleaned  the  fiber,  dried  it  in  the  sun,  and  beat  it  until  fit  to 
spin.1083  There  is  no  proof  that  they  were  acquainted  with  the 
use  of  an  alkaline  bath  for  treating  the  fiber,  although  Sahagun's 
statement  leads  to  the  reasonable  inference  that  the  Mexicans  ex 
tracted  lye  from  the  ashes  of  the  agave  leaves  ;  and  alkalies  are 
used  in  the  process  now  most  frequently  employed.  Squier  says 
that,  at  Key  West,2371  the  people  either  preserve  the  primitive 
process  which  is  practiced  in  Yucatan,  of  beating  or  scraping  the 
leaves,  or,  after  crushing  them  between  a  pair  of  rollers,  they 
steep  them  in  an  alkaline  solution  for  a  few  days,  and  then  hackle 
them.  He  adds  that2369  the  use  of  alkalies  in  treating  fibers,  either 
with  or  without  pressure,  in  the  process  of  boiling,  will  take  out 
much  of  the  gummy  and  colouring  matters  which  they  contain, 
but  the  heat  will  fix  or  set  that  which  is  left  of  a  luff  colour,  of 
greater  or  less  depth,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  alkaline 
bath  used. 

The  statement  that  it  takes  a  year  to  raise  the  worms,  or  the 
silk,  and  that  the  silk  is  spun  upo'n  the  eighth  day  of  the  fifth 
month,  each  year,  seems  to  vaguely  indicate  that  the  agave  leaves 
were  cut  or  the  fiber  gathered  on  a  fixed  day  of  the  year,  and,  if 
so,  the  customs  of  the  Mexican  people  were  such  that  this  annual 
harvest  would  probably  be  connected  with  a  feast  or  festival  in 
honour  of  the  god  Huitzilopochtli,  "the  Ever-youthful  One  of 
the  Thorny  Plant,"  whom  we  have  already  identified  as  a  deifi 
cation  of  the  plant  in  question. 

Bancroft  says  that  the  first  half  of  the  month  called  Toxcitl 
(which  was  probably  the  fifth  month)  was,186  among  the  Mexi 
cans,  taken  up  with  a  continuous  scene  of  festivals  in  honour  of 
Tezcatlipoca ;  the  latter  half  of  the  month  was  devoted  to  the 
worship  of  his  brother  god  Huitzilopochtli.187  From  Sahagun's 
statement  it  would  appear,  however,  that  the  feasts  and  banquets 
in  honour  of  Tezcatlipoca  lasted  but  five  days;*™  then,  according 
to  Lenoir,1728  two  days  before  the  feast  of  Huitzilopochtli  (or 
Vitzlipultzi,  as  he  spells  the  name)  a  statue  representing  him 
was  kneaded  from  corn-meal  and  honey.  It  therefore  appears 
not  impossible  that  the  feast  of  Huitzilopochtli  fell  on  the 
eighth  day  of  the  fifth  month.  It  is  probable  that  too  little  is 
now  known  of  the  life  of  the  aboriginal  Mexicans  to  enable  us 


YU   KIE'S  STATEMENTS  REGARDING  FU-SANG.      527 

to  determine  whether  this  was  the  exact  date  of  his  feast,  or 
whether  it  was  connected  in  any  manner  with  the  gathering  of 
the  fiber  of  the  century-plant. 

The  mention  of  the  circumstance  that  the  "  eggs,"  or  seeds, 
were  taken  to  Corea,  shows  that  Hwui  Shan  passed  through  that 
country  on  his  way  to  China.  Attention  has  already  been  called 
to  the  fact  that  some  knowledge  of  his  story  seems  to  have  been 
preserved  in  that  country.  Corea  paid  tribute  to  China  through 
out  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  and  there  was  then  constant 
communication  between  the  two  countries,1656  so  that  the  Bud 
dhist  priest  must  have  found  this  portion  of  his  journey  very  easy. 
It  is  possible  that  the  visit  to  the  Chinese  emperor  Liang  Wu-ti  126° 
(the  emperor  to  whom  Hwui  Shim  presented  the  "silk  "  and  the 
semi-transparent  mirror),  of  Corean  embassadors,  who  came  to 
ask  for  the  Buddhist  classics,  was  brought  about  by  the  interest 
in  Buddhist  doctrines  occasioned  by  the  visit  of  Hwui  Shan. 

The  Coreans  first  adopted  the  ideographic  writing  of  the 
Chinese  ;  but  as  their  language  is  susceptible  of  being  written  by 
means  of  an  alphabet,  they  either  invented  or  adopted  one,  in  the 
year  374  A.  D.  This  alphabet  is  still  in  general  use  in  Corea, 
although  Chinese  characters  are  also  used  in  almost  all  scientific 
works.1654 

As  the  Coreans  were  able  to  write  at  the  time  that  Hwui 
Shan  visited  them,  it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  hope  that  some 
account  of  his  story  may  still  be  found  among  their  records, 
which  will  supplement  and  complete  the  account  which  we  have 
borrowed  from  the  Chinese. 

Oppert  says,  however:1995  "The  few  native  writings,  pre 
tending  to  supply  historical  accounts,  contain  in  truth  nothing 
whatever  that  throws  light  upon  any  subject  of  importance.  They 
limit  themselves  solely  to  the  enumeration  of  the  different  kings 
and  queens,  without  furnishing  dates  of  any  important  events 
that  may  have  occurred  ;  the  most  likely  conjecture  for  which, 
perhaps,  is  that  they  really  have  had  no  prominent  facts  to  re 
cord.  It  is  true  that  a  journal  was  kept  in  every  magistrate's 
office,  giving  an  accurate  account  of  even  insignificant  occurrences 
happening  in  the  district ;  this  kind  of  registration  appears,  how 
ever,  to  have  been  carried  on  more  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating 
the  superintendence  of  the  central  government  over  the  different 
parts  of  the  country,  than  with  a  view  to  record  monuments  of 


528  AX  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

historical  interest.  Nearly  four  hundred  volumes  were  found, 
on  the  occasion  of  Admiral  Roze's  visit  to  Kangwha,  in  the 
buildings  of  the  Prefecture,  containing  journals  of  such  district 
records,  but  which  the  French  believed  at  the  time  to  contain 
matters  of  great  historical  moment.  These  books  were  sent  to 
Paris,  and  placed  in  the  then  Bibliotheque  Impe'riale,  where  they 
still  are.  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  add,  after  what  has  been 
stated  above,  that  they  are  not  of  the  slightest  value  for  the  pur 
pose  of  researches  on  the  general  history  of  the  country." 

Still,  notwithstanding  Oppert's  statement,  something  of  value 
may  yet  be  found  in  these  records. 

As  there  seems  no  other  possible  explanation  of  the  fact, 
mentioned  by  M.  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Deny s  (see 
Chapter  XII  of  this  work),  that  the  highest  dignitaries  of  Corea 
bear  the  same  title  of  "  Great  Tui-lu "  that  was  borne  by  the 
first  rank  of  the  nobility  of  the  country  of  Fu-sang,  I  venture 
to  suggest  the  theory  that,  after  the  story  of  the  land  of  Fu- 
sang  had  become  well  known  in  Corea,  the  officer  of  some  secret 
society,  or  some  political  party,  assumed  this  foreign  title — just 
as  in  America  the  chief  officer  of  "  Tammany  Hall "  assumed  the 
aboriginal  title  of  "  sachem  " — and  at  some  later  date  this  soci 
ety  or  party  succeeded  in  forcing  a  recognition  by  the  govern 
ment,  and  shared  in  the  power  of  the  throne.  The  fact  that 
the  mandarins  of  this  title  in  Corea  are  elected  and  deposed 
by  the  members  of  this  rank,  by  their  own  authority,  without 
consultation  either  with  the  king  or  his  ministers,  indicates  an 
independence  which  can  hardly  have  originated  otherwise  than 
in  the  manner  above  suggested. 

IV. — THE  PALACE  OF  THE  KING  IS  SUREOUNDED  BY  WALLS  OF 
CETSTAL,  WHICH  APPEAR  CLEAELT  BEFOEE  DAYLIGHT  ;  BUT  THESE 
WALLS  BECOME  QUITE  INVISIBLE  DURING  AN  ECLIPSE  OF  THE 
MOON. 

Here  there  seems  a  reference  to  walls  built  of  some  semi-trans 
parent  or  translucent  stone,  such  as  obsidian,  alabaster,  or  gypsum. 
The  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  states  that 716  marble,  jasper, 
porphyry,  alabaster,  and  obsidian  were  everywhere  used  as  mate 
rials  either  for  ornaments  of  the  palaces  and  temples,  or  for  statues 
and  other  sculptured  objects,  and  he  mentions  that 7S3  the  edifice 
designed  for  the  preservation  and  propagation  of  the  birds, 
whose  feathers  were  used  for  the  manufacture  of  mosaic  feather- 


YU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS   REGARDING  FU-SANG.      529 

work,  was  surrounded  by  porticos  of  alabaster,  which  opened  upon 
vast  gardens.  Tecali,  a  transparent  stone  resembling  alabaster, 
was  sometimes  used  in  the  temples  for  window-glass,246  and  plates 
of  gypsum  are  still  sometimes  used  in  Mexico  or  New  Mexico  for 
the  same  purpose.1187 

Diaz  states  that  Montezuma's  palace  was  of  stone  and  lime, 
and  the  walls  were  covered  with  marble,  jasper,  and  porphyry,  in 
the  smoothly  polished  surface  of  which  one  could  see  his  reflected 
image  ; 1202  and  among  the  notable  edifices  of  Mexico  is  mentioned 
the  Tezcacalli,  or  "  House  of  Mirrors,"  so  called  from  the  (ob 
sidian)  mirrors  which  covered  its  walls.253  If  the  ancient  tradi 
tions  may  be  believed,  the  Toltec  monarchs  built  as  magnifi 
cent  palaces  as  their  Aztec  successors.162  The  sacred  palace  of 
that  mysterious  Toltec  priest-king  Quetzalcoatl  had  four  prin 
cipal  halls,  which  were  ornamented  respectively  with  gold  ;  with 
emeralds,  turquoises,  and  precious  stones  ;  with  silver  and  sea- 
shells,  and  with  red  jasper. 

To  one  unacquainted  with  true  glass,  the  glitter  and  transpar 
ency  of  obsidian,  iztli,  or  volcanic  glass  would  seem  very  remark 
able.  Both  Prescott  and  Bancroft 466  mention  the  glistening  of 
obsidian  in  the  dawning  light,  the  former  in  these  words  : 2<m 
"  The  first  gray  of  the  morning  was  coming  over  the  waters,  .  .  . 
while  the  bosom  of  the  lake,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  was 
darkened  by  canoes,  crowded  with  warriors,  whose  spears  and 
bludgeons,  armed  with  blades  of  *  volcanic  glass,'  gleamed  in  the 
morning  light." 

Some  such  reference  as  this  seems  to  have  been  made  by 
Ilwui  Shan  to  the  gleam  of  the  obsidian  or  alabaster  in  the  walls 
of  the  king's  palace,  when  illuminated  by  the  first  light  of  the 
morning,  and  Yu  Kie  exaggerated  it  into  the  shape  given  in  the 
text. 

V. — THE  LOUD  Yu  KIE  SAID  BESIDES  :  AT  THE  NORTHWEST, 

ABOUT  TEN  THOUSAND  LI,  THERE  EXISTS  A  KlNGDOM  OF  WOMEN 
WHO  TAKE  SERPENTS  FOR  HUSBANDS.  MOREOVER,  THESE  REP 
TILES  ARE  INOFFENSIVE.  THEY  LIVE  IN  HOLES,  WHILE  THEIR 
WIVES,  OR  CONCUBINES,  LIVE  IN  HOUSES  AND  PALACES,  AND  EX 
ERCISE  ALL  THE  CARES  OF  STATE.  IN  THIS  KINGDOM  THERE  ARE 

NO  BOOKS,  AND  THEY  KNOW  NOTHING  OF  THE  ART  OF  WRITING. 
THEY  BELIEVE  FIRMLY  IN  THE  EFFICACY  OP  CERTAIN  FORMS  OF 
PRAYERS,  OR  OF  MALEDICTIONS.    THE  WOMEN  WHO  ACT  UPRIGHTLY 
84 


530  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

PEOLONG  THEIR  LIVES,  AND  THOSE  WHO  SWEEVE  FEOM  THE  EIGHT 
AEE  IMMEDIATELY  CUT  OFF.  THE  WOESHIP  OF  SPIEITS  IMPOSES 
LAWS  THAT  NONE  DAEE  TO  VIOLATE. 

Here  there  is  a  reference  to  the  "  Country  of  Women."  In 
the  account  of  the  voyage  to  Cibola,  contained  in  the  collection 
of  M.  Ternaux-Compans,  it  is  stated  that  the  Tahuas,  living 
in  the  province  of  Culiacan  (the  province  in  which  the  Country 
of  Women  was  often  said  to  be  situated),  raised  large  serpents, 
for  which  they  had  great  veneration.2436  A  full  description  of 
this  curious  custom  is  given  in  the  "  First  Anonymous  Account  of 
the  Expedition  of  Nufio  de  Guzman,"  published  in  the  collec 
tion  of  Icazbalceta.1422  "In  the  religious  rites  of  this  land,  the 
devil  is  worshiped  as  their  god  ;  and  in  many  houses  of  this 
country  they  keep  numerous  great  serpents,  which  live  in  a  cor 
ner  in  the  darkest  part  of  the  house ;  the  serpents  are  twined 
together  in  a  great  ball  or  heap,  and  some  of  these  masses  of 
serpents  are  very  large.  When  they  are  thus  twined  together 
in  a  round  ball,  from  which  the  head  of  one  projects  at  the  top, 
and  another  from  the  bottom,  and  others  from  the  middle,  the 
spectacle  is  one  that  is  frightful  to  behold  ;  for  they  are  as  large 
around  as  the  arm,  and  they  open  their  mouths  ;  but  they  do  no 
harm,  for  the  Indians  take  them  in  their  hands  and  feed  them. 
These  Indians  say  that  the  serpents  have  the  form  of  the  demon 
whom  they  adore,  and  they  therefore  pay  them  great  honour." 

A  story  of  a  custom  of  this  kind,  existing  in  a  land  named 
"  the  Country  of  Women,"  might  very  readily  give  rise  to  the 
curious  melange  narrated  by  Yu  Kie,  if  it  was  related  to  him  by 
a  man  who  had  but  a  slight  knowledge  of  Chinese,  and  who  was 
therefore  unable  to  make  himself  fully  understood. 

VI. — To  THE  SOUTH  OF  Ho-TCHEOU  (the  "  Island  of  Fire  " — 
probably  )J£,  HWO,  "fire,"  and  CHEU,  Jfl,  "an  island  or  district"), 

SITUATED  TO  THE  SOUTH  OF  THIS  COUNTEY,  IS  THE  MOUNTAIN  YEN- 

KOUEN  ("  Burning  Mountain  " — probably  *{]§,  YEN,  "  smoke,"  and 
jj,,  KWUN,  "  a  peak,  a  high  mountain "),  THE  INHABITANTS  OF 

WHICH  EAT  LOCUSTS,  CEABS,  AND  HAIEY  SEEPENTS,  TO  PEESEEVE 
THEMSELVES  FEOM  THE  HEAT.  IN  THIS  LAND  OF  Ho-TCHEOU,  THE 

HO-MOU  (trees  of  fire— probably  >£,  HWO,  "  fire,"  and  /fc,  MUH, 
"  wood,  a  tree  ")  GEOW  ;  THEIE  BAEK  FUENISHES  A  SOLID  TISSUE. 

UPON    THE  SUMMIT  OF   THE  MOUNTAIN   YEN-KOUEN    THEEE  LIVE 

FIEE-EATS  (HO-CHOU,  probably  HWO,  >J£,  "  fire,"  and  J|,  SHtr>  "  a 


TU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS  EEGARDING  FU-SANG.      531 
rat,  mouse,  weasel,  squirrel,  or  similar  animal "),  THE  HAIR  OF 

WHICH  SERVES  ALSO  FOR  THE  FABRICATION  OF  AX  INCOMBUSTIBLE 
STUFF  WHICH  IS  CLEANED  IN  FIRE  INSTEAD  OF  IN  WATER. 

The  Marquis  d'Hervey's  transcription  of  the  words  which  he 
renders  "Burning  Mountain"  shows  that  the  translation  should 
rather  be  "  Smoking  Mountain."  This  is  exactly  the  meaning  of 
the  Aztec  name, "  Popocatepetl," 2a45  which  is  applied  to  the  high 
est  mountain  and  most  active  volcano  of  Mexico  (from  popoca, 
" smoking," and  tepetl,  "a  mountain").  South  of  Mexico  several 
mountains  are  to  be  found,  the  native  names  of  which  mean 
either  "Fire  Mountain,"  "Burning  Mountain,"  or  "Smoking 
Mountain."  No  equal  extent  of  the  American  Continent,  per 
haps  of  the  globe,  possesses  so  many  volcanoes,  active  and  ex 
tinct,  or  exhibits  so  many  traces  of  volcanic  action  as  Central 
America  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  region  embraced  between  the  Isth 
mus  of  Tehuantepec  and  that  of  Panama,  or  Darien.  In  the 
words  of  Mr.  Stephens,  the  entire  Pacific  coast  of  this  remark 
able  country  "  bristles  with  volcanic  cones."  2364 

Oviedo  makes  a  long  enumeration  of  the  volcanoes  known  at 
the  time,  and  continues  :  "  But  it  seems  to  me  that  none  of  these 
volcanoes  are  to  be  compared  with  that  of  Masaya,  which,  as  I 
have  said,  I  have  seen  and  examined  myself.  Of  this  the  reader 
shall  be  the  judge,  after  he  has  read  the  description  of  that 
mountain  whose  name  signifies  '*  the  Burning  Mountain,"  in  the 
language  of  the  Chorotegans,  in  whose  territory  it  is  situated. 
In  the  language  of  Nicaragua  it  is  called  Popocatepec,  which 
means  'Boiling  Stream.'" 

Mr.  Squier  explains  that  this  translation  is  a  mistake  of  the 
chronicler  ;  "  Popocatepec  "  meaning  *  "  Smoking  Mountain." 2362 

As  to  the  "hairy  serpents,"  Purchas8114  states  that,  in  prepar 
ing  an  unction  for  purposes  of  sorcery,  "  they  did  likewise  grinde 
with  these  ashes  blacke  and  hairie  wormes,  whose  haire  onelie  is 
venomous  :  all  which  they  mingled  together  with  blacke,  or  the 
fume  of  rosine,  putting  it  in  small  pots,  which  they  set  before 
their  God,  saying  it  was  his  meate,  and  therefore  called  it  a  Di- 
uine  meate."  The  statement  that  these  hairy  serpents  were  eaten 
"  to  preserve  them  from  the  heat "  seems,  however,  to  indicate, 
that  Hwui  Shan  made  a  rude  drawing  of  the  "  nopal  de  la  tierra," 

*  Or  rather  "  At  the  Smoking  Mountain,"  or  "  The  Region  of  the  Smoking 
Mountain."— E.  P.  Y. 


532  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

a  species  of  cactus  very  common  in  Mexico,  whose  round,  prickly 
stems,  straggling  about  upon  the  ground,  would  look  in  a  draw 
ing  much  like  "  hairy  serpents."  This  species  of  nopal  is  often 
eaten  in  the  hot  and  arid  districts  of  Mexico,  and  its  juicy  stems 
serve  to  quench  the  thirst  in  many  regions  where  water  can  not 
be  otherwise  obtained. 

Hernandez  says  that  a  species  of  rhododendron  is  called 
quauhtlepatli,  or  "  the  fire-tree  remedy,"  ]  l"  and  he  also  mentions 
the  tlepatli,  or  "  fire-remedy,"  1502  which  may  be  the  same  plant. 
Ocotl,  the  name  of  the  pitch-pine  tree,  was  also  applied  to  a 
torch,  lamp,  or  candle  ;611  and  hence  ocotochtli^  the  name  of 
the  marten,2212  meaning  literally  the  "  pine-rabbit,"  might  be 
understood  to  mean  the  "torch-rabbit."  The  "hair"  of  the 
"  fire-rat "  is  evidently  asbestos,  once  known  as  "  salamander's- 
wool,"  and  as  in  Europe  and  Asia  this  substance,  which  "  when 
woven  into  cloth  and  thrown  into  the  fire  remains  incombusti 
ble,"1794  gave  rise  to  the  myth  of  the  salamander,  it  may  in 
Mexico  have  led  to  similar  stories  of  a  species  of  "  fire-rat." 
The  Ychcatetly  or  "  cotton-stone,"  mentioned  by  Hernandez  1517  as 
among  the  productions  of  Mexico,  seems  to  have  been  a  variety 
of  asbestos. 

VII. To  THE    NORTH    OF   THIS  KlNGDOM   OF  WOMEN   IS    THE 

BLACK  VALLEY  (HE-KO,  probably  JS^,  HOH,  "  black,"  and  KUH,  jj£, 
"  a  ravine,  gully,  gorge,  canon  "),  AND  NORTH  OF  THE  BLACK  VAL 
LEY  ARE  MOUNTAINS  SO  HIGH  THAT  THEY  REACH  TO  THE  HEAV 
ENS.  SNOW  COVERS  THEM  ALL  THE  YEAR.  THE  SUN  DOES  NOT 
SHOW  ITSELF  THERE  AT  ALL.  IT  IS  THERE,  IT  IS  SAID,  THAT  THE 

DRAGON  TCHO-LONG  (the  " Luminous  Dragon"  —  probably  jgj, 
CHUH,  "an  illumination,  a  torch,  to  illumine,"  and  ||,  LUNG,  "a 
dragon")  RESIDES. 

North  of  Mexico  is  found  the  Canon  of  the  Colorado  River, 
the  most  wonderful  chasm  in  the  world,  with  walls  so  steep, 
high,  and  close  together,  that,  as  I  once  heard  General  Crook  ex 
press  it,  "  it  is  necessary  to  lie  down  upon  one's  back  in  order 
to  see  the  sky."  Into  much  of  this  deep  gorge  no  ray  of  sun 
shine  ever  falls,  and  it  well  deserves  the  name  of  the  "Dark 
Canon."  North  of  this  is  found  the  Sierra  Nevada,  "  the  Snowy 
Range."  The  reference  to  the  Luminous  Dragon  is  probably  bor 
rowed  from  some  superstition  of  China,  but  it  is  not  impossible 
that  the  worship  of  Huitzilopochtli,  who,  according  to  Saha- 


YU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS  REGARDING  FU-SANG.      533 

gun, 2m  "  bore  upon  his  escutcheon  a  frightful  head  of  a  dragon 
vomiting  flames,"  was,  in  later  days,  mixed  with  that  of  some 
god  who,  in  the  fifth  century,  was  adored  only  in  the  region 
north  of  Mexico. 

VIII. — AT  THE  WEST  IS  A  FOUNTAIN  THAT  INEBRIATES,  AND 
HAS  THE  TASTE  OP  WINE.  IN  THESE  REGIONS  THERE  IS  ALSO 

FOUND  A  SEA  OF  VARNISH,  OF  WHICH  THE  WAVES  DYE  BLACK  THE 
FEATHERS  AND  FURS  THAT  ARE  DIPPED  IN  THEM  J  AND  ANOTHER 
SEA  OF  THE  COLOUR  OF  MILK. 

That  which  inebriates,  and  has  the  taste  of  wine,  is  probably 
the  liquor  made  from  the  juice  of  the  agave,  which  Yu  Kie  erro 
neously  understood  to  be  the  product  of  a  fountain.  The  "  Sea 
of  Varnish  "  is  thus  described  by  Sahagun  : 2207 

"  What  is  the  chapopotli  f  It  is  a  bitumen  which  comes 
from  the  sea,  and  which  resembles  Spanish  pitch  when  it  is  soft. 
The  waves  of  the  sea  throw  it  upon  the  shore,  particularly  on 
certain  days  at  the  times  of  the  waxing  of  the  moon.  It  lies 
spread  out  upon  the  waves  like  a  great  piece  of  cloth,  and  those 
who  reside  near  the  shore  gather  it  upon  the  coast.  The  chapo 
potli  is  fragrant,  and  much  esteemed  by  the  women.  When 
thrown  upon  the  fire  its  odour  extends  to  a  great  distance." 

Hernandez  gives  the  following  account  of  "chapopotli,  or 
the  bitumen  of  the  sea-shore  of  New  Spain  "  : 1515  "  Chapopotli  is 
a  mineral  which  is  of  a  dark  yellowish  colour,  and  from  old 
times  has  been  called  Jewish  bitumen.  When  of  a  purple  colour, 
and  exhaling  a  powerful  odour  like  that  of  trefoil,  asphalt,  or 
rue,  it  is  considered  very  valuable.  It  flows  forth  by  the  North 
ern  Ocean,  and  the  flowing  liquid  immediately  runs  along  the 
shores  of  this  New  Spain  in  sheets  which  are  said  to  be  sometimes 
two  miles  in  length,  and  when  chance  favours,  two  or  three 
spans  in  thickness.  Such  is  its  abundance  in  these  regions  that 
it  is  of  but  little  value.  The  Mexican  women  chew  it,  and  not 
without  pleasure,  as  its  cleanses  the  mouth,  and  restores  the  teeth 
to  their  original  brightness."  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  describes 
it  as  "  a  black  matter,  analogous  to  pitch,  which  is  found  in  the 
neighbouring  seas,  which  is  thrown  up  by  the  waves  upon  the 
coast "  ; 702  and  Acosta  *  mentions  a  spring  or  fountain  of  bitu 
men  as  occurring  upon  the  Pacific  coast.  This  native  petroleum, 
or  bitumen,  was  one  of  the  substances  used  by  the  Mexicans  as 
a  means  of  producing  a  black  colour.2184 


534:  AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

I  know  of  no  sea  "  of  the  colour  of  milk  "  in  Mexico,  but  the 
western  portion  of  the  American  Continent  contains  so  many 
springs  and  lakes  of  strange  qualities,  that  the  probability  is 
that  one  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  country  could  point  out 
more  than  one  lake  or  spring  which  would  answer  the  descrip 
tion.  Sahagun  says  :  "  In  regard  to  the  springs,  there  are  so 
many  in  that  land,  and  they  are  of  such  diverse  qualities,  that 
they  would  merit  a  separate  treatise,  especially  if  we  were  to 
enumerate  those  of  the  kingdom  of  Michoacan.  There  are  an 
infinite  number  of  springs  of  mineral  water,  nitrous,  sulphurous, 
vitriolic,  and  aluminous." 1054  Squier 2063  says  that,  at  the  edge  of 
Lake  Managua,  in  Nicaragua,  there  were  hundreds  of  hot  springs. 
"  In  fact,  for  a  considerable  extent,  the  ground  was  covered  with 
white  incrustations,  resembling  a  field  of  snow  ;  and,  as  we  walked 
over  it,  the  sound  of  the  water  beneath  was  like  that  of  a  vio 
lently  boiling  cauldron." 

IX. THE  TERRITORY  SURROUNDED  BY  THESE  NATURAL  MAR 
VELS  IS  OF  GREAT  EXTENT  AND  EXTREMELY  FERTILE. 

This  well  describes  Mexico  and  the  neighbouring  regions  of 
America,  but  would  be  wholly  inapplicable  to  any  other  location 
which  has  been  suggested  for  Fu-sang. 

X. — DOGS,  DUCKS,  AND  HORSES  OF  A  GREAT  HEIGHT  LIVE 
IN  IT  ...  THE  RABBITS  OF  THIS  COUNTRY  ARE  WHITE,  AND  AS 
LARGE  AS  HORSES,  THEIR  HAIR  BEING  A  FOOT  LONG.  THE 
SABLES  ARE  AS  LARGE  AS  WOLVES  ;  THEIR  HAIR  IS  BLACK  AND 
OF  EXTRAORDINARY  THICKNESS. 

Dogs  and  ducks  were  common  in  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  other 
parts  of  America.  The  question  of  the  existence  of  "  horses  "  in 
the  country  has  been  considered  in  Chapter  XXVI. 

The  rabbits  of  the  western  portion  of  America,  commonly 
called  "  jackass  rabbits,"  while  not  "  as  large  as  horses,"  are  the 
largest  of  their  race,  and  weigh  at  least  four  times  as  much  as 
the  common  rabbits  of  other  countries.  The  "  sables  "  may  pos 
sibly  have  been  beavers. 

XL — BIRDS   WHICH   PRODUCE  HUMAN  BEINGS  LIVE   IN  THIS 

COUNTRY.  THE  MALES  BORN  OF  THESE  BIRDS  DO  NOT  LIVE. 
THE  DAUGHTERS  ONLY  ARE  RAISED  WITH  CARE  BY  THEIR 
FATHERS,  WHO  CARRY  THEM  WITH  THEIR  BEAK  OR  UPON  THEIR 
WINGS.  As  SOON  AS  THEY  COMMENCE  TO  WALK,  THEY  BECOME 
MISTRESSES  OF  THEMSELVES.  THEY  ARE  ALL  OF  REMARKABLE 


YU  KIE'S  STATEMENTS  REGARDING  FU-SANG.      535 

BEAUTY,  AND  VERY  HOSPITABLE,  BUT  THEY  DIE  BEFORE  REACH 
ING  THE  AGE  OF  THIRTY  YEARS. 

This  appears  like  a  remarkable  perversion  of  the  peculiarities 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  "  Country  of  Women."  The  name  leads 
to  the  myth  that  the  males  die  and  only  the  daughters  are 
raised.  As  soon  as  they  are  able  to  walk,  they  commence  to 
provide  for  themselves,  and  they  die  of  old  age  "  before  reach 
ing  the  age  of  thirty  years."  They  are  said  to  be  born  of  "birds," 
because  a  monkey's  "  swiftness  on  the  trees  is  said  to  be  like  the 
flight  of  a  bird," 2519  and  being  thus  described  as  like  a  bird, 
Yu  Kie  seems  to  have  understood  that  Hwui  Shan  meant  that 
they  were  really  birds.  Traditions  of  men  with  wings  exist  in 
many  countries.  Mackenzie  mentions  such  a  myth  as  current 
among  one  of  the  Indian  tribes  met  in  his  travels  in  Northwest 
ern  America  ; me  the  Chinese  give  a  similar  account  of  the  Mao- 
tsz*  aborigines  in  Kweichau  ; 2549  and  the  religious  books  of  the 
Buddhists  contain  numerous  tales  of  the  kind.1261'1268'1352'1356'1358 

On  the  whole,  although  Yu  Kie's  account  contains  many  ab 
surdities,  most  of  them  seem  mere  perversions  or  exaggerations 
of  the  truth,  or  to  be  founded  on  a  misunderstanding  of  Hwui 
Shan's  statements  ;  and  some  of  the  points  referred  to  appear  to 
throw  additional  light  upon  the  facts  mentioned  in  the  official 
record. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

MEXICAN   TEADITIONS. 

Mexican  hieroglyphics — The  tradition  regarding  Wixipecocha — His  arrival — His 
appearance  —  His  conduct — His  teachings— Persecution — His  departure  — 
Survival  of  the  doctrines  he  taught — The  "  Wiyatao  " — Another  version  of  the 
tradition — The  written  account  preserved  by  the  Mijes — The  "  Taysacaa  " — 
Identity  of  the  term  Wixipecocha  with  the  name  and  title  "  Hwui  Shin,  bhik- 
shu  " — The  Mexican  language— Huazontlan — Quetzalcoatl — His  history  not  a 
myth — The  epoch  at  which  he  lived — His  arrival — His  garments — His  attend 
ants — Their  knowledge  of  arts  -Another  account — Customs  introduced — 
Religious  penances — The  foundation  of  monasteries  and  nunneries — Belief 
that  he  was  a  Buddhist  priest — Brahmanism  and  Buddhism — The  worship  of 
Siva — The  religion  of  Nepal — The  goddess  Kali — The  worship  of  Mictlanci- 
huatl — Quetzalcoatl's  horror  of  bloodshed — The  arts  he  taught — The  calen 
dar — His  promise  to  return — His  vow  to  drink  no  intoxicating  liquor — His 
temptation  and  fall — His  sorrow — Etymology  of  his  name — Its  true  meaning 
not  "  the  Plumed  Serpent,"  but  "  the  Revered  Visitor  "—Term  applied  to  the 
priests  of  Nepal — The  Mexican  "  Cihuacoatl  " — The  arrival  of  Quetzalcoatl 
from  the  east — Possible  explanations — The  crosses  on  his  mantle — Explana 
tion  of  occurrence  of  crosses  in  Yucatan — Intercourse  with  the  West  Indian 
Islands — The  god  Hurakan — Oracles  and  prophecies — Veneration  of  the  cross 
in  ancient  times — Its  occurrence  in  India  and  Egypt — Its  use  in  Asia  as  a 
symbol  of  peace — The  patchwork  cloaks  of  the  Buddhist  priests — Buddha's 
commands — The  mark  of  a  foot-print  in  the  rocks — Occurrence  of  such  foot 
prints  in  America  and  Asia — Veneration  shown  them. 

WE  have  now  finished  our  examination  of  the  records  found 
in  Asia  of  Hwui  Shan's  trip  to  Mexico,  and  shall  next  inquire 
whether  any  record  or  tradition  of  the  visit  can  be  found  in 
America. 

The  hieroglyphics  of  the  Mexicans  were,  at  the  best,  but  an 
imperfect  method  of  recording  historical  events  ;  but  we  might 
have  hoped  to  find,  among  the  books  or  paintings  in  their  posses 
sion  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  some  reference  to  a 
visit  having  so  important  an  influence  upon  their  life  and  civili- 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  537 

zation  as  that  of  this  Buddhist  monk,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
unfortunate  fact  that  the  Spanish  priests — thinking  the  hiero 
glyphic  records  of  the  Indians  to  be  closely  connected  with  the 
superstitious  worship  of  their  idols — destroyed  all  their  native 
documents  so  thoroughly  that  scarcely  one  escaped  their  hands. 

We  are  therefore  thrown  back  on  the  still  more  unreliable 
witness  of  tradition,  and  find  that  this  furnishes  us  with  a  tale  in 
striking  conformity  with  the  account  which  we  have  been  con 
sidering.  This  story  is  thus  narrated  by  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg  : 681 

"The  construction  of  the  great  edifices  at  Yopaa,  which  has 
since  been  so  celebrated  under  the  name  of  Mictlan  (the  Place 
of  the  Dead),  has  been  attributed  to  the  disciples  of  Quetzal- 
coatl.  This  place,  however,  has  been  rendered  famous  by  the 
appearance  here,  at  about  the  same  epoch,  or  in  earlier  times,  of 
an  extraordinary  personage,  having  a  white  complexion,  to  whom 
tradition  gives  the  name  of  Wixipecocha.  This  name  is  still 
preserved  for  the  statue  of  this  person,  which  is  erected  upon  a 
high  rock  at  the  village  of  Magdalen  a,  about  four  leagues  from 
Tehuantep^c.  It  is  not  known  to  what  race  he  belonged,  or 
from  what  region  he  came,  when  he  presented  himself  to  the 
Zapotec  people.  A  vague  tradition  states  that  he  came  from 
the  South  Sea,  a  cross  in  his  hand,  and  debarked  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  Tehuantepec.  His  statue  at  Magdalena  represents 
him  as  a  man  of  a  venerable  appearance,  having  a  white  and 
bushy  beard.  His  garments  are  composed  of  a  long  robe,  and 
of  a  mantle  in  which  he  is  enveloped,  covering  his  head  like  a 
cowl,  in  the  manner  of  a  monk.  His  statue  represents  him  as 
seated  in  an  attitude  of  reflection,  apparently  occupied  in  listen 
ing  to  the  confession  of  a  woman  kneeling  at  his  side.  His 
speech,  to  accord  with  his  appearance,  was  of  a  remarkable 
sweetness.  He  taught  the  people  to  detach  themselves  from  the 
things  of  this  world,  and  to  devote  themselves  to  the  practice  of 
penitence  and  mortification,  and  to  abstain  from  sensual  pleas 
ures.  Adding  example  to  precept,  he  kept  away  from  women, 
and  did  not  permit  them  to  approach  him,  except  for  the  purpose 
of  auricular  confession,  which  was  part  of  his  doctrine. 

"  This  extraordinary  conduct  inspired  the  respect  of  the  wicked, 
for  they  considered  it  an  unheard-of  thing  that  a  man  could  dis 
pense  with  marriage  ;  but  he  was  often  persecuted  by  those 


538  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

whose  views  and  superstitions  he  attacked.  Pursued  in  one 
province,  he  passed  into  another.  Thus  he  arrived  at  the  Zapo- 
tec  Valley,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  then  taken  up  by  a 
lake  called  Lake  Rualo.  Having  finally  entered  into  the  country 
of  the  Mijes,  to  work  for  their  conversion,  some  of  them  sought 
to  put  him  to  death.  Those  who  had  been  sent  to  capture  him 
overtook  him  at  the  foot  of  Cempoaltepec,  the  highest  peak 
in  the  country ;  but  at  the  moment  when  they  thought  to  seize 
him  he  disappeared  from  their  sight,  and  soon  after,  the  tra 
dition  asserts,  his  form  was  seen  upon  the  highest  summit  of  the 
mountain. 

"Full  of  astonishment,  they  hastened  to  climb  its  sides  ;  but, 
when  they  reached  the  top,  Wixipecocha  appeared  to  them  again 
for  a  few  moments  :  but,  like  a  phantom,  he  vanished  for  the 
second  time,  leaving  no  other  trace  of  his  presence  than  the  im 
print  of  his  feet  engraved  upon  the  rock  which  he  left.  Thence 
forth  Wixipecocha  was  seen  no  more  ;  but  tradition  adds,  never 
theless,  that  he  was  seen  again  upon  the  enchanted  island  of 
Monapostiac,  not  far  from  Tehuantepec,  where,  perhaps,  he  em 
barked  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  make  new  proselytes. 

"  His  doctrine  lost  nothing  of  its  influence  by  the  departure  of 
its  first  apostle.  In  spite  of  the  silence  of  history  concerning 
the  date  of  his  appearance  and  the  disciples  whom  he  left,  it  can 
not  be  doubted  that  the  pontiff  of  Yopaa  continued  his  work, 
and  that  the  '  Wiyatao,'  who  for  several  centuries  exercised  the 
functions  of  high-priest  and  supreme  pontiff  of  Zacotecapan, 
was  merely  the  vicar  and  successor  of  the  prophet  of  Mona 
postiac.  It  seems  impossible  to  decide  whether  the  worship  of 
Quetzalcoatl  derived  from  him  the  innovation  which  the  prophet 
of  Tollantzinco  introduced  among  the  Toltecs,  or  whether  it  is 
from  the  latter  that  Yopaa  received  the  institutions  which  are 
found  in  the  two  religions  ;  but  it  is  certain  that,  in  spite  of  some 
notable  differences  between  their  rites  and  customs,  there  are 
striking  resemblances  which  militate  strongly  in  favour  of  a  com 
mon  origin."  Quotations  are  made  from  "  Papeles  Curiosos  de  la 
Historia  de  las  Indias,  recogidos  por  Don  Mariano  Veytia "  ; 
" Rasgos  y  Senales  de  la  Primera  Predication  en  el  Nuevo  Mun- 
do,  MS.  de  Don  Isidro  Gondra"  ;  Carriedo,  "Estudios  Historicos 
y  Estadisticos  del  Estado  Oaxaqueno,"  Mexico,  1850,  tome  i, 
cap.  i  ;  and  Burgoa,  "  Geogr.  Hist,  de  Guaxaca,"  etc.,  cap.  Ixxii. 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  539 

This  account  of  the  tradition  is  repeated  by  Bancroft,173  who 
in  other  places  gives  the  following  variation  of  the  tale  :  ^ 

"  However  doubtful  the  tradition  regarding  Votan  may  be, 
there  is  one  among  the  Oajacans  which  to  me  has  all  the  appear 
ances  of  a  mutilated  version  of  the  myth  of  Quetzalcoatl,  de 
formed  still  more  by  the  orthodox  Fathers.  In  very  remote 
times,  about  the  era  of  the  apostles,  according  to  the  padres,  an 
old  white  man,  with  long  hair  and  beard,  appeared  suddenly  at 
Huatulco,  coming  from  the  southwest  by  sea,  and  preached  to 
the  natives  in  their  own  tongue,  but  of  things  beyond  their  un 
derstanding.  He  lived  a  strict  life,  passing  the  greater  part  of 
the  night  in  a  kneeling  position,  and  eating  but  little.  He  dis 
appeared  shortly  after  as  mysteriously  as  he  had  come,  but  left 
as  a  memento  of  his  visit  a  cross,  which  he  planted  with  his  own 
hands,  and  admonished  the  people  to  preserve  it  sacredly,  for  one 
day  they  would  be  taught  its  significance.  Some  authors  describe 
a  personage  of  the  same  appearance  and  character  coming  from 
the  same  quarter,  and  appearing  in  the  country  shortly  after ;  but 
it  is  doubtless  the  same  old  man,  who,  on  leaving  Huatulco,  may 
have  turned  his  steps  to  the  interior.  His  voice  is  next  heard  in 
Mictlan,  inveighing  in  gentle  but  firm  accents  against  the  pleas 
ures  of  this  world,  and  enjoining  repentance  and  expiation.  His 
life  was  in  strict  accordance  with  his  doctrines,  and  never,  except 
at  confession,  did  he  approach  a  woman.  But  the  lot  of  Wixe- 
pecocha,  as  the  Zapotecs  call  him,  was  that  of  most  reformers. 
Persecuted  by  those  whose  vice  and  superstitions  he  attacked,  he 
was  driven  from  one  province  to  another,  and  at  last  took  refuge 
on  Mount  Cempoaltepec.  Even  here  his  pursuers  followed  him, 
climbing  its  craggy  sides  to  lay  hands  upon  the  prophet.  Just 
as  they  reached  the  summit,  he  vanished  like  a  shadow,  leaving 
only  the  print  of  his  feet  upon  the  rock. 

"  The  Mijes  had  this  tradition  written  in  characters  on  skin. 
(Burgoa,  'Geog.  Descrip.,'  tome  i,  pt.  ii,  fol.  299.) 

"It  is  in  Zapotecapan  that  the  disciples  of  Quetzalcoatl  ap 
pear  most  prominently.  There  they  are  said  to  have  founded 
Mitla  or  Yopaa,  and  to  have  diffused  their  arts  and  religious 
teachings  throughout  the  whole  country,  as  far  as  Tehuantepec. 
The  mysterious  apostle  Wixipecocha,  of  whom  a  full  account  has 
already  been  given,  is  said  to  have  appeared  in  these  regions. 
He  was  generally  respected,  but  was  sometimes  persecuted, 


54:0  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

especially  in  the  Mije  country,  whither  he  went  after  passing 
through  the  Zapotec  Valley. 

"  Nothing  definite  is  known  of  the  early  history  of  the  Miz- 
tecs  (or  Mijes)  and  Zapotecs.  All  that  has  been  preserved  is 
some  account  of  their  spiritual  rulers.  Thus,  we  are  told  that 
the  Kingdom  of  Tilantengo,  which  comprised  Upper  Mizteca, 
was  spiritually  governed  by  the  high-priest  of  Achiutla,  who 
bore  the  title  of  t  Taysacaa,'  and  whose  power  equaled,  if  it 
did  not  surpass,  that  of  the  king ;  while  in  Zapotecapan  the 
'  Wiyatao,'  or  sovereign  pontiff,  united  in  his  person  the  supreme 
sacerdotal  and  secular  power." 436 

Bancroft  also  makes  several  other  references  to  this  preacher 
of  strange  doctrines,341  and  to  the  statue  877  set  up  in  his  honour,3*2 
and  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  also  refers  again  to  the  statue  of 
Wixipecocha,146  but  nothing  of  importance  is  added  to  the  fore 
going  statements. 

As  to  the  name,  it  should  be  noticed  that  the  syllables 
"  Wixi "  or  "  Wixe  "  express  very  nearly  the  same  sounds  that 
occur  in  the  name  Hwui  Shan.  Nearly  all  other  authors  than 
Professor  Williams  (and  he  himself  elsewhere  than  in  his  dic 
tionary)  spell  the  last  name  of  the  Buddhist  priest  "Shin"  instead 
of  "  Shan."  The  "  x  "  in  "  Wixe  "  or  "  Wixi "  is  intended  to  ex 
press  the  sound  "  sh,"  and  we  would,  therefore,  spell  the  name 
Wixi-pecocha,  "  Wi-shi-pecocha."  The  closing  portion  of  the 
term  I  imagine  to  be  derived  from  the  Sanskrit  word,  "  bhik- 
shu,"  which  was  used  as  the  title  of  the  wandering  Buddhist 
monks.  It  was  customary  to  place  this  title  after  the  name, 
and  Hwui  Shan's  full  name  and  title  would,  therefore,  have  been 
"  Hwui  Shan,  bhikshu."  Of  "bhikshu  "  the  Mexicans  can  hardly 
have  made  anything  else  than  "pecocha,"or  "picoxa,"for  they 
had  neither  b  nor  bh  in  their  language,  and  p  is  the  letter  which 
they  would  naturally  substitute  therefor.  It  is  against  their  rules 
to  permit  two  consonants  to  stand  together,  without  the  insertion 
of  an  intermediate  vowel  (tl,  tz,  x,  and  ch  being  regarded  as  sin 
gle  sounds),  and  they  would,  therefore,  insert  o  or  some  obscure 
vowel  sound  between  k  and  sh  ;  and  they  seem  to  have  seldom, 
if  ever,  permitted  a  word  to  end  with  o  or  u. 

With  the  exception  of  the  dropping  of  the  terminal  nasal  of 
Hwui  Shan,  or  Hwui  Shin,  the  term  Wi-shi-pecocha  is  as  faithful 
a  preservation  of  "  Hwui  Shin,  bhikshu  "  as  could  be  expected. 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  541 

As  to  this  terminal  nasal,  it  should  be  remarked  that,  in  the 
Aztec  language,  such  a  nasal  played  nearly  the  same  part  as  the 
"anuswara"  of  the  Sanskrit,  and  was  often  either  assimilated  to 
the  following  consonant  or  else  dropped.  Thus  the  word  for 
"  one,"  when  standing  by  itself,  is  ce  ;  but  "  one  stone  "  ("  stone  " 
being  tetl)  is  centetl,  and  "one  tally"  ("tally  "being  poalli)  is 
cempoalli,  "twenty."  A  similar  fluctuation  of  the  terminal  nasal 
sound  is  seen  in  the  Maya  language  of  Yucatan,  some  authorities 
writing  Chilan  Balam  for  the  same  words  which  others  spell 
Chilam  Balan  or  Chilam  Balam™ 

Upon  the  Pacific  coast  of  Mexico,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Tehuantepec  River,  is  a  town  called  Huazontlan,  or  "  the  Place  of 
Huazon,"  which  may  possibly  preserve  the  name  of  our  Buddhist 
explorer  in  a  slightly  different  shape. 

The  statements  made  in  regard  to  Wixipecocha  show  that 
there  was  some  confusion  in  the  native  traditions  between  this 
prophet  and  Quetzalcoatl,  the  so-called  "  Plumed  Serpent "  ;  the 
civilizer  who  was  afterward  deified,  to  whom  the  legend  attrib 
utes  all  the  doctrines,  all  the  arts,  and  all  the  industries  which 
characterize  the  Toltec  period.1426 

The  history  of  Topiltzin  Ceacatl  Quetzalcoatl  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  episodes  of  the  annals  of  Mexico.628  His  mys 
terious  appearance,  his  glory,  and  his  misfortunes  have  popular 
ized  his  name,  which  is  indissolubly  connected  with  that  of  the 
Toltecs  in  all  the  countries  in  which  the  Nahuatl  language  is 
used.  His  triple  reign  in  Anahuac,  at  Cholula,  and  in  Yucatan  is 
not  one  of  the  least  singular  phenomena  of  the  life  of  this  extra 
ordinary  personage,  whom  all  the  traditions  of  North  America 
have  celebrated,  and  regarding  whom  so  many  authors  have 
written  since  the  discovery  of  the  Western  Continent.  This  his 
tory  is  not  only  interesting,  however,  but  also  contains  much  that 
is  difficult  to  explain. 

Too  frequently  confounded  with  the  mythical  creations  which 
are  found  in  the  ancient  theogonies,  Quetzalcoatl,  in  the  eyes  of  a 
great  number,  is  merely  an  allegorical  figure,  symbolizing,  like 
many  others,  certain  attributes  of  the  divinity ;  but  careful  study 
of  the  Mexican  histories  and  traditions  gives  positive  proofs  to  the 
contrary.  Living  at  an  epoch  contemporaneous  with  that  of  Charle 
magne  and  Haroun-al-Raschid,  Quetzalcoatl,  in  America,  united 
in  his  person  all  the  splendours  of  the  civilization  of  his  century. 


542  AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

He  was  made  the  instrument  and  the  personification  of  all  that 
was  most  august,  as  was  the  case  with  the  two  rulers  of  Europe 
and  Asia  above  named.  High-priest  of  the  nation  of  which  he 
was  the  supreme  chief,  if  he  did  not  change  the  dogmas  of  the 
Toltec  religion,  he  at  least  modified  them  considerably,  clothed 
them  with  the  veil  of  mystery,  added  new  feasts  and  ceremonies 
to  the  ritual,  and  surrounded  the  worship  of  their  ancient  relig 
ion  with  pompous  display.  Far  from  being  merely  a  personified 
symbol,  he  identified  with  himself  the  pre-existing  symbols,  and 
prepared  the  apotheosis  of  the  heroes  of  his  family  by  personify 
ing  the  ancient  myths  in  them.  Finally,  he  surrounded  himself 
with  so  much  mystery,  and  enveloped  himself  in  an  exterior  so 
solemn,  that  while  some  deemed  him  a  true  god,  others,  irritated 
by  his  pride,  were  repelled  from  him,  and  commenced  the  great 
Toltec  schism  which,  at  the  close  of  a  civil  and  religious  war  of 
which  he  was  the  object,  and  of  which  his  intolerance  was  the 
cause,  ended  by  the  destruction  of  the  empire. 

More  than  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  Totepeuh  Nonohu- 
alcatl,  the  news  of  the  appearance  of  Quetzalcoatl  was  spread 
throughout  the  provinces  of  the  Toltec  dominion.  He  was  a 
person  of  an  honourable  deportment,  large,  well  made,  of  a  pre 
possessing  countenance,  white  of  colour,  withJ^IflBiJgji^  and 
with  a  beard  that  was  bushy  and  well  trimmed.  Like  his  com 
panions,  he  wore  long  and  flowing  garments  ;  his  robe  being  of  a 
white  stuff  strewed  with  black  flowers.  Several  authors  say  that 
his  robe  was  decorated  with  red  crosses,310  and  still  others  state 
that  the  crosses  were  black.  We,  however,  accept  the  testimony 
of  las  Casas  that  the  ornaments  were  black  flowers. 

The  sleeves  of  his  robe  were  large,  but  were  fastened  above 
the  elbow. 

His  suite  was  numerous,  all  composed  of  men  equally  skillful 
in  the  works  of  art  and  in  the  combinations  of  science  :  architects, 
painters,  sculptors,  masons,  goldsmiths,  jewelers,  mathematicians, 
astronomers,  musicians,  and  men  of  all  other  trades  and  profes 
sions,  even  those  who  by  their  art  were  able  to  add  to  the  pleas 
ures  of  the  table.  They  were  a  true  colony  of  artists,  who  appear 
to  have  purposely  sought  these  countries.  They  were  seen  for 
the  first  time  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Panuco,  where  they  had 
debarked,  but  no  one  ever  knew  whence  they  had  come.628 

Bancroft  condenses  a  passage  from  Torquemada  as  follows  : 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS. 

812 "  Certain  people  came  from  the  north  by  way  of  Panuco.  These 
were  men  of  good  carriage,  well  dressed  in  long  robes  of  black 
linen,  open  in  front  and  without  capes,  cut  low  at  the  neck,  with 
short  sleeves  that  did  not  come  to  the  elbow  ;  the  same  in  fact 
that  the  natives  use  to  this  day  in  their  dances.  From  Panuco 
they  passed  on  very  peaceably,  by  degrees,  to  Tulla,  where  they 
were  well  received  by  the  inhabitants.  The  country  there,  how 
ever,  was  already  too  thickly  populated  to  sustain  the  new-comers ; 
so  these  passed  on  to  Cholula,  where  they  had  an  excellent  re 
ception.  They  brought  with  them,  as  their  chief  and  head,  a 
personage  called  Quetzalcoatl,  a  fair  and  ruddy-complexioned 
man  with  a  long  beard.  In  Cholula,  these  people  remained,  and 
multiplied,  and  sent  colonies  to  people  Upper  and  Lower  Mixteca, 
and  the  Zapotecan  country  ;  and  these  it  is  said  raised  the  grand 
edifices,  whose  remains  are  still  to  be  seen  at  Mictlan.  These 
followers  of  Quetzalcoatl  were  men  of  great  knowledge  and  cun 
ning  artists  in  all  kinds  of  fine  work ;  not  so  good  at  masonry 
and  the  use  of  the  hammer  as  in  casting  metals,  in  the  engraving 
and  setting  of  precious  stones,  in  all  kinds  of  artistic  sculpture, 
and  in  agriculture." 

Sahagun  says  that  he  was  represented  as  wearing  upon  his 
head  a  miter  spotted  like  a  tiger's  skin,  and  ornamented  with  a 
plume  of  the  feathers  called  quetzalli.™6  A  small  image  of 
Quetzalcoatl,  contained  in  the  Parisian  Museum  of  Ethnography 
(see  Fig.  22,  Chapter  XXXII),  represents  him  as  wearing  a 
plaited  conical  bonnet,  fastened  in  front  by  a  large  band,  orna 
mented  with  great  buttons,  and  which,  according  to  Hamy,1427 
"  reminds  one  of  the  bonnets  worn  by  the  Lama  priests." 

Quetzalcoatl  seems  to  have  been  the  leader  of  the  party  of 
five  Buddhist  priests  referred  to  by  Hwui  Shan,  from  whom 
the  latter,  in  some  way,  became  separated.  Yon  Humboldt  says 
of  him  that  he  was  without  doubt  the  most  mysterious  being  of 
all  the  Mexican  mythology.  He  was  a  white  and  bearded  man, 
like  Bochica,  the  hero  of  the  Muyscas  of  South  America.  He 
was  the  high-priest  of  Tollan,  a  legislator,  and  the  chief  of  a  re 
ligious  sect  which,  like  the  Sonyasis,  and  the  Buddhists  of  Hindo- 
stan,  imposed  the  most  cruel  penances  upon  themselves.  He 
introduced  the  custom  of  piercing  the  lips  and  ears,  and  of  dis 
figuring  the  rest  of  the  body,  with  the  thorns  of  the  leaves  of  the 
century-plant,  or  with  tlje  spines  of  the  cactus,  and  of  introduc- 


544  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ing  reeds  into  the  wounds,  so  as  to  cause  a  more  abundant  flow 
of  blood.  One  fancies  that  he  sees  one  of  the  Rishis,  hermits 
of  the  Ganges,  of  whom  the  Puranas  celebrate  the  pious  aus 
terity.1583  He  adds  that 1584  he  permitted  no  other  offerings  to  the 
divinity  than  the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest. 

Nearly  all  the  accounts  tell  us  that  Quetzalcoatl  was  never 
married,  and  that  he  held  himself  aloof  from  all  women  in  abso 
lute  chastity.829  Following  the  example  of  their  master,  many  of 
the  priests  of  his  cult  refrained  from  sexual  relations,  and,  as  a 
mortification  of  the  flesh,  they  practiced  a  painful  rite  by  trans 
fixing  the  tongue  with  the  sharp  thorns  of  the  maguey-plant,  an 
austerity  which,  according  to  their  traditions,  he  was  the  first  to 
institute.  There  were  also  in  the  cities  where  his  special  wor 
ship  was  in  vogue,  houses  of  nuns,  the  inmates  of  which  had 
vowed  perpetual  virginity,  and  it  was  said  that  Quetzalcoatl 
himself  had  founded  these  institutions. 

Yon  Tschudi  is  led,  by  the  general  resemblance  of  the  dress 
and  doctrines  of  this  teacher  to  those  of  the  devotees  of  the  re 
ligions  of  India,  to  state  his  belief  that  he,  as  well  as  Manco 
Capac  of  Peru,  was  a  missionary  of  the  worship  either  of  Brahma 
or  Buddha  ("  Peruv.  Antiq.,"  pp.  17-20).407  Von  Humboldt  is  in 
error  in  his  statement  that  the  Buddhists  impose  cruel  penances 
upon  themselves  ;  these  penances  belong  rather  to  the  Brah- 
manic  than  to  the  Buddhist  religion.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that 
the  truth  of  the  Brahmanic  mythology  was  not  denied  by  the 
founder  of  Buddhism  or  his  followers,1263  and  that  Brahmanic 
ideas  form  a  strong  element  in  Buddhism.1270  It  is  a  religion, 
contemplative,  mild,  a  little  sad,  and  eclectic.  Propagandistic  by 
nature,  it  converts  by  reason  and  example,  never  by  force.  It 
appropriates,  with  the  greatest  facility,  all  that  it  finds  good  in 
the  religions  which  it  meets,  and,  pushing  this  principle  to  ex 
tremes,  it  finds  no  difficulty  in  adopting  and  placing  in  its  pan 
theon  the  gods  of  the  nations  among  which  it  is  transplanted, 
making  these  deities  subordinate  to  Buddha.1884  Hence  it  did  not 
suppress  the  gods  of  Brahmanism,  1881  and,  by  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifth  century,  its  doctrines  had  become  mixed  with  the  incon 
gruous  teachings  of  the  Brahmanic  religion, 1341  and  the  term 
"  A  Brahman  Buddhist "  is  an  expression  that  occurs  more  than 
once.1342  It  is  particularly  in  what  is  called  Northern  Buddhism 
that  Brahmanic  ideas  are  most  prevalent,1742  and  the  religion  in- 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  545 

troduced  into  Thibet  was  much  corrupted  by  Sivaism — a  mixture 
of  witchcraft  and  Hindu  philosophy.1302  In  Java,  also,  the  wor 
ship  was  that  of  Siva  united  to  Buddhism ;  m2  and  Crawfurd  holds 
that  the  testimony  afforded  by  the  relics  of  Hinduism,  in  the 
principal  temples  of  Java,  may  be  considered  as  a  proof  that  the 
religions  of  Brahma  and  Buddha  are  essentially  the  same,  the 
one  being  nothing  but  a  modification  of  the  other.  "*  Dr.  Ste 
venson,  of  Bombay,  in  an  article  contributed  to  the  seventh  vol 
ume  of  the  "  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,"  mentions  a  sect 
in  the  Marhatta  country,  in  Guzerat,  Central  India,  and  the  Carna- 
tic,  who  combine  the  worship  of  Buddha  with  that  of  Vishnu.1354 
It  is  well  known  that  the  Buddhists  of  India  admitted  a  great  num 
ber  of  Indian  idols  into  their  temples,  and  that  even  now,  in  the 
countries  in  which  Buddhism  is  the  ruling  religion,  they  do  not 
exclude  the  local  divinities  from  their  places  of  worship  ;  but  that 
now,  as  formerly,  they  unite  the  doctrines  of  the  local  religion 
with  those  properly  pertaining  to  their  own  system,  or  subordi 
nate  the  former  to  the  latter.1608  All  accounts  agree  that,  when 
gods  that  are  plainly  and  decidedly  Brahmanic  are  found  in 
connection  with  Buddhistic  ideas,  it  is  usually  Siva  and  the 
mythical  beings  connected  with  that  worship  that  are  found,  and 
very  seldom  either  Brahma  or  Vishnu,  or  idols  of  this  branch  of 
the  Indian  pantheon.  Schmidt  notices  this  fact,  especially,  also, 
in  regard  to  the  nations  of  Central  Asia.1609 

Convincing  proofs  of  a  connection  between  Buddhism  and 
the  worship  of  Siva  are  furnished  by  the  ruins  of  Buddha-Gaya, 
and  the  religious  situation  in  Nepal.  In  the  first,  so  many  of 
the  sculptures  are  connected  with  the  worship  of  Siva,  that 
Buchanan-Hamilton  thought  it  probable  that  the  former  Bud 
dhists  of  this  region  worshiped  more  especially  Siva  and  the  ac 
companying  destroying  feminine  power.  The  number  of  these 
remains  is  as  great  as  those  of  the  images  of  Buddha,  and  some 
are  so  large  and  remarkable  that  they  can  not  be  considered  as 
mere  decorations.  In  Nepal,  the  worship  of  Siva  is  so  mixed 
with  Buddhistic  customs  and  ideas,  in  the  views  and  religion 
of  the  people,  that  the  pure  teachings  of  Buddha  can  only  be 
learned  from  the  religious  books.1610 

Two  scholars  who  have  studied  this  subject  with  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  Oriental  writings,  MM.  Schmidt  and  "W.  von  Hum. 
boldt,  have  asked  why  Buddhism  allies  itself  rather  with  Sivaism 
35 


546  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

than  with  Vishnuism,  and  the  conclusion  is  reached  that  there 
has  not  been  a  complete  fusion  of  the  two  religions,  but  that  there 
has  been  merely  the  practice  of  diverse  ceremonies,  and  an  adora 
tion  by  the  Buddhists  of  different  gods  belonging  properly  to  the 
worship  of  Siva  ;  the  worshipers  being  but  little  disquieted  by 
the  discordance  between  their  ancient  faith  and  their  new  super 
stitions.869 

Count  Stolberg  is  of  opinion  that  the  two  great  religious 
sects  of  India,  the  worshipers  of  Vishnu  and  those  of  Siva,  have 
spread  over  America,  and  that  the  Peruvian  cult  is  that  of  Vish 
nu,  when  he  appeared  in  the  form  of  Krishna,  or  the  Sun,  while 
the  sanguinary  religion  of  the  Mexicans  is  analogous  to  that  of 
Siva,  in  the  character  of  the  Stygian  Jupiter.  The  wife  of  Siva, 
the  black  goddess  Kali,  or  Bhavani,  symbol  of  death  and  destruc 
tion,  wears,  according  to  Hindu  statues  and  pictures,  a  necklace 
of  human  skulls.  The  Vedas  ordain  human  sacrifices  in  her 
honour.  The  ancient  cult  of  Kali,  continues  Humboldt,  presents, 
without  doubt,  a  marked  resemblance  to  that  of  Mictlancihuatl, 
the  Mexican  goddess  of  hell.  (Quoted  from  Humboldt,  "  Vues," 
tome  i,  pp.  256-257,  and  "  Geschichte  der  Religion  Jesu  Christi," 
tome  i,  p.  426.  )405 

Bancroft  adds  that,  not  only  does  the  worship  of  Mictlanci 
huatl  preserve  the  most  perfect  analogy  with  that  of  the  sangui 
nary  and  implacable  Kali,  but  the  legends  of  the  Mexican  divin 
ity  Teoyajniqui  recall  with  equal  force  the  formidable  Bha 
vani  ;  both  these  Indian  deities  were  wives  of  Siva  Rudra.406 

M.  Viollet-le-Duc  notes  a  similar  analogy  between  the 
Brahmanic  ideas  concerning  the  divinity  and  certain  passages' 
of  the  Popol-  Vuh,  or  Sacred  Book  of  the  Quiches  of  Central 
America.1217 

The  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  suggests  756  that  Quetzalcoatl 
introduced  the  drawing  of  blood  by  thorns  as  a  hygienic  meas 
ure,  rather  than  as  an  act  of  religious  worship.  It  seems  more 
probable,  however,  that  the  five  Buddhist  monks  were  devotees 
of  an  impure  form  of  Buddhism,  more  or  less  mixed  with  the 
worship  of  Siva,  and  that  they  introduced  into  Mexico  religious 
penances  somewhat  similar  to  those  which  they  had  practiced  in 
their  distant  home  north  of  India. 

The  analogy  between  the  religion  introduced  into  Mexico  by 
Quetzalcoatl  and  that  prevalent  in  Eastern  Asia,  and  between  the 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  547 

arts  of  these  two  regions  of  the  world,  will  be  considered  here 
after.  For  the  present,  it  is  sufficient  to  note  that  all  the  tradi 
tions  represent  this  missionary  to  have  been  of  an  exceedingly 
chaste  and  quiet  life,  and  of  great  moderation  in  all  things.  The 
people  had  at  least  three  reasons  for  the  great  love,  reverence, 
and  devotion  with  which  they  regarded  him  :  first,  he  taught  the 
silversmith's  art,  a  craft  the  Cholulans  greatly  prided  themselves 
on  ;  second,  he  desired  no  sacrifice  of  the  blood  of  men  or  ani 
mals,  but  delighted  only  in  offerings  of  bread,  roses,  and  other 
flowers,  or  perfumes,  and  sweet  odours  ;  third,  he  prohibited 
and  forbade  all  war  and  violence,310  and  even  covered  his  ears 
when  the  subject  was  mentioned.317 

He  taught  not  only  the  art  of  casting  metals,1068  but  also 
that  of  cutting  gems,1067  and,  as  some  say,697  taught  them  the 
arrangement  of  their  seasons  and  calendar.1854  He  also  taught 
the  people  agriculture.317 

The  influence  of  his  teachings  was  so  great  that  the  predic 
tion  which  he  made  when  he  left  them,  that  in  the  future  his 
descendants  (or  the  people  of  his  nation)  would  return  741  to 
moderate  the  laws  of  the  country  and  put  its  government  in  or 
der,8348  was  firmly  believed  in,  both  by  Montezuma  and  his  peo 
ple,  at  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  ;  and  much  of  the 
ease  with  which  they  conquered  the  country  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  their  arrival  was  regarded  as  a  fulfillment  of  this  predic 
tion.416 

In  the  legends  regarding  Quetzalcoatl  it  is  usually  stated  that 
when  he  became  oppressed  with  the  weight  of  old  age  he  was 
induced  to  drink,2188  as  a  medicine,  of  the  intoxicating  liquor 818' 
prepared  from  the  juice  of  the  agave,309  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  when  first  urged  to  taste  it  he  replied,  "  No  ;  I  can  not  drink 
it :  I  can  not  so  much  as  taste  it."  3n  Much  is  said  of  the  sorrow 
which  he  evinced  at  having  thus  weakly  yielded  to  temptation. 
Now,  although  it  can  not  be  claimed  that  this  doctrine  of  "  total 
abstinence  "  is  peculiar  to  the  Buddhist  religion,  it  seems  at  least 
worthy  of  notice  that  on  this  point,  as  on  so  many  others,  the 
principles  by  which  this  teacher  professed  to  be  governed  were 
in  strict  accordance  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Buddhists.  Accord 
ing  to  their  teachings,  of  the  five  crimes,  the  taking  of  life,  theft, 
adultery,  lying,  and  drinking,  the  last  is  the  worst ;  for,  though  a 
man  be  ever  so  wise,  when  he  drinks  he  becomes  foolish,  and  like 


548  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

an  idiot.  It  is  therefore  the  cause  of  all  other  sins,  and  for  this 
reason  it  is  the  greatest  crime.1461 

Possibly  the  true  etymology  of  the  name  Quetzalcoatl  may 
be  of  assistance  in  forming  a  conclusion  as  to  the  character  of 
the  man  to  whom  it  was  applied.  As  quetzatti  is  the  name  of  a 
species  of  feathers  much  valued  by  the  Mexicans  ;  as  coatl  means 
"  serpent "  ;  and  as  the  Aztecs  wrote  the  name  by  picturing  a  ser 
pent  with  feathers — it  has  been  thought  that  the  meaning  was 
"Plumed  Serpent,"  and  no  other  derivation  has  been  sought. 
The  French  editors  of  Sahagun's  work,  however,  give  the  follow 
ing  definition  of  the  term  quetzalli  :  2m  "  This  is  a  very  long  and 
beautiful  feather  from  the  tail  of  the  bird  (tototl)  called  quetzal 
tototl.  It  is  so  valued  that  the  Mexicans  metaphorically  address 
a  beloved  child  by  the  word  noquetzale, '  Oh,  my  beautiful  feather! ' 
They  also  designate  by  this  term  a  chief,  a  superior,  a  father,  a 
mother — in  one  word,  any  powerful  person"  By  reference  to 
the  Aztec  dictionaries  it  will  be  seen  that  coatl  not  only  means  a 
serpent,  but  from  its  compounds  it  is  evident  that  the  word  once 
also  had  the  meaning  of  a  guest  or  a  visitor.  The  compound 
Quetzalcoatl  is  therefore  susceptible  of  the  meaning  "  the  revered 
guest,"  or  "  the  honoured  visitor,"  and  I  am  strongly  of  the 
opinion  that  the  term  should  be  so  translated,  rather  than  by  the 
absurd  rendering  of  "  the  Plumed  Serpent."  * 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noticed  that  the  Buddhist 
priests  of  Nepal  are  frequently  referred  to  in  their  religious  books 
by  the  term  Vadjra  dtchdrya,  meaning  "  the  diamond  teacher," 
or  "  the  precious  teacher,"  858  and  it  can  not  be  considered  strange 
that  the  leader  of  this  party  of  missionaries  should  have  been 
given  a  name-  which  is  practically  a  translation  of  the  title  which 
he  had  borne  in  his  own  country. 

The  most  serious  objection  that  can  be  urged  against  the 
theory  which  identifies  Quetzalcoatl  with  the  leader  of  the  party 
of  Buddhist  monks  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan  is  that  Quetzal- 

*  One  of  the  highest  officers  of  the  Mexican  government  bore  the  title  of 
"  Cihuacoatl."  This  has  usually  been  translated  "  the  Woman-Serpent."  I  would 
suggest  that  its  true  meaning  is  "  the  women's  guest,"  or  «  the  wives'  guest."  In 
some  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  there  is  an  officer,  standing  next  in  rank 
to  the  chief,  who,  during  the  absence  of  the  latter  on  military  expeditions,  filla 
his  place  at  home  in  both  governmental  and  domestic  affairs.  The  rank  and  title 
of  the  Mexican  Cihuacoatl  suggest  that  his  duties  were  the  same,  when  the  office 
was  first  established,  if  not  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest. — E.  P.  V. 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  549 

coatl  is  said  to  have  come  from  the  east.  All  the  incidental  cir 
cumstances  that  are  mentioned,  however,  agree  so  closely  with  the 
theory  that  this  reformer  came  from  Asia,  and  are  so  incompatible 
with  the  belief  that  he  came  from  Europe,  that  the  mere  mention 
of  the  east  is  not  sufficient  to  outweigh  them  all.  I  can  only 
suggest  as  possible  explanations,  the  following  : 

First.— The  party  may  have  crossed  the  western  portion  of 
the  American  Continent  by  some  one  of  the  routes  pointed  out 
by  Mr.  Morgan,1944  and  have  reached  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  way 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  hence  have  arrived  at  Mexico  from 

the  east,  while  Hwui  Shan,  who  seems  to  have  become  separated 

from  the  rest,  came  down  the  Pacififi-C£ast.________--- 


Second. — As  the  party  left  Asia  by  way  of  Corea  and  Japan, 
their  references  to  these  countries  as  "the  Land  of  the  Freshness 
of  the  Dawn,"2528  and  "the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun"2323  (these 
phrases  being  translations  of  the  names  of  the  countries  in  ques 
tion),  may  have  led  to  the  impression  that  the  country  from 
which  they  came  lay  to  the  east ;  Chivim™  the  term  preserved 
in  Guatemala  as  the  name  of  the  land  from  which  Yotan  came,621 
is  at  least  as  near  to  the  name  of  Japan  as  the  form  Sipangu, 
which  is  given  by  Marco  Polo. 

Third. — The  old  traditions  may  have  had  this  statement 
added  to  them  after  the  arrival  from  the  east  of  the  Spaniards, 
who  were  supposed  to  be  the  descendants  of  their  former  prophet 
and  teacher.  Bandelier  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  that  it  was 
not  until  many  years  after  the  conquest  that  the  detail  that 
Quetzalcoatl  came  from  or  sailed  to  the  east  was  added  to  the 
earlier  accounts  regarding  him,  and  he  reaches  the  conclusion 
that 49T  there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  to  prove  that  this  return 
was  expected  by  sea,  rather  than  by  land,  or,  in  general,  from 
any  quarter  or  country  whatever  in  preference  to  any  other. 

The  reference  to  crosses  upon  the  mantle  of  Quetzalcoatl  may 
have  been  another  addition  to  the  legend  that  was  made  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  ;  and  the  fact  that  some  versions  of 
the  story  refer  to  the  figures  as  flowers,  rather  than  as  crosses, 
would  seem  to  favour  this  belief.  It  is  undeniable,  however,  that 
crosses  were  actually  found  in  Mexico  and  Central  America  by 
the  Spaniards.  Signer  Zamacois  gives  both  the  following  ac 
count  of  the  discovery  of  a  cross  and  a  theory  which  seems  to 
give  a  reasonable  explanation  of  its  existence: 


550  AN"  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"When  the  expedition  of  Grijalva  reached  the  island  of 
Cozumel,  near  the  coast  of  Yucatan,  he  called  the  attention  of 
the  Spaniards  to  the  solidity  of  the  houses,  and  the  beautiful 
construction  of  a  number  of  temples,  all  of  lime  and  stone. 
Among  the  last  there  was  one  surpassing  all  the  rest,  of  a  pyra- 
midical  form,  surrounded  by  a  wall,  in  the  spacious  lower  porch 
of  which  a  stone  cross,  three  yards  in  height,  and  perfectly 
worked,  was  conspicuous. 

"The  sight  of  this  cross,  and  of  many  others  which  were 
afterward  found  in  the  peninsula  of  Yucatan,  has  caused  many  to 
suppose  that  the  apostle  St.  Thomas  came  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
these  remote  countries.  Other  writers  suspect  that  in  1517  the 
Governor  Don  Francisco  Montejo  reached  a  point  only  fourteen 
leagues  distant  from  Merida,  and  that  the  inhabitants,  when  the 
Spaniards,  whom  they  took  for  celestial  beings,  had  retired, 
adopted  the  cross  among  their  divinities.  But  no  one  of  the  sup 
positions  that  have  been  made  regarding  the  origin  of  the  sign 
of  the  cross  in  Yucatan  rests  upon  a  secure  basis,  and  they  are 
all  open  to  question.  If  I  may  be  permitted  to  enter  the  vast 
field  of  simple  conjecture,  I  will  venture  to  state  my  opinion  in 
respect  to  the  manner  in  which,  as  I  conceive,  the  cross  may 
have  been  planted  in  that  part  of  the  New  World,  while  it  was 
not  encountered  in  any  other  part  of  America. 

"The  island  of  Cuba  was  occupied  by  Velasquez  in  1511,  when 
the  Indians  embraced  Catholicism  almost  immediately.  Various 
insurrections  set  on  foot  by  the  caciques,  and  crushed  out  by  the 
Spaniards,  obliged  many  Indians  to  emigrate  from  the  island  ; 
but  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  would  not  seek  countries 
under  the  rule  of  the  Europeans.  It  being  then  impossible  for 
them  to  seek  a  home  in  San  Domingo,  it  might  easily  happen 
that,  floating  aimlessly  on  the  sea,  they  should  be  thrown  by 
the  currents  upon  Cozumel,  or  some  other  place  upon  the  coast 
of  Yucatan.  Being  admitted  among  the  inhabitants,  and  con 
tinuing  the  adoration  of  the  cross  of  the  new  religion,  of  which 
they  had  scarcely  any  true  knowledge,  it  might  easily  happen 
that  the  inhabitants,  hearing  of  the  prodigies  which  they  related 
regarding  it,  should  have  admitted  it  into  the  list  of  their  divini 
ties,  while  having  no  knowledge  whatever  of  that  which  it  sym 
bolized. 

"This  is  merely  a  conjecture,  although  it  seems  to  be  based 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  551 

upon  some  probability.  In  any  case,  it  is  true  that  the  cross 
figured  in  the  religion  of  various  tribes  of  the  peninsula  of  Yu 
catan,  and  that  it  represented  the  god  of  Rain." 2585 

Bandelier  thinks,  however,  that  the  crosses,  which  were  fre 
quently  used  previously  to  the  conquest  by  the  aborigines  of 
Mexico  and  Central  America,  were  merely  designed  as  ornaments, 
and  were  not  the  objects  of  worship  among  them,  while  the  so- 
called  crucifixes,  like  that  on  the  "  Palenque  tablet,"  were  only 
the  symbol  of  the  "new  fire,"  or  close  of  a  period  of  fifty-two 
years.  He  believes  them  to  be  merely  representations  of  "fire- 
drills,"  more  or  less  ornamented.498 

The  theory  of  Signor  Zamacois,  that  there  was  more  or  less 
communication  between  the  natives  of  the  West  India  Islands 
and  those  of  Yucatan,  prior  to  the  time  that  the  Spaniards 
reached  this  last-named  country,  is  confirmed,  however,  both  by 
the  fact  that  a  god  named  Hurakan,  the  deification  of  the  power 
of  the  tempest,  was  worshiped  alike  in  these  two  regions,803  and  by 
the  circumstances  that  the  natives  of  Espanola  are  said  to  have 
received  an  oracle,  shortly  before  Columbus's  arrival,  announcing 
the  coming  of  bearded  men  with  sharp,  bright  swords.  (Yilla- 
gutierre,  "  Hist.  Conq.  Itza.,"  p.  33.)  The  Yucatec  records  abound 
in  predictions  to  the  same  effect,  more  or  less  clear.  The  most 
widely  quoted  is  that  of  Chilam  Balam,  high  -  priest  of  Mani, 
and  reputed  a  great  prophet,  who  foretold  that,  ere  many  years, 
there  would  come  from  the  direction  of  the  rising  sun  a  bearded 
white  people,  bearing  aloft  the  cross  which  he  displayed  to  his 
listeners.  Their  gods  would  flee  before  the  new-comers,  and 
leave  them  to  rule  the  land,  but  no  harm  would  fall  on  the  peace 
ful,  who  admitted  the  only  true  God.  The  priest  had  a  cotton 
mantle  woven,  to  be  deposited  in  the  temple  at  Mani,  as  a  spe 
cimen  of  the  tribute  required  by  the  new  rulers,  and  he  it  was 
who  erected  the  stone  crosses  found  by  the  Spaniards,  declaring 
them  to  be  the  true  tree  of  the  world.  Cogalludo,  "  Hist.  Yu- 
cathan,"  pp.  99-101,  gives  the  prophecy  at  length.452 

These  prophecies  can  hardly  be  accounted  for  on  any  other 
theory  than  that  their  authors  had  obtained  some  knowledge  of 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  neighbouring  islands,  and  that 
they  thought  it  safe  to  predict  that  these  wonderful  strangers 
would  soon  find  their  way  to  Yucatan. 

If  it  be  thought  that  the  mantle  of  Wixipecocha  was  really 


552  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

embroidered  with  crosses,  their  presence  may  possibly  be  ac 
counted  for  by  remembering  that  the  cross  was  venerated  as 
the  object  of  religious  worship  in  regions  of  Asia  where  the 
light  of  Christianity  had  never  risen. 20"  That  it  was  of  pagan,  not 
of  Christian  origin  ; M8  that  in  the  earliest  times  it  was  the  most 
sacred  symbol  in  the  eyes  of  our  Aryan  ancestors  (see  "  Edin 
burgh  Review  "  for  October,  1870)  ; M9  that  it  was  the  sign  used 
to  seal  the  jars  of  holy  water  taken  from  the  Nile  and  Ganges  ; 16n 
that  it  was  the  monogram  of  Vishnu  and  Siva,12"  and  was  used  in 
India  before  the  Christian  era  as  a  symbol  of  Buddha,846  and  a  sign 
of  recognition  of  orthodoxy  in  Buddhism.847  The  form  of  cross 
most  frequently  used  for  these  purposes  is  known  as  the  Swas 
tika  1"52  fylfot,  or  gammadion,  and  this  same  form  was  frequently 
used  by  the  Christians  of  the  Middle  Ages  as  a  decorative  de 
vice.1503 

Mr.  Godfrey  Higgins,  in  his  "  Celtic  Druids,"  p.  126,  says  : 
"  Few  causes  have  been  more  powerful  in  producing  mistakes 
in  ancient  history  than  the  idea,  hastily  taken  up  by  Christians 
in  all  ages,  that  every  monument  of  antiquity  marked  with  a  cross, 
or  with  any  of  those  symbols  which  they  conceived  to  be  mono 
grams  of  Christ,  were  of  Christian  origin.  .  .  .  The  cross  is  as 
common  in  India  as  in  Egypt  and  Europe."  M5 

If  crosses  were  actually  worn  upon  the  mantle  of  Wixipeco- 
cha,  they  may  have  been  used,  as  they  still  are  in  the  curtains  of 
the  windows  of  Buddhist  monasteries  in  Thibet,  as  symbols  of 
quietness  or  peace.2232  In  Japan  the  loop-holes  of  the  forts  are, 
in  times  of  peace,  covered  with  such  curtains  embroidered  with 
crosses  ;  when  a  war  breaks  out  they  are  removed.  This  mis 
sionary  may,  therefore,  have  worn  them  as  a  traveler  might  now 
carry  a  white  flag  :  as  a  sign  of  peaceful  intentions. 

The  disagreement  between  the  several  versions  of  the  tradi 
tion,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  ornaments  with  which  his  mantle 
was  adorned,  seems  rather  to  indicate,  however,  that  the  story 
owed  its  origin  to  the  fact  that  the  outer  garment  of  Buddhist 
priests  is,  in  accordance  with  the  commands  of  the  founder  of 
their  religion,  made  of  patchwork. 

The  physician  Juvaka,  having  given  two  magnificent  robes 
to  Gotama  Buddha,  the  sage  reflected  that  if  the  priests  were 
allowed  to  receive  robes  of  this  description  they  would  be  in  dan 
ger  from  thieves,  and  he  therefore  intimated  this  danger  to  his 


MEXICAN  TRADITIONS.  553 

attendant,  Ananda,  who  cut  them  into  thirty  pieces,  and  then 
sewed  them  together  in  five  divisions,  so  that  the  robe  resembled 
the  patches  in  a  rice-field  divided  by  embankments.1434  On  see 
ing  this  contrivance,  Buddha  made  a  law  that  his  priests  should 
only  have  three  robes  at  one  time,  and  that  they  should  always 
be  composed  of  thirty  pieces  of  cloth.1456  Buddhist  ascetics  have 
three  kinds  of  dresses  :  First.  The  SENG-KIA-LI,  so  called  from  a 
Sanskrit  word  (sanghdti\  signifying  "  joined  or  doubled,"  be 
cause  it  is  made  of  pieces  cut  and  united  together  again.  As  to 
its  use,  it  is  called  "  a  dress  to  enter  the  palace  of  kings,"  or  "  a 
dress  for  a  public  place,"  because  it  is  worn  on  the  occasion  of 
preaching  the  law  in  palaces,  as  well  as  begging  in  the  cross- 
ways.  Second.  YU-TO-LO-SENG  (uttarasangMti),  a  Sanskrit 
word  signifying  the  "upper  garment,"  "surtout";  it  consists  of 
seven  pieces,  and  is  worn  on  the  occasion  of  ceremonies,  prayers, 
festivals,  and  preaching.  Third.  AN-THO-HOEI  :  this  word  means 
an  inner  vesture  used  in  sleep  and  worn  next  the  body.  A 
Buddhist  work  calls  it  "  the  nether  garment,"  and  states  that  it 
is  composed  of  five  pieces.  Its  use  is  defined  to  be  "  a  garment 
formed  of  several  pieces  worn  in-doors  by  those  who  practice  the 
law."  Its  Sanskrit  name  is  antaravdsaka.1339 

A  mantle  so  patched  that  it  "  resembled  the  patches  in  a 
rice-field  divided  by  embankments  "  may  easily  have  given  rise 
to  the  story  that  it  was  embroidered  with  crosses. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  the  tradition  states  that  when 
Wixipecocha  disappeared  he  left  the  imprint  of  his  feet  engraved 
upon  the  rock  on  which  he  had  stood  ;  it  is  also  said  of  Quetzal- 
coatl  that,  in  a  valley  near  Tlalnepantla  or  Tanepantla,  he 
pressed  hand  and  foot  into  a  rock  with  such  force  that  the  im 
pression  has  remained  down  to  the  latest  centuries.182  Similar 
statements  are  also  made  regarding  the  mysterious  teachers  men 
tioned  in  the  legends  of  several  nations  of  South  America,  and 
referred  to  in  the  following  chapter.  I  can  hardly  think  it  a  mere 
coincidence  that  a  favourite  form  of  relic  worship  among  the 
Buddhists  consists  of  respect  paid  to  the  impressions  of  Gotama's 
foot,  called  Sri-pdda.  On  the  third  visit  of  the  sage  to  Ceylon, 
in  the  eighth  year  after  he  obtained  the  Buddhaship,  he  left 
such  an  impression  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  usually 
known  by  the  name  of  Adam's  Peak,  seven  thousand  four  hun 
dred  and  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  intended  as  "  a 


554:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

seal  to  declare  that  Lanka  would  be  the  inheritance  of  Buddha." 
In  the  same  journey  he  left  other  impressions  of  a  similar  kind 
in  different  parts  of  India.1445 

Buddhists  mention  a  great  many  foot-prints  of  this  kind  ;  the 
veneration  these  receive,  scarcely  inferior  to  that  paid  to  Bud 
dha  himself,  has  no  doubt  contributed  to  augment  the  number.  It 
is  quite  plain  that  every  country  must  have  its  own,  and  that  each 
sect  pretends  to  honour  in  it  the  divinity  it  adores,  or  the  head 
of  the  doctrine  it  has  embraced.  All,  therefore,  do  not  belong  to 
Sakya  Muni ;  indeed,  the  Pali  texts  recognize  but  five  genuine 
ones,  named  Pancha  pra  patha,  "  the  five  divine  feet."  Captain 
Low  has  devoted  an  article  to  this  subject  in  the  "  Translations 
of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  of  London." 1362 

Foot-prints  of  this  nature  are  mentioned  by  Fa  Hian  as  exist 
ing  near  Palibothra,1353  and  in  the  kingdom  in  the  north  of  India 
which  he  designates  as  Ou-chang,1337  as  well  as  in  Ceylon.1360 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

VARIOUS   AMERICAN   TRADITIONS. — BUDDHISM. 

White  and  bearded  men  wearing  long  robes — The  great  numbers  of  countries  in 
which  such  traditions  exist — Non-intercourse  between  them — Traditions  of 
Yucatan — Zamna  and  Cukulcan — The  introduction  of  the  alphabet — Attend 
ants — The  name  Cukulcan — The  three  brothers  of  Chichen  Itza — The  build 
ings  erected — The  teachings  of  Cukulcan — His  departure — The  survival  of  his 
doctrines — Votan — His  long-robed  attendants — Resemblance  of  name  "Vo- 
tan  "  to  Asiatic  perversions  of  "  Gautama  " — The  time  of  these  visits — The 
"  katuns  "  of  Yucatan — South  American  traditions — The  Muyscas— Their  civil 
ization — The  arrival  of  a  white  stranger — His  names — The  arts  he  taught — His 
doctrines — The  veneration  of  the  people  for  him — Resemblance  of  his  names 
to  Buddhist  title8— A  Pachcheko— The  Updsakas— The  Chinese  Ho  Shang— 
Tradition  of  the  Guaranis — Tamoi,  Tamu,  Tume,  or  Zume — His  teachings — 
The  impress  of  his  foot-prints — The  tradition  in  Paraguay — His  promise  to  re 
turn — Adventure  of  the  fathers  de  Montoya  and  de  Mendoza — The  Brazilian 
tradition — The  great  road — Foot-prints — Another  tradition — The  story  in 
Chili — Tonapa  in  Peru — His  appearance — His  mildness — His  teachings — His 
departure — Viracocha — The  pyramids  of  Peru — Con,  or  Contice — The  Bud 
dhist  decalogue — Avoidance  of  women — Buddhist  practices — The  dress  of  the 
priests — Hats  not  worn  by  the  Indians — Resemblance  of  teachings  of  the 
American  culture-heroes  to  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics — Resemblances  be 
tween  Buddhism  and  Roman  Catholicism — Their  monasteries — Their  doctrines 
— The  costume  of  the  Grand  Lama — Belief  in  an  early  mixture  of  Christianity 
and  Buddhism — A  Central  American  image — The  calendar — The  arts  prac 
ticed  by  Buddhist  priests — The  art  of  casting  metals— Sculptured  vases. 

IT  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  throughout  all  the  American  Con 
tinent  south  of  the  United  States,  there  were  traditions  of  a  visit 
by  one  or  more  white  and  bearded  men,  dressed  in  long  robes, 
who  taught  the  people  all  the  religious  precepts  as  well  as  all  the 
arts  with  which  they  were  acquainted  at  the  time  that  they  were 
first  visited  by  Europeans.  These  tales  are  so  similar  that  the 
first  impulse  is  to  believe  that  they  must  have  been  borrowed  by 
one  nation  from  another  ;  and  yet  there  was  so  little  possibility 


556  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

of  intercourse  between  the  tribes  of  Yucatan,  Central  America, 
New  Grenada,  Brazil,  Peru,  Chili,  and  Paraguay,  that  this  theory 
seems  wholly  untenable.  Barney  says  that  while  some  portions 
of  the  legends  of  New  Grenada  bear  so  close  a  resemblance  to 
those  of  Mexico  that  one  is  led  to  suspect  invention  and  collu 
sion  among  historians  or  their  informers,  yet  it  is  very  difficult 
to  see  how  such  could  have  been,  or  what  object  was  to  be  gained 
by  the  deception.630  The  only  other  reasonable  explanation  of 
the  existence  of  these  stories,  among  tribes  so  widely  separated,  is 
that  each  nation  actually  preserved  some  recollection  of  a  visit 
from  a  missionary  who  taught  the  doctrines  which  were  still 
enshrined  in  their  hearts,  and,  if  so,  the  missionary  can  hardly 
have  been  any  other  than  one  of  the  party  described  by  Hwui 
Shan.  These  devoted  men  seem  to  have  become  separated,  and 
some  of  them  continued  to  push  on  farther  and  farther  into  the 
unknown  land  to  which  they  had  found  the  way,  until  they  at 
last  wandered  as  far  as  Chili  and  Paraguay. 

In  Yucatan,  nearly  or  quite  every  tribe  had  its  traditions  of 
teachers  who  came  in  the  distant  past  to  seek  new  homes,  escape 
persecutions,  or  introduce  new  ideas.155  The  most  popular  names 
were  Zamna  and  Cukulcan,  both  culture-heroes,  and  considered 
by  some  to  be  identical.  The  tradition  relates  that,  some  time 
after  the  fall  of  the  Quinamean  empire,  Zamna  appeared  in  Yu 
catan,  coming  from  the  west,  and  was  received  with  great  re 
spect  wherever  he  stayed.  Besides  being  the  inventor  of  the 
alphabet,  he  is  said  to  have  named  all  points  and  places  in  the 
country.343  He  was  also  called  Itznamna,  and  the  Indians  gave 
the  same  name  to  the  characters  which  they  used  as  letters  (Co- 
golludo,  "  Hist.  Yuc.,"  p.  185).879  He  was  accompanied  by  a  band 
of  priests  and  artisans,  and  was  the  first  temporal  and  religious 
leader  of  the  people,439  and,  like  Votan,  united  in  himself  the 
qualities  of  ruler,  law-giver,  educator,  and  priest.266 

Cukulcan  appeared  in  Yucatan  from  the  west,  with  nineteen 
followers,  two  of  whom  were  gods  of  fishes,  two  gods  of  farms, 
and  one  of  thunder,  all  wearing  full  beards,  long  robes,  and  san 
dals,  but  no  head-covering.  This  event  is  supposed  to  have  oc 
curred  at  the  very  time  that  Quetzalcoatl  disappeared  in  the 
neighbouring  province  of  Coatzacoalco,  a  conjecture,  which,  in 
addition  to  the  similarity  of  the  names,  character,  and  work  of  the 
heroes,  forms  the  basis  for  their  almost  generally  accepted  iden- 


AMERICAN  TRADITIONS.  557 

tity.344  The  name  Cukulcan  is  merely  the  Maya  translation  of 
the  Aztec  term  Quetzalcoatl. 

At  Chichen  Itza,  ten  leagues  from  Itzamal,  the  ancients  say 
there  reigned  three  lords,  brothers,  who  came  from  the  west,  and 
gathered  together  many  people,  and  reigned  some  years  in  peace 
and  justice  ;  and  they  constructed  large  and  very  beautiful  edi 
fices.  It  is  said  that  they  lived  unmarried  and  very  chastely ; 
and  it  is  added  that  in  time  one  of  them  was  missing,  and  that 
his  absence  worked  such  bad  results  that  the  other  two  began  to 
be  unchaste  and  partial ;  and  thus  the  people  came  to  hate  them, 
and  slew  them,  and  scattered  abroad,  and  deserted  the  edifices, 
especially  the  most  stately  one,  which  is  ten  leagues  from  the  sea. 

"  Those  who  established  themselves  at  Chichen  Itza  call  them 
selves  Itzas  :  among  these  there  is  a  tradition  that  there  ruled  a 
great  lord  called  Cukulcan,  and  all  agree  that  he  came  from  the 
Vest ;  and  the  only  difference  among  them  is  as  to  whether  he 
came  before,  or  after,  or  with  the  Itzas  ;  but  the  name  of  the 
building  at  Chichen  Itza,  and  what  happened  after  the  death  of 
the  lords  above  mentioned,  show  that  Cukulcan  ruled  the  coun 
try  jointly  with  them.  He  was  a  man  of  good  disposition  ;  was 
said  not  to  have  had  either  wife  or  children,  and  not  to  have 
known  woman  ;  he  was  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  people, 
and  for  this  reason  was  regarded  as  a  god.  In  order  to  pacify 
the  land,  he  agreed  to  found  another  city,  where  all  business 
could  be  transacted.  He  selected  for  this  purpose  a  site  eight 
leagues  farther  inland  from  where  now  stands  the  city  of  Merida, 
and  fifteen  leagues  from  the  sea.  There  they  erected  a  circular 
wall  of  dry  stone,  about  a  half-quarter  of  a  league  in  diameter, 
leaving  in  it  only  two  gate- ways.  They  erected  temples,  giving 
to  the  largest  the  name  Cukulcan,  and  also  constructed  around 
the  wall  the  houses  of  the  lords  among  whom  Cukulcan  had  di 
vided  the  land,  giving  and  assigning  towns  to  each."  * 

Bancroft  believes  that  Cukulcan  should  be  identified  with 
Quetzalcoatl,  and  he  regards  his  appearance,  and  the  rule  of  the 
three  "holy  princes"  at  Chichen  and Mayapan,  as  the  first  intro 
duction  of  the  Nahua  influence  in  Yucatan.440  The  teachings  of 
Cukulcan  forbade  the  sacrifice  of  human  victims,269  and  he  intro 
duced  the  practice  of  confession.347 

*  Translated  from  Herrera's  "  Historia  de  las  Indias  Occidentales,"  dec.  iv, 
lib.  x,  cap.  ii.822 


\ 


558  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Another  singularity  is  presented  in  his  history  :  it  is  his  ab 
dication  and  departure  from  Yucatan.  Nothing  in  the  short 
fragments  that  we  possess  indicates  the  motives  which  induced 
him  to  take  this  course.  No  other  reason  can  be  seen  than  his 
great  age,  or  the  fear  of  drawing  the  arms  of  his  enemies  upon 
the  Mayas.642 

After  the  mysterious  departure  of  Cukulcan  from  Yucatan, 
the  people,  convinced  that  he  had  gone  to  the  abode  of  the  gods, 
deified  him,  and  built  temples  and  instituted  feasts  in  his  honour.268 

The  first  seven  sovereigns  who  reigned  after  Cukulcan,  upon 
the  throne  of  Mayapan,  continued,  in  emulation  one  of  the  others, 
to  render  services  to  their  country  which  surrounded  the  reign 
of  the  Cocomes  with  a  glorious  aureole.  Without  excepting  the 
re-establishment  of  justice,  and  the  exact  observance  of  the  civil 
and  religious  laws  so  strongly  recommended  by  Cukulcan  as  the 
only  basis  of  national  prosperity,  tradition,  usually  so  vague, 
mentions  fully  their  benefactions  to  their  subjects,  and  the  mon 
uments  which  they  erected  in  so  many  places.  Fountains,  roads, 
palaces,  temples,  schools,  hospitals  for  the  old  and  infirm,  retreats 
for  widows  and  orphans,  inns  for  travelers  and  pilgrims,  baths, 
and  artificial  ponds  :  such  were  the  titles  of  the  Cocomes  to  the 
public  remembrance.643 

In  Guatemala  a  story  is  told  of  a  culture-hero  named  Votan, 
623  very  similar  in  its  details  to  those  which  have  already  been 
given  regarding  Wixipecocha,  Quetzalcoatl,  Cukulcan, and  Zamna. 
He  brought  with  him,  according  to  one  statement,  or,  according 
to  another,  was  followed  from  his  native  land  by,  certain  attend 
ants  or  subordinates,  called  in  the  myth  tzequil,  "  petticoated," 
from  the  long  and  flowing  robes  they  wore.881  Bancroft  thinks 
that  he  was  probably  a  companion  of  Zamna.265 

To  me  the  name  Votan  seems  to  be  a  possible  corruption  of 
"  Gautama,"  which  in  Chinese  is  changed  to  Kiu-tan,  in  Thibetan 
to  Geoutam™*  in  Siamese  to  ITocZom,  and  in  Manchu  and  Mongo 
lian  to  Godam; 1357  while  Zamna  may  possibly  be  the  Sanskrit 
Sramana,  the  Siamese  Somona,  an  epithet  often  attached  to  the 
name  Gautama,1857  and  a  term  afterward  applied  to  those  of  his 
disciples  who  devoted  their  life  to  his  service.  It  is  the  Chinese 
SHA-MAN  already  referred  to,  which  appears  in  English  in  the 
same  form,  and  which  is  the  usual  designation  of  Buddhist  priests. 

As  to  the  time  when  these  missionaries  visited  Yucatan  and 


AMERICAN  TRADITIONS.  559 

Guatemala,  the  only  clew  that  we  have  is  contained  in  the  records 
known  as  the  Books  of  Chilan  Balam,  which  have  been  preserved 
in  Yucatan.  The  total  period  of  time,  from  the  earliest  date 
given  to  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  the  Spaniards,  is  sev 
enty-one  "  katuns."  If  the  katun  is  estimated  at  twenty  years, 
this  equals  1,420  years  ;  if  at  twenty-four  years,  then  we  have 
1,704  years. 

All  the  native  writers  agree,  and  in  spite  of  the  contrary 
statement  of  Bishop  Landa  we  may  look  upon  it  as  beyond 
doubt,  that  the  last  day  of  the  eleventh  katun  was  July  15th, 
1541.  Therefore  one  of  the  above  calculations  would  carry  us 
back  to  A.  D.  121,  the  other  to  B.  c.  173. 

The  chief  possibility  of  error  in  the  reckoning  would  be  from 
confusing  the  great  cycles  of  260  (or  312)  years,  one  with  an 
other,  and  assigning  events  to  different  cycles  which  really 
happened  in  the  same.  This  would  increase  the  number  of  the 
cycles,  and  thus  extend  the  period  of  time  they  appeared  to 
cover.  This  has  undoubtedly  been  done  in  at  least  one  case.821 

Thomas  believes  that,2448  if  we  assume  that  these  great  periods 
were  numbered  in  regular  order,  1,  2,  3,  4,  which  is  more  than 
probable,  as  they  were  but  seldom  referred  to,  then  we  have  evi 
dence  that  the  Itza  record  ran  back  three  great  cycles — 936  years 
before  the  year  A.  D.  1519,  that  is,  to  the  year  583  of  the  Chris 
tian  era.2448  He  also  fixes  the  date  when  the  Itzas  set  out  upon 
their  travels  from  Tulapan  to  Chichen  Itza  as  between  the  years 
486  and  510.2449 

Bancroft  thinks  that  these  visits  occurred  "  within  the  first 
two  centuries  of  the  Christian  era."  m  The  Abbe  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg  thinks  the  year  174  A.  D.  to  be  the  earliest  historical 
date  named  in  the  records  of  Yucatan  ;696  and  Lenoir 1729  mentions 
660  A.  D.  as  the  year  in  which  Huematzin,  a  celebrated  Toltecan 
astronomer,  wrote  the  divine  book  Teoamoxtli,  containing  the 
history  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  the  cosmogony,  the  descrip 
tion  of  the  constellations,  the  divisions  of  time,  the  migrations 
of  the  people,  the  mythology,  and  the  moral  law.1729 

It  will  be  seen  that,  while  the  exact  date  can  not  be  deter 
mined  from  the  traditions  or  records  of  Yucatan,  they  seem  to 
fix  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  civilization  into  the  country, 
by  these  white,  bearded,  and  long-robed  teachers,  at  about  the 
same  era  as  the  dates  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan — 458  and  499  A.  D. 


X"\ 


or  THE  X 

(   UNIVERSITY  ) 

\  OF  S 


560  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

In  South  America  there  are  numerous  traditions  of  a  visit  by 
civilized  strangers.  On  the  lofty  plateau  of  the  Andes,  in  New 
Grenada,  where,  though  nearly  under  the  equator,  the  tempera 
ture  is  that  of  a  perpetual  spring,  was  the  fortunate  home  of  the 
Muyscas.  It  is  the  true  Eldorado  of  America — every  mountain- 
stream  a  Pactolus,  and  every  hill  a  mine  of  gold.  The  natives 
were  peaceful  in  disposition,  skilled  in  smelting  and  beating  the 
precious  metal  that  was  everywhere  at  hand,  lovers  of  agricul 
ture,  and  versed  in  the  arts  of  spinning,  weaving,  and  dyeing  cot 
ton.  Their  remaining  sculptures  prove  them  to  have  been  of  no 
mean  ability  in  designing,  and  it  is  asserted  that  they  had  a  form 
of  writing,  of  which  their  signs  for  the  numerals  have  alone  been 
preserved. 

The  knowledge  of  these  various  arts  they  attributed  to  the 
instructions  of  a  wise  stranger,  who  dwelt  among  them  many 
cycles  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards.  He  came  from  the 
east,  from  the  llanos  of  Venezuela,  or  beyond  them,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  path  he  made  was  broad  and  long,  a  hundred  leagues  in 
length,  and  led  directly  to  the  holy  temple  at  his  shrine  at  Soga- 
moso.  In  the  province  of  Ubaque  his  foot-prints  on  the  solid  rock 
were  reverently  pointed  out  long  after  the  conquest.  His  hair 
was  abundant,  his  beard  fell  to  his  waist,  and  he  dressed  in  long 
and  flowing  robes.832 

His  names  were  various,  but  one  of  the  most  usual  was  Chimi- 
zapagua,  which  we  are  told  means  a  messenger  from  Chimini- 
gagua  ;  other  names  applied  to  this  hero-god  were  Nemtereque- 
teba,  Bochica,  and  Zuhe  or  Sua,  the  last  mentioned  being  the 
ordinary  word  for  the  sun.  He  was  reported  to  have  been  of 
light  complexion.833  He  it  was  who  invented  the  calendar  and 
regulated  the  festivals.401  He  also  taught  them  how  to  build 
and  to  sow,  formed  them  into  communities,  gave  an  outlet  to 
the  waters  of  the  great  lake,  and,  having  settled  the  government, 
civil  and  ecclesiastic,  retired  into  a  monastic  state  of  penitence 
for  two  thousand  years.314 

"The  matters  that  Bochica  taught,"  says  the  chronicler  Pie- 
drahita,  "  were  certainly  excellent,  inasmuch  as  these  natives 
hold  as  right  to  do  just  the  same  that  we  do."  "  The  priests  of 
these  Muyscas,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  lived  most  chastely  and 
with  great  purity  of  life,  insomuch  that,  even  in  eating,  their  food 
was  simple  and  of  small  quantity,  and  they  refrained  altogether 


AMERICAN  TRADITIONS.  561 

from  women  and  marriage.  Did  one  transgress  in  this  respect, 
he  was  dismissed  from  the  priesthood.835 

Barney  relates  the  legends  regarding  this  teacher,  as  fol 
lows  :  53°  "  The  *  culture-hero,'  who,  according  to  one  of  their  tra 
ditions,  was  the  originator  and  organizer  of  their  religion  and 
laws,  was  generally  designated  by  two  names,  Nemterequeteba, 
or  "  the  sent  from  God,"  and  Xue-Chimzapaque,  which  had  a 
similar  signification.  .  .  .  He  taught  the  people  not  only  to  spin 
and  weave,  but  to  colour  their  cloths  red  and  blue,  yellow  and 
brown,  etc.,  that  they  should  not  forget  his  teachings.  He  also 
instructed  them  in  government  and  a  system  of  religious  faith, 
which  bears  much  resemblance  to  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  not 
withstanding  the  many  perversions  which  crept  in  during  the 
lapse  of  the  ages  after  his  departure.  ...  So  great  was  the  ven 
eration  of  the  people  for  him  that,  to  facilitate  his  return,  they 
constructed  and  paved  a  road  that  he  might  ascend  again  to  the 
plain  with  ease.  He  was  not  worshiped  by  the  Chibchas  as  a 
god,  but  was  greatly  venerated  as  a  man  of  wonderful  purity  of 
life  and  of  great  usefulness.  The  early  priests  of  the  Catholic 
faith  seem  to  have  believed  that  this  culture  -  hero  could  have 
been  none  other  than  St.  Bartholomew  or  St.  Thomas." 

In  the  name  Nemterequeteba,  the  last  three  syllables  seem  to 
be  a  corruption  of  "Gautama."  Bochica  may  possibly  be  for 
the  Sanskrit  "  Pachcheko,"  which  is  a  term  applied  to  an  inferior 
being,  or  saint,  who  is  never  co-existent  with  a  supreme  Buddha  ; 
1453  or  it  may  represent  the  term  "  Upasaka," 1431  a  title  applied  to 
lay  devotees  of  Buddha,854  whose  duties  are  thus  described  : 144 

"  The  class  of  persons  called  Upasakas,  in  some  districts,  and 
especially  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Matura,  go  about  from  house 
to  house,  after  the  manner  of  the  Scripture-readers,  reading  works 
on  religion  that  are  written  in  the  vernacular  Singhalese,  accom 
panied  with  familiar  expositions.  It  is  by  this  means  that  Bud 
dhism  is,  in  many  places,  principally  supported." 

The  Upasakas  were  under  vows  of  chastity,  etc.,  but  not  so 
completely  as  the  Bhikshus.  A  Bhikshu,  or  full  Buddhist  monk, 
was  forbidden  to  labour  in  the  field,  but  the  Upasaka  was  not  ; 
the  Bhikshu  wore  yellow  robes,  the  Upasaka  wore  white  gar 
ments.562 

The  expression  HO-SHANG,  much  used  in  China,  is  explained 
in  the  ordinary  dictionaries  as  "  priest  of  Foe,  bonze."  It  is  for- 
36 


562  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

eign  to  the  Chinese  language,  and  belongs  to  that  of  Khoten,  in 
which  it  represents  the  Sanskrit  word  Upasaka.  The  Chinese 
interpret  it  as  fortes,  robore  nati,  in  m  viventes;  also  zspurissimi 
doctores,  and  officio  proximi,  which  is  further  explained  by  say 
ing  that  these  are  men  who  by  their  purity  approach  the  state 
necessary  for  the  reception  of  the  doctrine  of  Foe.  Upasaka 
means  simply  "faithful,"  in  a  religious  sense,  and  is  the  general 
name  of  the  Buddhists  of  Ceylon  and  Pegu.  But  this  word  more 
particularly  designates  the  laics,1319  although  in  Eastern  Turkes 
tan  it  was  extended  to  all  monks.12*8 

The  Guaranis,2000  from  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  to  the  Antilles,  and 
from  the  shores  of  Brazil  to  the  foot  of  the  Bolivian  Andes,  rev 
erence,  without  fearing  him,  a  beneficent  being,  their  first  father, 
Tamoi,  or  "the  Venerable  Man  from  Heaven,"  who  appeared 
among  them,  and  taught  them  agriculture,  and  finally  disap 
peared  in  the  east,  from  whence  he  protected  them.  Among  the 
Guarayos  prayers  were  addressed  to  him  in  octagonal  cabins, 
but  never  either  offerings  or  sacrifices.  The  Payes,  or  Piaches, 
"  sorcerers,"  were  his  diviners,  his  interpreters.2001'2002'2003 

Wherever  the  wide-spread  Tupi-Guaranay  race  extended,  the 
early  explorers  found  the  natives  piously  attributing  their  knowl 
edge  of  the  arts  of  life  to  a  venerable  and  benevolent  old  man 
whom  they  called  "our  Ancestor,"  Tamu,  or  Tume,  or  Zume. 
The  legend  was  that  Pay.  Zume,  as  he  was  called  in  Paraguay 
( Pay = magician,  diviner,  priest),*  came  from  the  east,  from  the 
Sun-rising,  in  years  long  gone  by.  The  spot  where  he  stood  is 
still  marked  by  the  impress  of  his  feet.834 

Purchas  gives  the  name  as  Paicume,  and  states  that  in  Brazil 
the  people  say  that  they  were  taught  by  him  to  shave  their  heads. 
2120  Brinton  says  that  he  was  called  "  Grandfather  "  and  "  Old 
Man  of  the  Sky." 807  Dobrizhoffer  mentions  the  tradition  as  ex 
isting  in  Paraguay; 1909  and  Charlevoix 946  gives  the  following  full 
account  of  the  legend  : 

"  There  had  been  current,  for  a  long  time  past,  in  the  adja 
cent  provinces,  a  tradition,  to  which  perhaps  more  credit  has 
been  given  in  some  relations  than  it  really  deserves  ;  but  which, 
however,  it  is,  I  believe,  as  difficult  to  refute  as  to  prove.  As 
soon  as  the  Fathers  Cataldino  and  Maceta  had  removed  to  a 
greater  distance  from  the  Spanish  settlements,  in  order  to  meet 
*Pay,  father,  is  a  word  for  priest  introduced  into  America  by  the  Portuguese.1213 


AMERICAN  TRADITIONS.  563 

with  fewer  obstacles  to  the  conversion  of  the  Guaranis,  some  of 
the  principal  men  among  these  Indians  assured  them  that  they 
had  been  informed  by  their  ancestors  that  a  holy  man  called 
Pay  Suma,  or  Pay  Tuma,  had  preached  in  their  country  the 
faith  of  Heaven  (so  they  expressed  themselves)  ;  that  numbers 
had  put  themselves  under  his  conduct  ;  and  that,  at  his  de 
parture,  he  had  foretold  that  they  and  their  descendants  would 
abandon  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  whom  he  had  made  known 
to  them  ;  but  that,  after  some  hundreds  of  years,  new  envoys  of 
the  same  God  would  appear  among  them,  armed  with  a  cross 
like  that  which  he  carried,  and  would  re-establish  the  same  wor 
ship  among  their  descendants. 

"  Some  years  after  this,  the  Fathers  de  Montoya  and  de  Men- 
doza,  having  penetrated  into  the  canton  of  Tayati,  the  inhabit 
ants,  seeing  them  come  with  crosses  in  their  hands,  received 
them,  to  their  great  surprise,  with  uncommon  demonstrations  of 
joy  and  affection,  and,  on  the  fathers  expressing  their  surprise, 
related  to  them  the  same  passages  that  the  Fathers  Cataldino 
and  Maceta  had  heard  from  other  Indians,  adding,  that  the  holy 
man  was,  likewise,  called  Pay  Abara,  or  "  the  Father,  who  lives  in 
a  State  of  Celibacy."  The  tradition  of  the  Brazilians  tallies  with 
that  of  the  Guaranis,  even  to  adding  that  the  father  landed  in 
the  port  of  Saints,  opposite  to  the  bar  of  St.  Vincent,  and  that 
he  instructed  the  inhabitants  in  the  arts  of  cultivating  manioc, 
and  making  bread  of  it. 

"  There  is  a  great  road  leading  from  Brazil  to  Guayra,  which, 
though  very  seldom  used,  is  never  overgrown  with  any  but  small 
weeds  ;  and  the  natives  call  it  the  road  of  Pay  Suma.  In  short, 
there  is,  above  the  Assumption,  a  rock,  whose  summit  forms  a 
terrace,  where  some  people  imagine  they  can  perceive  the  tracks 
of  human  feet  ;  and  the  Indians  say  that  it  was  from  this  spot 
Pay  Suma  used  to  preach  the  Law  of  God  to  their  forefathers. 
The  Peruvians,  who  give  him  the  same  name,  show  some  simi 
lar  vestiges  in  their  country,  and  relate  a  great  many  wonders, 
which,  they  say,  the  saint  wrought  among  them.  Be  this  as  it 
will,  several  Spaniards  have  given  credit  to  the  tradition,  and 
pretend  that  Pay  Suma  was  the  apostle  Saint  Thomas." 

This  account  is  quoted  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Second  Ses 
sion  of  the  Congress  of  Americanists,  1092'  and  the  following  re 
marks  are  added  : 


564:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"  The  committee  of  publication  call  attention  to  the  facts  : 
1.  That  the  tradition  in  question  was  first  made  known  by  Fathers 
Cataldino  and  Maceta  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the 
discovery  of  Paraguay.  2.  That  Father  Charlevoix,  a  priest  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  was  evidently  not  well  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  this  tradition. 

"  The  second  tradition  is  also  reported  by  Father  Charlevoix 
(tome  ii,  livre  xv,  p.  274). 

"  This  nation  is  very  superstitious.  An  ancient  tradition 
states  that  the  apostle  Saint  Thomas  had  preached  the  Gospel 
in  their  country  (that  of  the  Manacicas),  where  some  of  his  dis 
ciples  had  been  sent  ;  this  at  least  is  certain,  that  among  the  gross 
fables  and  the  monstrous  dogmas  of  which  their  religion  is  com 
posed,  some  traces  of  Christianity  may  be  discovered.  It  ap 
pears  especially,  if  what  they  say  is  true,  that  they  have  a  clear 
idea  of  a  God  made  man  for  the  good  of  the  human  race  ;  for 
one  of  their  traditions  is  that  a  virgin,  gifted  with  a  perfect 
beauty,  without  having  known  any  man,  conceived  a  very  beau 
tiful  son,  who,  when  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood, 
worked  great  prodigies,  resuscitating  the  dead,  making  the  lame 
walk  and  giving  sight  to  the  blind.  Having  one  day  assembled 
a  great  multitude  of  people,  he  was  raised  into  the  air,  and  trans 
formed  into  the  sun  which  gives  light  to  us.  The  Maponos  say 
that  if  he  were  not  at  so  great  a  distance  all  the  features  of  his 
countenance  might  be  distinguished." 

In  Chili,  also,  a  similar  tradition  existed,  which  is  thus  re 
peated  by  Bancroft : 403> 

In  former  times,  as  they  (the  Chilians)  had  heard  their  fa 
thers  say,  a  wonderful  man  had  come  to  that  country,  wearing  a 
long  beard,  with  shoes,  and  a  mantle  such  as  the  Indians  carry 
on  their  shoulders,  who  performed  many  miracles.  (Quoted 
from  Resales  inedited  "  History  of  Chili,"  in  Kingsborough's 
"  Mexican  Antiquities,"  vol.  vi,  p.  419.) 

In  Peru  the  following  version  of  the  story  was  current : 2'83 
"  There  came  to  these  provinces  and  kingdoms  of  Tabantinsuyo, 
a  bearded  man  of  medium  size,  with  long  hair  and  with  moder 
ately  long  robes,  and  they  say  that  he  was  a  man  who  had 
passed  the  age  of  youth,  having  gray  hairs,  and  being  thin,  and 
traveling  with  a  pilgrim's  staff,  and  that  he  taught  the  natives 
with  great  love,  calling  them  all  sens  and  daughters,  a  thing 


AMERICAN  TRADITIONS.  565 

never  before  known  among  the  natives,  and  that  he  went  through 
the  provinces  performing  many  miracles  and  wonderful  works  ; 
he  cured  the  sick  merely  by  touching  them,  and  they  say  that  he 
spoke  all  the  languages  of  the  country  better  than  the  natives, 
and  he  was  called  Tonapa  or  Tarapaca  ( Tarapaca  means ( eagle '), 
Vlracochan  pacJiayachicachan  or  Pacchacan  and  Bicchhayca- 
mayoc  Cunacuycamayoc.  The  old  men  say  that  the  command 
ments  which  he  preached  were  very  nearly  the  same  as  those  of 
God,  principally  the  seven  precepts.  There  was  lacking  only  the 
name  of  God  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord, 
which  was  a  fact  well  known  to  the  elderly  people  of  those  days  ; 
and  the  punishments  were  severe  for  those  who  transgressed 
those  commandments.  They  say  that  the  said  Tonapa  went 
along  the  river  Chacamarca  until  he  came  to  the  sea,  and  it  is 
understood  that  he  went  by  the  passage*  toward  the  other  sea. 
This  was  investigated  and  established  by  the  ancient  Incas." 

Viracocha,  under  any  and  all  his  surnames,  is  always  described 
as  white  and  bearded,  dressed  in  flowing  robes,  and  of  imposing 
mien.  His  robes  were  also  white,  and  thus  he  was  figured  at  the 
entrance  of  one  of  his  most  celebrated  temples,  that  of  Urcos. 
His  image  at  that  place  was  of  a  man  with  a  white  robe  fall 
ing  to  his  waist,  and  thence  to  his  feet.830 

The  Abbe*  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  makes  the  following  state 
ment  regarding  some  of  the  monuments  found  in  Peru  : 724 

"  M.  L.  Angrand,  formerly  Consul-General  in  Guatemala,  and 
more  lately  in  Peru,  who  has  carefully  examined  the  archaeo 
logical  remains  of  this  country,  has  called  our  attention  to  a  mat 
ter  of  great  interest  from  the  double  point  of  view  of  the  art 
and  the  religion  of  the  American  nations.  '  In  the  provinces  of 
Huamanga  and  Abancay,  situated  to  the  north  of  Cuzco,  which 
were  formerly  inhabited  by  several  tribes,  of  which  the  princi 
pal  was  that  of  the  Huilcas,  there  are  found  numerous  monu 
ments  of  a  pyramidal  form,  composed  of  several  superposed 
terraces,  constructed  with  more  or  less  care.  A  stair-way  mounts 
to  the  summit  of  the  edifice,  and  occupies  one  of  the  faces.  The 
number  of  terraces  varies  from  three  to  five,  and  their  total 
height  varies  from  five  to  thirty  metres.  These  edifices  are 
isolated,  and  there  is  never  more  than  one  in  a  place,  but  they 
are  always  surrounded  by  other  constructions  which  served  as 

*  This  may  be  a  mountain-pass  or  a  strait. 


566  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

habitations,  and  some  of  which  were  very  extensive.'  We  have 
seen  designs  of  several  of  these  pyramidal  edifices  ;  they  are 
true  teocalliSy  like  those  of  Mexico  and  Central  America.  These 
designs,  taken  in  connection  with  the  preceding  observations, 
confirm  the  views  which  we  have  always  held  regarding  the 
propagation  of  the  civilization  and  religion  of  the  Toltecs  in 
South  America,  even  far  beyond  the  neighbouring  provinces  of 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  from  which  those  of  Abancay  and  Hua- 
manga  are  distant  more  than  four  hundred  leagues  to  the  south. 
This  conviction  is  supported  by  the  fact  that,  before  the  religion 
and  the  rule  of  the  Incas  existed  in  Peru,  there  was,  according 
to  the  historians  of  this  country,  another  more  ancient  religion, 
which  had  been  preached  by  a  divine  personage  named  Con,  or 
Contice  (probably  the  Comitl  or  Huey-Comitl  of  the  heroic  tra 
ditions  of  Mexico),  who  had  come  to  preach  the  doctrines  and  the 
knowledge  of  one  God  alone,  from  far  beyond  the  high  mount 
ains  of  the  north.  The  time,  the  name  of  the  preacher,  and  the 
circumstances  of  his  preaching,  seem  to  indicate  a  disciple  of 
Quetzalcoatl,  who  set  forth,  perhaps  from  Cholula,  at  the  same 
time  as  those  whom  the  prophet  sent  into  Mixteca  and  Mictlan." 

A  full  description  of  the  teocallis  of  Mexico,  showing  their 
resemblance  to  the  pyramids  raised  by  the  Buddhists  of  Asia, 
will  be  found  in  a  following  chapter. 

The  Buddhists  have  a  decalogue  which  is  in  some  respects 
curiously  like  that  of  the  Bible.  According  to  the  commentators 
upon  the  Pilgrimage  of  Fa  Hian,  the  five  precepts  are  : 

1.  Not  to  kill  any  living  being. 

2.  Not  to  steal. 

3.  Not  to  commit  adultery  or  to  marry. 

4.  Not  to  lie. 

5.  Not  to  drink  wine. 

These  five  precepts  answer  to  the  five  corresponding  virtues  : 
humanity,  prudence,  justice,  sincerity,  and  urbanity. 

Three  others  are  added  to  these,  making  eight : 
^  6.  Not  to  sit  on  a  large  bed,  or  a  large  or  lofty  seat. 
/  7.  Not  to  wear  flowers  or  ribbons  on  the  dress. 

8.  Not  to  become  fond  of  songs,  dances,  or  comedies. 

The  two  following  are  likewise  enumerated,  completing  the 
number  of  ten  : 

9.  Not  to  wear  on  the  arms  ornaments  of  gold  or  silver. 


BUDDHISM.  507 

10.  Not  to  eat  after  noon. 

Such  are  the  precepts  which  the  aspirant  to  the  rank  of  the 
Shamans  should  observe.  They  are  called  "  the  Ten  Precepts 
of  the  Ascetics."  134° 

The  order  of  the  last  five  does  not  seem  to  be  settled,  as  Pro 
fessor  Williams  gives  them,  with  some  variations  in  the  wording, 
in  the  order,  seventh,  eighth,  sixth,  tenth,  and  ninth,2516  and  Mr. 
Hardy  in  the  order  tenth,  eighth,  seventh,  sixth,  and  ninth.1461 

The  first  five  of  these  obligations  are  called  "  the  pancha-sil." 
They  are  repeated  by  some  persons  every  day  at  the  "  pansal," 
especially  by  the  women.  The  first  eight  are  called  "  the  ata-sil," 
and  they  are  repeated  only  on  "  poya"  days,  or  festivals.  When 
taken  by  a  laic,  they  involve  the  necessity  of  his  living  apart 
from  his  family. 

Among  the  commands  of  Buddha  was  the  following  which 
he  addressed  to  the  Shamans  :  "  Beware  of  fixing  your  eyes  upon 
women  !  If  you  find  yourselves  in  their  company,  let  it  be  as 
though  you  were  not  present."  1575  The  tradition  as  to  the  care 
with  which  these  teachers  avoided  the  society  of  women  is  there 
fore  in  strict  accordance  with  the  commands  of  the  Buddhist  re 
ligion. 

The  priests,  from  the  commencement  of  their  novitiate,  are 
shaved  ; 1433  but  the  shaving  is  often  confined  to  the  crown  of  the 
head,  while  the  remainder  of  the  hair  is  allowed  to  grow  to  its 
full  length,  and  the  hair  of  the  Buddhist  hermits  is  allowed  to 
grow  entirely  unshorn,1261  the  custom  being  so  general  that  the 
typical  representation  of  a  hermit  is  always  that  of  a  man  with 
long  uncut  hair  and  beard,2228  while  in  Chinese  the  phrase  "  to  let 
the  hair  fall"  means  to  become  a  priest  or  nun.2"8 

When  first  entering  the  priesthood  the  Buddhist  monks  wear 
black  robes  ; 1485  these  are  sometimes  succeeded  by  yellow  gar 
ments,  or,  in  Corea,  by  long  white  robes.1997  In  Tartary  the  priests 
wear  miter-shaped  caps,1572  similar  to  the  one  which  Quetzalcoatl  is 
represented  to  have  worn.  Schlagintweit  thus  describes  the  caps 
of  the  Thibetan  lamas  :  lt  They  are  conical,  with  a  large  lap, 
which  is  generally  doubled  up,  but  is  let  down  over  the  ears  in 
cold  weather.  Some  head-priests  have  a  kind  of  miter  of  red 
cloth,  ornamented  with  flowers  of  gold  worked  in  the  stuff.  This 
latter  kind  of  cap  bears  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the  miters 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops."  223°  Hats  or  caps  are  not  worn 


568  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

by  any  Indian  tribe,  the  nearest  approach  to  them  being  in  the 
case  of  the  Mexicans,  who  at  the  most  wore  merely  an  ornamental 
head-dress.  This  fact  was  seized  by  most  of  the  Indians  of  the 
United  States  as  forming  the  easiest  and  most  characteristic 
means  of  distinguishing  between  whites  and  Indians  in  their  rude 
drawings ;  the  former  always  being  represented  with  hats,  and 
the  latter  without. 

The  dress  of  the  teachers  mentioned  in  the  traditions,  and 
the  doctrines  which  they  were  stated  to  have  taught,  were  so 
much  like  those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests,  that  the  Spaniards 
believed  that  St.  Thomas,  or  some  other  missionary  of  the  Chris 
tian  faith,  had  succeeded  in  carrying  the  Gospel  into  this  un 
known  quarter  of  the  world.  Even  at  the  time  of  the  conquest, 
there  were  so  many  analogies  between  the  dogmas  and  rites  of  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  those  of  the  Mexicans,  which  struck  Monte- 
zuma742  and  the  other  chiefs  of  the  land,753  as  well  as  the  Span 
iards,  that  the  latter  were  often  led  to  ascribe  them  to  imitation 
by  Satan  of  the  rites  of  the  Christian  Church.15  It  is  not  sur 
prising  that  this  resemblance  should  be  noticed,  if  the  teachers 
referred  to  in  the  traditions  were  Buddhist  missionaries,  as  the 
same  resemblance  has  been  remarked  between  Roman  Catholi 
cism  and  Buddhism  in  Asia — a  resemblance  so  striking  that  the 
first  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in  Asia,  like  their  brethren  in 
Mexico,  thought  that  it  must  be  an  imitation  by  the  devil  of  the 
religion  of  Christ.1303  Every  one  who  visits  their  monasteries  can 
at  once  discover  the  resemblance.965 

Their  celibacy,  their  living  in  communities,  their  cloisters, 
their  service  in  the  choirs,  their  string  of  beads,  their  fasts,  and 
their  penances,  give  them  so  much  of  the  air  of  Christian  monks 
that  it  is  not  surprising  that  a  Capuchin  should  be  ready  to  hail 
them  as  brothers.1797 

Father  Grueber  was  much  struck  with  the  extraordinary 
similitude  he  found,  as  well  in  the  doctrine  as  in  the  rituals,  of 
the  Buddhists  of  Lassa  to  those  of  his  own  Romish  faith.  He 
noticed  :  1.  That  the  dress  of  lamas  corresponded  with  that 
handed  down  to  us  in  ancient  paintings  as  the  dress  of  the  apos 
tles.  2.  That  the  discipline  of  the  monasteries,  and  of  the  dif 
ferent  orders  of  lamas  or  priests,  bore  the  same  resemblance  to 
that  of  the  Romish  Church.  3.  That  the  notion  of  an  incarna 
tion  was  common  to  both,  as  also  the  belief  in  Paradise  and  Pur- 


BUDDHISM.  569 

gatory.  4.  He  remarked  that  they  made  suffrages,  alms,  prayers, 
and  sacrifices  for  the  dead,  like  the  Roman  Catholics.  5.  That 
they  had  convents,  filled  with  monks  and  friars,  to  the  number  of 
thirty  thousand,  near  Lassa,  who  all  made  the  three  vows  of  pov 
erty,  obedience,  and  chastity,  like  Roman  monks,  besides  other 
vows.  6.  That  they  had  confessors,  licensed  by  the  superior 
lamas,  or  bishops  ;  and  empowered  to  receive  confessions,  impose 
penances,  and  give  absolution.  Besides  all  this,  there  was  found 
the  practice  of  using  holy  water,  of  singing  service  in  alternation, 
of  praying  for  the  dead,  and  a  perfect  similarity  in  the  costumes 
of  the  great  and  superior  lamas  to  those  of  the  different  orders 
of  the  Romish  hierarchy.2092  The  Buddhists  also  use  rosaries  for 
counting  the  number  of  their  prayers.2231 

Father  Hue  says  that  he  and  his  companion  one  day  had  an 
opportunity  of  talking  with  a  Thibetan  lama  for  some  time,  and 
the  things  he  told  them  about  religion  astounded  them  greatly. 
A  brief  explanation  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  which  they  gave 
to  him,  seemed  scarcely  to  surprise  him  ;  he  even  maintained 
that  their  views  differed  little  from  those  of  the  grand  lamas 
of  Thibet.1567  He  adds  that,  if  the  person  of  the  grand  lama 
did  not  particularly  strike  them,  his  costume  did,  for  it  was 
strictly  that  of  their  own  bishops  ;  he  bore  on  his  head  a  yellow 
miter,  a  long  staff  in  the  form  of  a  cross  (or  crosier)  was  in  his 
right  hand,  and  his  shoulders  were  covered  with  a  mantle  of 
purple-coloured  silk,  fastened  on  the  chest  with  a  clasp,  and  in 
every  respect  resembling  a  cope.1573 

Hue  was  led  by  these  resemblances  to  the  belief  that  the 
modern  form  of  Buddhism  in  Thibet  arose  from  a  mixture  of 
Christianity  with  that  religion.1264  The  following  quotation  from 
Marsden  shows  that  he  too  was  inclined  to  adopt  the  same  opin 
ion: 

"  The  belief  of  an  early  spreading  of  the  Gospel  in  these 
parts  derives  some  additional  strength  from  an  opinion  enter 
tained  by  some  of  the  best  informed  missionaries  that  the  lama 
religion  itself  is  no  other  than  a  corrupted  species  of  Christianity  ; 
and  although  this  may  be  too  hasty  an  inference  from  what  they 
had  an  opportunity  of  observing  in  the  country,  it  will  not  be 
found  upon  examination  so  unlikely  as  it  may  at  first  appear. 
In  its  fundamental  principles  the  religion  of  the  country  which 
bears  the  names  of  Butan,  Thibet,  and  Tangut,  is  that  of  the  Bud- 


570  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

dhists  of  India ;  but  at  the  same  time  the  strong  resemblance 
between  many  of  the  ceremonies  and  those  of  the  Christian 
churches,  both  East  and  West,  have  been  pointed  out  by  every 
traveler  who  has  visited  Tartary — from  Carpini  and  Rubruquis, 
by  whom  it  was  first  noticed,  to  our  countrymen  and  contempo 
raries,  Bogle  and  Turner,  who  resided  at  the  court  of  one  of 
the  grand  lamas.  We  find  it  avowed  even  by  the  Jesuit  mis 
sionaries,  whom  we  can  not  suppose  to  have  been  influenced  in 
their  observation  by  any  undue  bias."  "" 

A  more  probable  opinion  is,  however,  that  sundry  of  the 
observances  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  were  derived  from 
Buddhistic  sources,1893  the  chain  of  evidence  that  establishes  the 
greater  antiquity  of  these  practices  by  the  Buddhists  being  com 
plete.8098 

Isaac  Taylor  drew  attention,  in  his  "  Ancient  Christianity,"  to 
the  knowledge  of  Hindoo  monasticism  possessed  by  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  and  traced  the  origin  of  the  monasticism  of  Chris 
tianity  to  that  of  India.1241 

On  the  supposition  of  the  pre-existence  of  Buddhism,  such 
as  their  sacred  books  describe,  and  its  professors  still  preach,  the 
rapid  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  first  and  second  centuries  of 
our  era  is  not  surprising.  To  a  mind  already  impressed  with 
Buddhistic  belief  and  Buddhistic  doctrines,  the  birth  of  a  Sav 
iour  and  Redeemer  for  the  Western  World,  recognized  as  a  new 
Buddha  by  wise  men  of  the  East,  that  is,  by  Magi,  Shamans,  or 
Lamas,  who  had  obtained  the  Arhat  sanctification,  was  an  event 
expected,  and  therefore  readily  accepted  when  declared  and  an 
nounced.  It  was  no  abjuration  of  an  old  faith  that  the  teachers 
of  Christianity  asked  of  the  Buddhists,  but  a  mere  qualification 
of  an  existing  belief,  by  the  incorporation  into  it  of  the  Mosaic 
account  of  the  creation,  and  of  original  sin,  and  the  fall  of  man. 
The  Buddhists  of  the  West,  accepting  Christianity  on  its  first 
announcement,  at  once  introduced  the  rites  and  observances 
which  for  centuries  had  already  existed  in  India.  From  that 
country  Christianity  derived  its  monastic  institutions,  its  forms 
of  ritual,  and  of  church  service,  its  councils  or  convocations  to 
settle  schisms  or  points  of  faith,  its  worship  of  relics,  and  work 
ing  of  miracles  through  them,  and  much  of  the  discipline  and  of 
the  dress  of  the  clergy.2100 

As  a  description  of  the  robes  of  Buddhist  priests  is  given  in 


BUDDHISM. 


571 


some  of  the  foregoing  quotations,  the  following  engraving  of  an 
image  found  in  Campeachy  is  inserted  as  showing  how  accurate  a 
knowledge  of  their  appearance  has  been  preserved  by  tradition. 

The  legends  assert  that  the  Mexicans  and  natives  of  Yuca 
tan  and  Central  America  owed  their 
calendar  to  the  same  strangers  to 
whom  they  were  indebted  for  nearly 
all  the  arts  which  they  possessed.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  attempt  to  add 
anything  to  the  remarks  of  Hum- 
boldt  on  this  subject,  which  are  quoted 
in  Chapter  IX,  the  resemblance  be 
tween  the  Asiatic  and  Mexican  cal 
endars  being  so  great,  that  he  was 
convinced,  by  this  one  fact  alone,  that 
there  must  have  been  some  early  con 
nection  between  the  two  regions  of 
the  world.  Attention  may,  however, 
be  called  to  the  fact  that  both  the 
Javans  2123  and  the  Mexicans  241  had  a 
week  of  five  days, 6"  by  which  their 
markets  or  fairs  were  regulated.1133 
Just  as  in  Mexico  we  find  Asiatic 
names  for  the  months,  but  not  in  their 
proper  order,  so  in  Java  the  names 
of  the  Hindoo  months  have  been  wan 
tonly  transposed,1135  and  Crawfurd  is 

therefore  led  to  the  belief  that  the  Bugis  year  is  the  relic  of 
an  indigenous  calendar,  which  was  modified  by  that  of  the 
Hindoos  ;  an  explanation  which  will  account  equally  well  for  the 
similar  transpositions  found  in  the  Mexican  calendar.  Sahagun 
states  that  the  Mexicans  attributed  their  calendar  to  four  sages, 
who  "invented  judicial  astrology,  and  the  art  of  interpreting 
dreams,  established  the  reckoning  of  the  years,  the  night,  the 
hours,  and  the  differences  of  the  seasons  ;  all  things  which  were 
preserved  under  the  government  of  the  kings  of  the  Toltecs,  the 
Mexicans,  the  Tepanecas,  and  the  Chichimecas."  221° 

The  men  who  accompanied  Quetzalcoatl  were  said  to  have 
been  cunning  artists,  especially  in  casting  metals,  in  the  engrav 
ing  and  setting  of  precious  stones,  and  in  all  kinds  of  artistic 


. — An    image  found  in 
Campeachy. 


572  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

sculpture.  These  were  precisely  the  arts  which  a  party  of  Bud 
dhist  priests  would  have  been  able  to  teach.  Hue  says  of  the 
lamas  of  Tartary  that  they  are  not  merely  priests,  but  are  also 
the  painters,  poets,  sculptors,  architects,  and  physicians  of  the 
land;1564  and  de  Milloue  states  that,  when  the  first  Buddhist  mis 
sionaries  arrived  in  Japan,  they  carried  with  them  many  indus 
tries  previously  unknown  in  that  country,  which  were  necessary 
to  their  worship.  They  made  rich  sacerdotal  cloths,  sacred  ves. 
sels  of  pottery- ware  or  bronze,  gilded  idols  and  luxurious  tem 
ples  ;  and,  finally,  the  priests  advanced  as  sculptors,  as  chisel ers, 
as  gilders,  as  painters,  as  weavers,  as  potters,  as  founders  :  a 
complete  invasion  of  mechanics  with  shaven  heads,  of  artists  writh 
lowered  eyes,  of  labourers  in  frocks  and  chasubles.1886 

Elsewhere  in  North  America  nothing  was  known  of  the  art  of 
melting  or  casting  metals.  In  cases  in  which  gold  or  copper  was 
used,  the  northern  Indian  simply  took  a  stone  and  by  physical 
force  hammered  the  metal  into  the  required  shape.2451  The  Mexi 
cans,  however,  to  make  jewelry,  idols,  and  other  objects  of  art, 
melted  the  metal  in  crucibles,  and  cast  it  in  moulds  made  of  clay 
or  charcoal.689 

The  so-called  "  lost  art "  of  casting  parts  of  the  same  object 
of  different  metals  was  known  : 496  thus  fishes  were  modeled  with 
alternate  scales  of  gold  and  silver  ;  copper  and  other  metals 
were  gilded  by  a  process  which  would  have  made  the  fortune  of 
a  goldsmith  in  Europe  ;  furnaces,  perhaps  of  earthen-ware,  and 
blow-pipes,  are  depicted  on  native  paintings  in  connection  with 
gold-working.  This  art  of  casting  metals  was  the  one  which  was 
held  by  them  in  the  highest  esteem.718  Cortez  admitted  that  in 
this  the  Mexican  smiths  far  excelled  those  of  the  Spaniards.1096 

Their  miracles  in  that  art  would  not  be  believed  if  it  were 
not  for  the  fact  that,  in  addition  to  the  testimony  of  those  who 
saw  them,  many  of  these  curiosities  were  sent  to  Europe.1081  The 
works  of  gold  and  silver  sent  as  presents  to  Charles  V,  by  the 
Conqueror  Cortez,  filled  the  goldsmiths  of  Europe  with  astonish 
ment,  who,  as  several  writers  of  that  period  testify,  declared  that 
they  were  altogether  inimitable.2597 

Herrera,  who  says  they  could  also  enamel,  commends  the  skill 
of  the  Mexican  goldsmiths  in  making  birds  and  animals  with 
movable  wings  and  limbs,  in  a  most  curious  fashion.  ("Hist. 
Gen.,"  dec.  ii,  lib.  vii,  cap.  15.)  Sir  John  Maundevile,  as  usual, 


BUDDHISM.  573 

u  .  .  .  With  his  hair  on  end 
At  his  own  wonders," 

notices  the  "  gret  marvayle  "  of  similar  pieces  of  mechanism  at 
the  court  of  the  grand  Chane  of  Cathay.  (See  his  "  Yoiage  and 
Travaile,"  chap,  xx.)8068 

The  Aztecs  not  only  knew  how  to  cast  gold  and  silver,  and 
how  to  make  the  casting  take  any  shape  that  they  desired,  but 
they  also  worked  all  species  of  gems  very  dexterously  ;  and  this 
was,  more  than  all  others,  the  particular  art  which  rendered  their 
name  the  most  celebrated.1060 

M.  Lenoir  makes  the  following  statement  in  regard  to  sculpt 
ured  vases  found  in  Mexico  : 

"  As  to  these  vases,  ornamented  with  fantastical  figures  and 
made  of  granite,  of  green  or  black  basalt,  of  jade,  or  of  glazed 
terra  cotta,  a  great  resemblance  is  noticeable  between  them  and 
the  vases  of  the  Japanese  made  of  jade,  of  soft  stone,  of  rice 
paste,  or  of  porcelain.  My  opinion  has  been  confirmed  by  M. 
Baradere  who,  on  seeing  in  my  cabinet  an  old  Japanese  vase 
of  white  jade,  mistook  it  for  a  valuable  vase  which  he  had  seen 
in  the  Museum  of  Mexico,  the  form  and  the  details  were  so  simi 
lar.  It  is  very  remarkable  to  observe  such  a  resemblance  be 
tween  two  of  the  works  of  art  of  nations  so  widely  separated  by 
the  seas,  and  between  which  there  seems  to  have  never  been  any 
communication.  In  the  collection  of  designs  executed  by  M. 
Franck,  of  the  objects  contained  in  this  same  Mexican  Museum, 
several  of  the  jade  vases  have  a  great  analogy,  a  resemblance  al 
most  perfect,  to  some  I  possess  which  are  of  Japanese  origin. 
He  has  also  drawn  a  small  figure,  carefully  worked  from  some 
hard  substance,  of  which  the  head,  the  pose,  and  the  costume  are 
evidently  Chinese.  This,  therefore,  raises  a  new  presumption 
that  some  ancient  communication  may  have  existed  between  Asia 
and  America."  173° 

Had  M.  Lenoir  been  acquainted  with  all  the  proofs  of  a  visit 
to  America  by  Buddhist  priests  (priests  of  the  same  faith  being 
also  the  introducers  into  Japan  of  many  of  the  arts  of  civiliza 
tion),  and  with  the  fact  that  the  traditions  of  Mexico  uniformly 
attributed  to  these  missionaries  the  knowledge  which  the  natives 
possessed  of  the  arts  of  casting  the  metals  and  of  cutting  gems, 
he  might  have  omitted  the  statement  that  there  seemed  never  to 
have  been  any  communication  between  the  two  nations. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

RELIGIOUS    CUSTOMS   AND   BELIEFS 

The  incongruity  of  the  religious  system  of  the  Aztecs — The  Toltecs — Contentions 
between  rival  sects — Monasteries — The  "  Tlamacazqui " — The  herb-eaters — 
Their  asceticism — The  monastery  and  nunnery  attached  to  the  chief  temple  of 
the  city  of  Mexico — The  duties  of  the  devotees — Their  clothing — The  discipline 
— The  differences  in  rank — Other  ascetics — Probation  of  candidates — Vows  not 
for  life — Married  priests — The  monastery  of  the  Totonacas — The  pontiff  of 
Mixteca — The  title  "  Taysacaa  " — Auricular  confession — The  practice  of  bear 
ing  a  calabash — The  dress  of  the  priests — Continence — Prayers — Fasting — The 
early  disciples  of  Sakya  Muni — The  Buddhist  monasteries — Candidates  for  the 
priesthood — Education  of  children — Food  and  clothing — Penances — Nunneries 
— Life  of  the  inmates — Punishment  of  incontinence — Time  for  meals — Cloth 
ing  of  idols — Absence  of  vital  points  of  Christian  doctrine — Marriage  of  the 
priests — Vegetarianism — Failure  of  the  Buddhists  to  strictly  comply  with  the 
tenets  of  their  religion — The  eating  of  flesh — A  curious  anomaly  in  Buddha's 
teachings — Religious  terms — The  name  Sakya — Its  occurrence  in  Mexico — 
Otosis — Gautama — Guatemala — Quauhtemo-tzin — Tlama  and  lama — Teotl 
and  Deva — Refutation  of  a  negative  argument — Religious  tenets — The  road 
to  the  abode  of  the  dead — The  divisions  of  the  abode  of  the  dead — Transmi 
gration — Yearly  feast  for  the  souls  of  the  dead — The  tablet  at  Palenque — 
The  lion-headed  couch — Seated  figures— An  image  of  Quetzalcoatl — The  story 
of  Camaxtli — Preservation  of  his  blonde  hair. 

IN  contemplating  the  religious  system  of  the  Aztecs,  one  is 
struck  with  its  apparent  incongruity,  as  if  some  portion  of  it  had 
emanated  from  a  comparatively  refined  people,  open  to  gentle  in 
fluences,  while  the  rest  breathes  a  spirit  of  unmitigated  ferocity. 
It  naturally  suggests  the  idea  of  two  distinct  sources,  and  author 
izes  the  belief  that  the  Aztecs  had  inherited  from  their  predeces 
sors  a  milder  faith,  on  which  was  afterward  engrafted  their  own 
mythology.2061  Tradition  imparts  to  the  Toltecs  a  higher  civiliza 
tion  than  that  found  among  the  Aztecs,414  who  had  degenerated 
with  the  growth  of  the  warlike  spirit,152  and  who  destroyed  much 
of  the  culture  of  their  predecessors  ;  ™  and  it  is  plain  that  much 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  575 

of  the  religion  of  this  earlier  nation  may  now  be  unknown — their 
temples  and  altars  having  been  appropriated  for  the  worship  of 
a  different  religion,  modificative  or  subversive  of  the  first.1226  It 
seems  to  have  been  an  ineradicable  Toltec  tendency  to  indulge 
in  religious  controversy,  to  the  prejudice  of  their  national  pros 
perity,419  and  these  struggles  over  religious  creeds  would  naturally 
result  in  numerous  and  radical  changes  in  the  current  belief. 
Tradition  states  that  in  early  days  there  was  bitter  contention 
between  the  rival  sects  of  Quetzalcoatl  and  Tezcatlipoca,  and  that 
with  the  growth  of  the  Aztec  influence  the  bloody  rites  of  the 
latter  sect  had  prevailed,  under  the  auspices  of  the  god  Huitzilo- 
pochtli ;  and  the  worship  of  the  gentler  Quetzalcoatl,  though  still 
observed  in  many  provinces  and  many  temples,  had  with  its 
priests  been  forced  to  occupy  a  secondary  position.429  Still,  even 
at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  there  were  many  traces  re 
maining  in  the  land  of  the  pure  and  gentle  faith  taught  by  Wixi- 
pecocha  and  Quetzalcoatl.  In  nothing  was  the  influence  of  these 
teachings  more  apparent  than  in  the  monasteries  or  colleges  for 
the  two  sexes,  which  existed  throughout  the  land,  and  the  first 
of  which  were  said  to  have  been  founded  by  Quetzalcoatl.629 
In  these  the  doctrines  of  the  prophet  were  preserved,  and  his  dev 
otees  occupied  themselves  in  the  study  of  science,  and  in  prayer 
to  heaven  for  the  abolition  of  the  bloody  sacrifices,  and  the 
scourges  which  afflicted  the  land.736 

The  Toltec  civilization,  intrenched  behind  the  mountains  of 
Zapotecapan  and  of  Mixtecapan,  was  much  better  preserved 
from  contact  with  barbarism  than  in  the  provinces  near  Ana- 
huac.  The  people  of  these  states  were,  therefore,  given  the  special 
designation  of  the  children  of  Quetzalcoatl.689  Still,  even  in  the 
city  of  Mexico  and  its  neighbourhood,  some  knowledge  of  the 
earlier  faith  was  preserved,  although  mixed  with  the  savage  rites 
by  which  it  had  been  nearly  superseded. 

To  each  temple  was  attached  a  monastery,  the  members  of 
which  enjoyed  privileges  similar  to  those  of  our  canons.  The 
Tlamacazqui, "  deacons  "  or  "  ministers,"  and  the  Quaquacuiltin, 
"  herb-eaters,"  were  those  who  dedicated  themselves  to  the  service 
of  the  gods  for  life.  They  led  a  very  ascetic  life ;  continence  was 
imposed  upon  them,  and  they  mortified  the  flesh  by  deeds  of  pen 
ance,  in  imitation  of  Quetzalcoatl,  who  was  their  patron  deity. 

Some  dedicated  their  whole  lives  to  the  service  of  the  gods  ; 


576  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

others  vowed  themselves  to  perpetual  continence.  All  were  poorly 
clothed,  wore  their  hair  long,  lived  upon  coarse  and  scanty  fare, 
and  did  all  kinds  of  work.  At  midnight  they  arose  and  went 
to  the  bath  ;  after  washing,  they  drew  blood  from  their  bodies 
with  spines  of  the  maguey-plant ;  then  they  watched,  and  chanted 
praises  of  the  gods,  until  two  in  the  morning.  Notwithstanding 
this  austerity,  however,  these  monks  could  betake  themselves 
alone  to  the  woods,  or  wander  through  the  mountains  and  des 
erts,  there  in  solitude  to  spend  the  time  in  several  ways.169 

The  monastery  and  nunnery  attached  to  the  chief  temple  of 
the  city  of  Mexico  are  thus  described  by  Purchas  : 2113  "  Within 
this  great  Circuit  of  the  principall  Temple  were  two  houses,  like 
Cloisters,  the  one  opposite  to  the  other,  one  of  men,  the  other  of 
women.  In  that  of  women  they  were  Virgins  only,  of  twelve  or 
thirteen  yeares  of  age,  which  they  called  the  Maids  of  Penance  ; 
they  were  as  many  as  the  men,  and  liued  chastely,  and  regularly, 
as  Virgins  dedicated  to  the  seruice  of  their  God.  Their  charge 
was  to  sweepe  and  make  cleane  the  Temple,  and  euery  morning 
to  prepare  meate  for  the  Idoll  and  his  Ministers  of  the  Almes 
the  Religious  gathered.  .  .  .  These  Virgins  had  their  haire  cut, 
and  then  let  them  grow  for  a  certaine  time  ;  they  rose  at  mid 
night  to  the  Idol's  Mattins,  which  they  dayly  celebrated,  perform 
ing  the  same  exercises  which  the  Religious  did.  They  had  their 
Abbesses.  .  .  .  Their  ordinary  habite  was  all  white.  .  .  .  They 
did  their  penance  at  midnight.  ...  If  any  were  found  dis 
honest,  they  were  put  to  death  without  remission,  saying,  shee 
had  polluted  the  house  of  their  God.  .  .  .  This  profession  con 
tinued  a  yeare,  during  which  time  their  fathers  and  themselues 
had  made  a  vow  to  serue  the  Idol  in  this  manner,  and  from  thence 
they  went  to  be  married. 

"  The  other  Cloyster  or  Monasterie  was  of  yong-men,  of  eigh- 
teene  or  twenty  yeares  of  age,  which  they  called  Religious. 
Their  crownes  were  shauen,  as  the  Friers  in  these  parts  ;  their 
haire  a  little  longer,  which  fell  to  the  middest  of  their  eare,  except 
on  the  hinder  part  of  the  head,  where  they  let  it  grow  to  their 
shoulders,  and  tied  it  vp  in  trusses.  These  serued  in  the  Tem 
ple,  liued  poorely  and  chastely,  and  (as  the  Leuites)  ministered 
to  the  Priests,  Incense,  Lights,  and  Garments,  swept  and  made 
cleane  the  holy  Place,  bringing  wood  for  a  continuall  fire,  to  the 
harth  of  their  God,  which  was  like  a  Lampe  that  still  burned  be- 


RELIGIOUS   CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  577 

fore  the  Altar  of  their  Idoll.  Beside  these,  there  were  other 
little  boyes  that  serued  for  manual  vses,  as  to  decke  the  Temple 
with  Boughs,  Roses,  and  Reedes,  giue  the  Priests  water  to  wash, 
Rasours  to  sacrifice,  and  to  goe  with  such  as  begged  Almes,  to 
carrie  it.  All  these  had  their  superiours,  who  had  the  governe- 
ment  ouer  them,  and  when  they  came  in  publike,  where  women 
were,  they  carried  their  eyes  to  the  ground,  not  daring  to  beholde 
them.  They  had  linnen  garments,  and  went  into  the  Citie  foure 
or  sixe  together,  to  aske  almes  in  all  quarters,  and  if  they  gote 
none,  it  was  lawfull  for  them  to  goe  into  the  Cornefields,  and 
gather  that  which  they  needed,  none  daring  to  contradict  them. 
There  might  not  aboue  fiftie  Hue  in  this  penance  ;  they  rose  at 
midnight  and  sounded  the  Trumpets,  to  awake  the  people.  Euery 
one  watched  by  turne,  least  the  fire  before  the  Altar  should  die. 
They  gave  the  censer  with  which  the  Priest  at  midnight  incensed 
the  Idoll,  and  also  in  the  morning,  at  nooue,  and  at  night.  They 
were  very  subiect  and  obedient  to  their  Superiours.  .  .  .  This 
austeritie  continued  a  yeare.  The  priests  .  .  .  drunke  no  wine, 
and  slept  little.  .  .  .  Gomara  speaketh  of  others  .  .  .  whicft 
liued  in  those  Cloysters  .  .  .  euery  one  abode  there  as  long  as 
they  had  vowed,  and  after  vsed  their  libertie." 

Of  the  several  religious  orders,  the  most  renowned  for  its 
sanctity  was  the  Tlamacazcayotl,  which  was  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  Quetzalcoatl.  The  superior  of  this  order,  who  was 
named  after  the  god,  never  deigned  to  issue  from  his  seclusion 
except  to  confer  with  the  king.  Its  members,  called  Tlamacaz- 
qui,  led  a  very  ascetic  life,  living  on  coarse  fare,  dressing  in  sim 
ple  black  robes,  and  performing  all  manner  of  hard  work.  They 
bathed  at  midnight,  and  kept  watch  until  an  hour  or  two  before 
dawn,  singing  hymns  to  Quetzalcoatl ;  on  occasions,  some  of  them 
would  retire  into  the  desert,  to  lead  a  life  of  prayer  and  penance 
in  solitude.328 

Acosta  makes  mention  of  certain  ascetics  who  dedicated 
themselves  for  a  year  to  the  most  austere  life  ;  they  assisted  the 
priests  at  the  hours  of  incensing,  and  drew  much  blood  from  their 
bodies  in  sacrifice.  They  dressed  in  white  robes,  and  lived  by 
begging.  («  Hist  de  las  Ynd.,"  pp.  341,  342.) 

The  only  food  of  the  candidate  for  the  priesthood,  during  the 
year  of  probation,  was  herbs,  wild  honey,  and  roasted  maize  ; nl 
his  life  was  passed  in  silence  and  retirement,  and  the  monotony 
37 


578  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

of  his  existence  was  only  relieved  by  waiting  on  the  priests,  tak 
ing  care  of  the  altars,  sweeping  the  temple,  and  gathering  wood 
for  the  fires.  When  four  years  after  his  admission  to  the  priest 
hood  had  elapsed,  during  which  time  he  seems  to  have  served  a 
sort  of  apprenticeship,  he  was  permitted  to  marry,  if  he  saw  fit, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  perform  his  priestly  functions.  If  he 
did  not  marry,  he  entered  one  of  the  monasteries,  which  were  de 
pendent  on  the  temples,  and,  while  performing  his  regular  duties, 
increased  the  austerity  of  his  life.  If  one  of  them  violated  his 
vow  of  chastity,  he  was  bastinadoed  to  death. 

In  spite  of  the  austerity  of  their  retreat,  the  monks  neverthe 
less  sometimes  repaired  alone  to  the  woods,  to  wander  in  the 
mountains  and  deserts  in  a  spirit  of  contemplation.704 

The  title  of  "Teopixqui,"  or  sacred  guardian,  designates  in 
differently  all  the  members  of  the  priesthood.630  Some  of  the 
number  are  married,  and  live  an  ordinary  life  in  the  world,  with 
out  retiring  therefrom  except  when  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
temple.  Others,  following  the  example  of  Quetzalcoatl,  who  in 
stituted  ecclesiastic  celibacy,  bound  themselves  by  a  vow  to 
continence,  either  perpetual  or  for  a  term ;  these  taking  the 
title  of  "  Tlamacazqui,"  which  corresponds  to  that  of  deacon  or 
priest.  The  conduct  of  all  these  men,  consecrated  to  the  altars 
of  their  gods,  is  extremely  reserved  and  austere.  Whenever  they 
meet  women,  in  the  streets  or  in  the  houses,  they  bend  their  eyes 
upon  the  ground.  They  never  drink  any  intoxicating  liquor ;  all 
their  exterior  announces  mortification,  gravity,  and  circumspec 
tion,  and  their  maintenance  is  imposed  upon  the  people  ;  they 
are  considered  as  beings  superior  to  the  rest  of  mortals,  and  as 
of  a  divine  perfection,  and  a  blind  confidence  is  felt  in  the  truth 
of  everything  that  they  say. 

Centeotl  (the  goddess  of  maize)  is  the  principal  divinity  of 
the  Totonacas  ;  they  have  among  them  a  college  of  priests  who 
are  specially  consecrated  to  her.  Their  life  is  passed  in  a  suc 
cession  of  austerities,  analogous  to  those  of  the  East  Indian  an 
chorites  ;  but  they  do  not  admit  into  their  monastery  any  others 
than  aged  priests,  more  than  sixty  years  old,  of  good  habits  and 
especially  of  an  irreproachable  continence.  The  number  of 
these  priests  is  fixed,  and  a  new  member  can  not  be  admitted 
except  at  the  death  of  one  of  the  community.  They  give  them 
selves  constantly  to  works  of  penitence  and  mortification,  pray- 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  579 

ing  to  the  goddess  and  the  other  gods  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
people,  and  supplicating  them  to  put  an  end  to  human  sacri 
fices.  They  never  go  forth  into  the  world,  and  never  speak  to 
any  one,  except  for  the  purpose  of  giving  advice  as  to  the  con 
duct  of  those  who  come  to  consult  them  upon  the  subject.  On 
such  an  occasion  they  sit  upon  a  bench,  and,  with  eyes  humbly 
lowered,  they  listen  to  that  which  is  said  to  them,  and  reply  with 
kindness  to  all  that  is  asked  of  them,  consoling  the  afflicted,  and 
resolving  the  difficulties  which  are  proposed  to  them.  All  the 
world  has  so  great  consideration  for  them,  that  the  highest  and 
most  dignified  pontiffs,  and  even  the  king  himself,  resort  to  them 
for  counsel  as  if  to  living  oracles. 

Except  for  the  hours  passed  in  prayer  and  contemplation,  they 
occupy  their  time  in  drawing  up  and  writing  out  the  annals  of 
the  country,  and  in  composing  sermons,  which  the  high-priest 
finally  reads  in  public.700  (Torquemada,  "  Monarq.  Ind.,"  lib. 
viii,  cap.  5,  and  lib.  ix,  cap.  8.) 

They  dressed  in  skins  and  ate  no  meat.331  (Las  Casas,  "  Hist. 
Apologetica,"  MS.,  cap.  cxxxii.) 

The  kingdoih  of  Tilantongo,  which  comprehends  Upper  Mix- 
teca,  is  governed  spiritually  by  the  high-priest  of  Achiuhtla,  who 
has  the  title  of  "  Taysacaa,"  and  whose  power  equals,  if  it  does 
not  exceed,  that  of  the  sovereign.  The  title  is  probably  derived 
from  tay,  a  man,  and  sacaa,  pontiff.  ("  Vocab.  of  the  Mixteca 
Language.") 

The  supreme  pontificate  is  preserved,  to  all  appearance,  in  the 
royal  family,  and  is  transmitted  in  the  male  line  ;  but  the  "sacaas," 
or  simple  priests,  may  be  chosen  indifferently  from  among  any  of 
the  free  families.  All,  even  to  the  successor  of  the  pontiff,  render 
a  rigorous  novitiate  of  a  year,  from  which  no  one  of  them  can  be 
excused.  Up  to  this  moment  they  are  required  to  have  con 
stantly  lived  in  a  state  of  perfect  chastity,  and  he  who  has  before 
this  time  known  any  woman  is  considered  unworthy  of  the  gods. 
Their  food,  during  the  novitiate,  consists  of  herbs,  of  wild  honey, 
and  of  roasted  maize  ;  their  life  is  austere,  and  they  pass  it  in 
silence  and  "  in  retreat "  ;  their  sole  occupation  being  to  serve  the 
priests,  to  have  the  care  of  the  altars,  to  sweep  the  sanctuary, 
and,  to  provide  the  wood  necessary  for  the  sacrifices.683 

Among  the  rites  in  use  in  Nicaragua  was  that  of  auricular 
confession.  It  was  not  an  ordinary  priest  who  was  charged  with 


580  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  duty  of  hearing  such  confessions,  but  a  venerable  man, 
chosen  usually  from  among  the  wisest  and  the  most  venerable  of 
the  country.  At  his  death  another  was  chosen  in  his  place.  He 
must  be  a  celibate,  of  pure  and  austere  life,  living  in  his  own 
house,  where  he  listened  to  those  who  came  to  him.  This  office 
was  much  esteemed,  and,  as  a  mark  of  the  office,  he  carried  a  cala 
bash  suspended  from  his  neck.  Those  who  had  committed  any 
grave  fault  approached  him  with  fyumility,  and  remained  stand 
ing  in  his  presence,  confessing  their  sins  to  him,  persuaded  that 
after  this  avowal  their  conscience  should  be  entirely  eased.  The 
venerable  man  guarded  their  secret  scrupulously,  and  imposed  a 
penance  for  the  profit  of  the  temple,  such  as  the  sweeping  of  it,  or 
the  bringing  of  wood  for  its  use,  and  finally  dismissed  them,  say 
ing,  "  Go  and  sin  no  more." 654 

The  ordinary  dress  of  the  Mexican  priests  differed  little  from 
that  of  other  citizens  ;  the  only  distinctive  feature  being  a  black 
cotton  mantle,  which  they  wore  in  the  manner  of  a  veil  thrown 
back  upon  the  head.  Those,  however,  who  professed  a  more 
austere  life,  such  as  the  Quaquaquiltin  and  Tlamacazqui  before 
mentioned,  wore  long  black  robes  ;  many  among  them  never  cut 
their  hair,  but  allowed  it  to  grow  as  long  as  it  would  ;  it  was 
twisted  with  thick  cotton  cords,  and  bedaubed  with  unctuous 
matter,  the  whole  forming  a  weighty  mass,  as  inconvenient  to 
carry  as  it  was  disgusting  to  look  at.  The  high-priest  usually 
wore,  as  a  badge  of  his  rank,  a  kind  of  fringe  which  hung  down 
over  his  breast,  called  Xicolli ;  on  feast  days  he  was  clothed  in 
a  long  robe,  over  which  he  wore  a  sort  of  chasuble,  or  cope, 
which  varied  in  colour,  shape,  and  ornamentation,  according 
to  the  sacrifices  he  made  and  the  divinity  to  which  he  offered 
them.170- 

The  usual  dress  of  the  Zapotec  priests  was  a  full  white  robe, 
with  openings  to  pass  the  arms  through,  but  no  sleeves  ;  this 
was  girt  at  the  waist  with  a  coloured  cord.  During  the  ceremony 
of  sacrifice,  and  on  feast  days,  the  Wiyatao  wore,  over  all,  a 
kind  of  tunic  with  full  sleeves,  adorned  with  tassels,  and  em 
broidered  in  various  colours  with  representations  of  birds  and 
animals.  On  his  head  he  wore  a  miter  of  feather- work,  orna 
mented  with  a  very  rich  crown  of  gold  ;  his  neck,  arms,  and 
wrists  were  laden  with  costly  necklaces  and  bracelets  ;  upon  his 
feet  were  golden  sandals,  bound  to  his  legs  with  cords  of  gold 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  581 

and  bright-coloured  thread.  The  Toltec  sacerdotal  system  so 
closely  resembled  the  Mexican  that  it  needs  no  further  descrip 
tion  in  this  volume.  Their  priests  wore  a  long  black  robe  reach 
ing  to  the  ground  ;  their  heads  were  covered  with  a  hood,  and 
their  hair  fell  down  over  their  shoulders  and  was  braided.  They 
rarely  put  sandals  on  their  feet,  except  when  about  to  start  on 
a  long  journey.  The  common  Totonac  priests  wore  long  black 
cotton  robes  with  hoods  ;  their  hair  was  braided  like  that  of 
the  other  common  priests  of  Mexico,  and  was  anointed  with  the 
blood  of  human  sacrifices.  The  common  priests  of  Michoacan 
wore  their  hair  loose  and  disheveled  ;  a  leathern  band  encircled 
their  foreheads,  their  robes  were  white,  embroidered  with  black, 
and  in  their  hands  they  carried  feather  fans.  In  Puebla  they 
also  wore  white  robes,  with  sleeves,  and  fringed  on  the  edges. 
The  papas,  or  sacrificing  priests  of  Tlascala,  allowed  their  hair 
to  grow  long,  and  anointed  it  with  the  blood  of  their  victims.175 
The  pontiff  at  Mietlan,  in  Salvador,  who  stood  on  nearly  the 
same  level  as  the  king,  bore  the  title  of  Teoti,  "  divine,"  and 
was  distinguished  by  a  long  blue  robe,  a  diadem,  and  a  baton 
like  an  episcopal  cross  ;  on  solemn  occasions  he  substituted  a 
miter  of  beautiful  feathers  for  the  diadem.349' 

Continence  was  strictly  imposed  on  the  Zapotec  priests,159 
but  in  Yucatan,348  as  well  as  in  Mexico,  many  of  the  priests  were 
married. 

Their  prayers  were  standard  compositions,  learned  by  rote  at 
school ;  while  reciting  them  they  assumed  a  squatting  posture, 
usually  with  the  face  toward  the  east ;  on  occasions  of  great 
solemnity  they  prostrated  themselves.335 

Fasting  was  observed  as  an  atonement  for  sin,  as  well  as  a 
preparation  for  solemn  festivals.  An  ordinary  fast  consisted  in 
abstaining  from  meat  for  a  period  of  from  one  to  ten  days,  and 
taking  but  one  meal  a  day,  at  noon  ;,  at  no  other  hour  might  so 
much  as  a  drop  of  water  be  touched.336  The  female  recluses  also 
made  it  a  practice  to  fast  strictly,  eating  but  once  a  day,  and 
never  before  noon,  and  taking  but  a  meager  collation  after 
noon.705 

All  the  Tlamacazqui  were  required  to  sleep  in  their  monas 
tery  ;  they  occupied  four  hours  in  the  morning  in  sweeping  and 
cleaning,  and  they  were  all  bound  by  vows  to  live  chastely,  to 
be  temperate  and  truthful,  to  live  devoutly,  and  to  fear  God.219J 


582  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

To  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  accounts  of  the  life  of  Buddhist 
ascetics  in  the  different  countries  of  Asia,  the  foregoing  relation 
of  the  duties  and  practices  of  the  priests  and  nuns  of  Mexico  will 
recall  many  analogies  between  the  beliefs  and  customs  of  the  two 
regions  of  the  world ;  and  in  fact  much  of  the  account  of  the 
Mexican  ascetics  might  with  equal  truth  be  applied  to  their  breth 
ren  in  Asia,  and  with  only  a  few  changes  might  be  thought  to  be 
the  relation  of  some  Asiatic  traveler. 

The  early  disciples  of  Sakya  Muni  are  generally  represented  as 
wandering  about  with  their  royal  master  ;  others,  in  consequence 
of  his  frequent  exhortations  to  lead  a  solitary  life,  are  said  to 
have  retired  to  the  forests  and  woods  which  surround  the  settle 
ments,  or  to  have  lived  in  solitary  and  forsaken  houses,  which 
they  only  left  at  certain  periods  in  order  to  betake  themselves  to 
Sakya  Muni  and  listen  to  his  words.2226  Monasteries  were  almost 
immediately  established,  however. 

The  tenets  of  Buddhism  require  a  renunciation  of  the  world, 
and  the  observance  of  austerities  to  overcome  evil  passions,  and 
fit  its  disciples  for  future  happiness.  Avow  of  celibacy  is  taken, 
and  the  priests  dwell  together,  for  mutual  assistance  in  attaining 
perfection  by  worshiping  Buddha  and  calling  upon  his  name. 
They  shave  the  entire  head  as  a  token  of  purity,  but  not  the 
whole  body,  as  the  ancient  Egyptian  priests  did  ;  they  profess  to 
eat  no  animal  food,  wear  no  skin  or  woolen  garments,  and  get 
their  living  by  begging,  by  the  alms  of  worshipers,  and  the  cul 
tivation  of  the  grounds  of  the  temple.2614 

The  bonzes  are  taken  young  into  the  service ;  and,  if  there 
are  no  volunteers,  young  boys  are  bought ;  their  heads  are  then 
shaven  ;  they  wear  a  yellow  dress  ;  and  commence  the  recitation 
of  short  prayers,  while  at  the  same  time  they  perform  the  duties 
of  scullions  and  menial  servants.  Finally  they  are  ordained.1419 

In  Arrakan,  candidates  for  the  priesthood  are  received  with 
out  any  regard  to  their  country,  caste,  or  previous  religion.  If 
the  age  of  the  postulant  does  not  exceed  fifteen  years,  he  is 
appointed  to  the  performance  of  menial  duties,  and  gradually 
instructed  about  the  duties  he  will  afterward  be  required  to 
attend  to,  until  he  arrives  at  twenty  years  of  age,  the  period 
appointed  for  ordination.  It  is  not  unusual  for  young  men  to 
enter  the  order  for  a  limited  period,  that  they  may  acquire  merit, 
or  expiate  some  crime.  The  children  of  the  laity  are  educated 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AXD  BELIEFS.  583 

at  the  monasteries,  no  distinction  being  made  between  the  rich  and 
the  poor  ;  and  no  remuneration  is  received  by  the  priests  beyond 
their  usual  allowance  of  alms.  Some  of  the  boys  are  allowed  to 
go  home  to  their  meals,  but  they  are  obliged  to  sleep  in  the 
monastery,  as  the  lessons  they  have  learnt  during  the  day  are 
repeated  in  the  evening,  or  at  daybreak  on  the  following  morn 
ing.1448-  In  Mexico,  also,  the  children  are  educated  by  the 
priests,  and  are  allowed  to  go  home  to  their  meals,  but  required 
to  sleep  in  the  establishment.  2194t 

The  priests  of  Thibet  are  permitted  to  eat  treacle,  to  cook  for 
themselves  in  time  of  famine,  to  cook  in  ten  kinds  of  places,  to 
eat  meat  under  certain  restrictions,  and  to  accept  gifts  from  the 
laity.  They  are  to  wear  not  more  than  three  pieces  of  cloth,  of 
a  red  colour,  to  wear  cotton  garments  when  bathing,  to  be  clean 
in  their  dress  and  in  their  bedding,  and  never  to  go  naked.1437 

They  do  nothing  but  keep  the  vigils.  There  are  convents 
containing  from  fifty  to  one  hundred,  whose  sole  occupation 
consists  in  reading  mass  and  observing  vigils.1420' 

The  principal  exercises  of  penance  appear  to  be  sweeping  the 
court-yard,  and  sprinkling  sand  under  the  bo-tree,  or  near  the 
dagobas.1436- 

In  the  commencement  of  Buddhism  there  was  an  order  of  fe 
male  recluses,1438  and  there  still  are  a  number  of  nunneries,  but 
they  are  not  so  numerous  as  the  monasteries,  and  the  inmates  are 
comparatively  few.  The  rules  are  nearly  the  same,  adapted  to 
the  peculiarities  of  the  sex.1421-  The  novice  is  not  admitted  to 
full  orders  till  she  is  sixteen,  though  previous  to  this  she  adopts 
the  garb  of  the  sisterhood  ;  the  only  difference  consists  in  the 
front  part  of  the  head  being  shaved,  and  the  hair  plaited  in 
a  queue,  while  the  nuns  shave  the  whole.  .  .  .  The  Chinese 
nun  ...  is  required  to  live  a  life  of  devotion  and  mortification, 
to  eat  only  vegetables,  to  care  nothing  for  the  world,  and  to  think 
only  of  her  eternal  canonization,  keeping  herself  busy  with  the 
services  of  the  temple.  "  Daily  exercises  are  to  be  conducted  by 
her  ;  the  furniture  of  the  small  sanctuary,  that  forms  a  part  of  the 
convent,  must  be  looked  after  and  kept  clean  and  orderly  ;  those 
women  or  men  who  come  to  worship  at  the  altars,  and  seek  guid 
ance  and  comfort,  must  be  cared  for  and  assisted.  When  there 
is  leisure,  the  sick  and  poor  are  to  be  visited  ;  and  all  who  have 
placed  themselves  under  her  special  directions,  and  spiritual  in- 


584  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

struction,  have  a  strong  claim  upon  her  regard.  That  she  may 
live  the  life  of  seclusion  and  self-denial,  she  must  vow  perpetual 
virginity."  2515 

If  a  monk  and  a  nun  happen  to  succumb  to  the  temptations 
of  the  flesh,  the  one  is  expelled  from  the  convent,  sent  back 
ignominiously  to  her  family,  and  dishonoured  for  life  ;  the  other 
is  driven  out  of  the  order,  branded  upon  the  forehead  with  a  red- 
hot  iron,  and  exiled  to  the  mountains,  to  live  with  the  wild  beasts 
for  several  years,  in  a  temperature  so  frigid  as  to  cool  the  pas 
sions.  But  if  neither  of  the  two  culprits  has  been  fully  admitted 
to  the  order,  they  are  permitted  to  repair  their  fault  by  marriage. 
In  case  of  refusal,  the  monk  is  publicly  bastinadoed,  and  is  sent 
away  from  the  place  which  he  has  scandalized.2387 

What  the  Buddhists  call  time  in  reference  to  meals  is  thus  ex 
plained  :  The  time  of  the  gods  is  the  early  morning,  the  hour 
chosen  by  the  gods  to  take  their  repast.  The  time  of  the  law  is 
noon,  the  hour  selected  by  the  Buddhas,  past,  present,  and  to  come, 
for  their  refection.  The  time  of  brutes  is  evening,  when  animals 
feed.  The  time  of  the  genii  is  night,  during  which  good  and  evil 
spirits  eat.  Thus  all  meals  taken  after  midday  are  unseasonable 
for  ecclesiastics,  and  all  who  observe  the  precepts  rigorously 
abstain  from  such.855  Those,  however,  who  are  sick,  observe  no 
such  distinction,  but  eat  when  they  please.1343 

In  addition  to  the  analogies  which  may  be  observed  in  the 
preceding  accounts,  it  should  be  observed  that  the  most  scrupu 
lous  modesty  is  observed  in  the  invention  and  the  execution  of 
the  Mexican  idols,  as  well  as  in  the  arrangement  of  their  drape 
ries.  The  care  in  this  respect  gives  them  a  great  resemblance  to 
the  paintings  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  India,  who  are  repre 
sented  with  almost  precisely  the  same  styles  of  head-dresses  and 
the  same  vestments  as  those  of  the  Mexican  divinities.1731 

Buddhism  does  not  sanction  shocking  rites  or  Bacchanalian 
orgies,  like  the  other  idolatrous  systems  of  Asia.  Xor  have  we 
to  complain  of  indecency  in  its  representations  of  idol  gods  ; 
they  may  be  hideous,  but  they  are  never  repulsive  to  the  feelings 
of  modesty.966 

We  add,  with  Mr.  Wilson,  that  the  obligation  of  the  priests 
of  being  always  covered  furnishes  to  archaeology  a  character  of 
the  first  importance,  by  which  to  determine  the  authenticity  of 
statues  or  sculptured  scenes,  as  to  which  there  is  doubt  whether 


EELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  585 

they  should  be  considered  Buddhistic  or  not.  The  scenes  in 
which  the  religious  personages  are  clothed  pertain,  very  prob 
ably,  to  Buddhism  ;  but  this  can  not  be  said  of  those  in  which 
they  are  nude.856 

Many  of  the  facts  which  have  been  mentioned  recall  Roman 
Catholicism  as  strongly  as  they  do  Buddhism,  and  may  well  have 
been  considered  by  the  first  Catholic  missionaries  as  furnishing 
strong  confirmation  of  the  belief  that  America  had,  in  the  early 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  been  visited  by  a  traveler  of  their 
own  faith. 

These  are  all  points,  however,  in  which,  as  has  already  been 
explained,  Roman  Catholicism  and  Buddhism  strongly  resemble 
each  other.  That  the  missionary  who  exerted  so  great  an  influ 
ence  on  their  customs  and  beliefs  could  not  have  been  of  the  Ca 
tholic  Church  is  shown  by  the  entire  absence  of  any  reference  to 
the  Christian  Sabbath  ;  by  the  lack  of  any  mention  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  ;  by  the  fact  that  the  adoration  of  the  cross  was  not  car 
ried  to  the  extent  which  would  have  been  taught  by  a  Catholic 
priest ;  by  the  failure  of  all  reference  to  a  Trinity,  or  to  the  name 
of  the  Saviour  ;  and  by  the  fact  that  the  ascetics  were  allowed  to 
take  their  vows  for  a  limited  length  of  time,  instead  of  for  life. 

When  my  attention  was  first  called  to  the  subject,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  the  permission  to  marry,  enjoyed  by  the  Mexican 
priests,  and  the  fact  that  although  some  of  them  were  called 
"herb-eaters,"  nevertheless  the  greater  part  of  them  also  ate 
flesh,  militated  against  the  belief  that  they  were  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  Buddhist  faith,  which  had  been  introduced  into 
the  country  more  than  a  thousand  years  before.  I  found,  how 
ever,  on  investigation,  that  even  the  Buddhists  of  Asia  were  not 
governed  very  strictly  by  the  laws  by  which  they  professed  to  be 
guided.  Even  the  prohibition  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  but  little 
regarded 954  by  the  lamas  of  Mongolia.956  In  Burmah  the  priests 
make  their  mantles  of  cloth  of  the  finest  quality,1435  instead  of 
from  the  coarse  material  prescribed  by  Buddah  ;  and,  in  Ceylon, 
caste  exists  among  the  disciples  of  this  religion,  although  directly 
contrary  to  the  tenets  of  its  founder. 

Although  celibacy  was  enjoined  on  the  priests  of  Buddah,  it 
is  by  no  means  universal,1800  and  married  priests  are  found  in 
China,  Japan,970  Nepal,857  Thibet,1798  and  Ceylon.1440 

Gautama's  teachings  present  the  curious   anomaly  that,  al- 


586  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

though  he  absolutely  forbade  the  taking  of  life,  yet  he  nevertheless 
permitted  his  disciples  to  eat  the  flesh  of  animals  which  had  been 
killed  by  others  ; m2  and  to  this  day  his  followers  will  not  admit 
that  by  purchasing  the  flesh  they  make  themselves  partakers  in 
the  sin  of  killing.951  They,  therefore,  do  not  refuse  any  kind  of 
food  that  is  offered  them,  and  whatever  dies  of  itself  they  con 
sider  to  be  killed  by  God,  and  they  therefore  feel  at  liberty  to 
eat  it.1732 

One  of  Buddah's  disciples  suggested  to  him  that  it  would  be 
well  to  issue  an  order  that  no  priest  be  permitted  to  eat  flesh  of 
any  kind.  "  There  are  others  who  observe  this  ordinance,"  said  he, 
"  and,  as  there  are  many  persons  who  think  it  is  wrong  to  eat 
flesh,  the  non-observance  of  this  ordinance  by  the  priests  causes 
the  *  dharrna '  to  be  spoken  against."  But  Buddha  replied,  "  I 
can  not  consent  to  the  establishment  of  such  an  ordinance. 
The  Buddhas  are  not  like  the  blind,  who  require  to  be  led  by 
another ;  they  do  not  learn  from  others,  or  follow  the  example 
of  others.  The  faithful  give  to  the  priests  flesh,  medicines,  seats, 
and  other  things,  and  thereby  acquire  merit.  Those  who  take 
life  are  in  fault,  but  not  the  persons  who  eat  the  flesh ;  my 
priests  have  permission  to  eat  whatever  food  it  is  customary  to 
eat  in  any  place  or  country,  so  that  it  be  done  without  the  indul 
gence  of  the  appetite  or  evil  desire.  There  are  some  who  be 
come  rahats  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  and  others  in  pansals  ;  some 
when  they  are  clothed  in  what  they  have  taken  from  a  cemetery, 
and  others  when  clothed  with  what  they  have  received  from  the 
people  ;  some  when  abstaining  from  flesh,  and  others  when  eat 
ing  it.  If  one  uniform  law  were  enforced,  it  would  be  a  hindrance 
in  the  way  of  those  who  are  seeking  nirvana  ;  but  it  is  to  re 
veal  this  way  that  the  office  of  the  Buddhas  is  assumed."  1457 

Hence,  although  Buddhism  teaches  that  man  should  view  all 
animated  beings  as  his  brethren  and  relations,  and  not  kill  them, 
and  although  there  is  a  proverb  which  says,  "  To  eat  flesh  is 
equal  to  eating  one's  relations," 2229  many  of  the  Buddhist  priests 
eat  whatever  is  offered  them  in  alms ;  and  the  fact  that  Gautama 
Buddha  himself  died  from  indigestion,  produced  by  eating  pork, 
has  been  a  circumstance  too  well  known  to  be  set  aside  by  the 
more  rigid  of  his  disciples,  who  might  otherwise  have  been  ready 
to  insist  upon  a  dietetic  discipline  more  extensive  in  its  prohibi 
tion.1032 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  A3D  BELIEFS.  587 

It  therefore  appears  that  neither  the  marriage  of  the  Mexican 
priests,  nor  the  fact  that  they  were  permitted  to  eat  meat,  is  any 
proof  that  they  were  not  the  representatives  of  Buddhism. 

It  would  appear  that  if  Buddhism  were  preached  in  Mexico, 
and  if  it  had  sufficient  influence  upon  the  people  to  produce  any 
changes  in  their  customs  or  beliefs,  some  traces  of  the  name  or 
names  of  its  founder,  of  its  chief  religious  terms,  and  of  the 
images  which  were  brought  by  the  missionaries,  should  be  found 
in  the  land. 

Although  "  Buddha "  is  the  name  by  which  the  founder  of 
this  Asiatic  religion  is  best  known  among  us,  this  word  is  mere 
ly  an  epithet,  meaning  "  the  Enlightened,"  and  in  Asia  he  is 
usually  designated  either  by  his  patronymic,  "  Gautama,"  or 
by  the  name  of  his  race,  "  Sakya  "  ;  and  it  is  these  names  which 
we  might  expect  to  find  in  Mexico.  It  has  already  been  men 
tioned  that  the  high-priest  of  Mixteca  bore  the  title  of  Tay- 
sacaa,  or  "the  Man  of  Sakya" — Tay  meaning  "man,"  and  sacaa 
having  no  meaning  in  the  language,  but  being  merely  the  term 
which  was  applied  to  a  priest.  We  also  find  the  term  Zaca-tlan, 
or  "  Place  of  Sakya,"  applied  to  the  state  of  Chiapas,651  and  Zaca- 
tepec,  or  "  Mountain  of  Sakya,"  applied  to  one  of  the  most  beauti 
ful  departments  of  the  Republic  of  Guatemala.665 

It  is  true  that  other  explanations  are  given  of  these  names — 
the  "  Zaca  "  in  the  last  two  cases  being  supposed  to  be  connected 
with  Sacatl,  the  term  applied  to  herbage  or  fodder  for  animals  ; 
but  it  is  well  known  that  otosis,  or  the  substitution  of  a  familiar 
word  for  an  archaic  one  of  similar  sound  but  wholly  diverse 
meaning,  is  a  very  common  occurrence  and  easily  leads  to  myth- 
making.  For  example,  there  is  a  cave  near  Chattanooga  which 
has  the  Cherokee  name  Nik-a-jak.  This  the  white  settlers  have 
transformed  into  Nigger  Jack,  and  are  prepared  with  a  narrative 
of  some  runaway  slave  to  explain  the  cognomen.826 

So,  too,  the  fruit  of  the  Persea  gratissima,  known  by  the  Mex 
icans  as  the  Ahiiacatl™  after  having  its  name  changed  to  the 
"  avocado  pear," 2243  came  to  be  known  by  sailors  as  the  "  alligator 
pear," 2242  and  the  explanation  that  it  is  so  called  because  of  the 
fact  that  alligators  are  exceedingly  fond  of  it  is  always  ready. 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  fact  that  some  kind  of  an  ety 
mology  may  be  found  for  a  name,  in  the  language  in  which  the 
term  is  used,  is  not  conclusive  proof  that  it  may  not  be  a  foreign 


588  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

word,  adopted  into  the  language  and  possibly  more  or  less 
changed,  and  we  should  not  feel  debarred  from  seeking  the  true 
meaning  of  the  term  in  the  language  from  which  it  was  bor 
rowed. 

In  addition  to  the  names  Zacatlan  and  Zacatepec,  already 
mentioned,  we  also  find  the  towns  of  Sacapulas,  Sacatecoluca, 
Saco,  Zacapa,  Zacapata,  Zacatecas,  Zacatula,  and  Zacoalco,  nearly 
all  these  names  being  found  in  one  small  district  upon  the  Pacific 
coast,  near  the  boundary-line  between  Mexico  and  Guatemala,  the 
exact  district  which  Wixipecocha  is  said  to  have  visited.  The 
name  Guatemala  I  believe  to  be  from  Gautama-flan,  "  the  Place 
of  Gautama."  Bancroft  gives  the  following  account  of  the  futile 
attempts  that  have  been  made  to  find  a  meaning  for  the  word  in 
the  language  of  the  country  :  "  The  name  Guatemala  is,  accord 
ing  to  Fuentes  y  Guzman,  derived  from  Coctecmalan,  that  is  to 
say,  Palo  de  leche,  milk-tree,  commonly  called  Yerba  mala,  found 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Antigua  Guatemala.  See  also  Juarros, 
*  Guatemala,'  ii,  pp.  527,  528.  In  the  Mexican  tongue,  if  we 
may  believe  Vasquez,  it  was  called  Quauhtimalli,  l  rotten  tree.' 
(*  Chronica  de  Guatemala,'  p.  68.)  Others  derive  it  from  TJTiatez- 
malha,  signifying  *  the  hill  which  discharges  water' ;  and  Juarros 
suggests  that  it  may  be  from  Juitemal,  the  first  king  of  Guate 
mala,  by  a  corruption,  as  Almolonga  from  Atmulunga,  and 
Zonzonate  from  Zezontlatl.  The  meaning  of  the  word  would 
then  be  '  the  Kingdom  of  Juitemal.'  " 481 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  no  one  of  these  derivations 
is  satisfactory,  and  that  they  have  merely  been  suggested  in 
the  absence  of  any  other  clew  to  the  meaning  of  the  word. 

In  Michoacan  we  find  a  town  called  Huatamo,  and  in  Jalisco 
one  called  Huazamala,  both  of  which  seem  to  preserve  the  term 
Gautama.  The  name  seems  to  have  survived  as  a  personal 
designation  up  to  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest.  After  the 
death  of  Montezuma,  the  strongest  candidate  for  the  Mexican 
throne  was  the  former  high-priest  Quauhtemo-tzin.462  The  native 
authorities  incline  to  the  form  "  Quauhtemoc  "  ;  but  the  Spanish 
generally  add  the  "tzin,"  the  "c"  being  elided,  and  the  "Q" 
changed  to  "  G,"  making  the  name  Gautemotzin.463  Solis  spells 
the  word  Guatimocin?m  and  Diaz,  Quauhtemoctzin.im  Prescott 
explains  that  the  Aztec  tzin  was  added  to  the  names  of  sover 
eigns  and  great  lords  as  a  mark  of  reverence.2090  It  therefore 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  589 

appears  quite  as  probable  that  the  name  meant  "  the  Great  Gau 
tama  "  as  that  it  meant  "  the  Eagle  that  Stoops." 463 

The  title  "  Tlamacazqui  "  of  the  Mexican  priests  has  already 
been  mentioned.  Of  this  the  radical  part  is  "  Tlama,"  503  a  term 
which  was  also  used  alone  as  the  appellation  of  a  "medicine 
man  "  or  physician.  De  Paravey  called  attention  to  the  similar 
ity  of  this  word  to  the  title  of  "  lama,"  applied  in  Thibet  to  the 
Buddhist  priests.  It  appertains  by  right  to  the  superior  priests 
only,  but  it  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  title  which  courtesy  re 
quires  one  to  give  to  every  Buddhist  priest.2227 

The  Mexican  language  has  no  word  with  an  initial  "  1,"  and 
"tlama"  is  the  form  which  a  foreign  word  "lama"  would  inevi 
tably  take  if  adopted  into  the  Aztec  tongue. 

The  religious  establishments  of  the  priesthood  in  India  are 
called  Viharas.mi  In  ^apotecapan  the  supreme  pontiff  was 
called  the  Wiyatao™  a  term  which  may  possibly  be  connected 
with  it.  Burgoa  writes  this  word  Hitijatoo,  and  translates  it  as 
"  Great  Sentinel."  The  Zapotec  vocabulary  translates  it  by  the 
word  "  pope  "  or  "  priest." 26S  Wiyana  was  a  term  applied  to 
priests  of  a  lower  order.174 

The  resemblance  to  "  Deus  "  of  the  term  "  Teotl,"  applied  by 
the  Mexicans  to  the  Divine  Being,  of  whom  they  seem  to  have 
had  some  indistinct  ideas,  almost  eradicated  by  the  idolatry 
which  they  practiced,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  introduction, 
by  the  party  of  Buddhist  priests  from  Cophene,  of  the  Sanskrit 
"  Deva," 2128  or  some  word  very  similar,  from  the  Pali  or  other 
language  closely  connected  with  Sanskrit. 

I  do  not  claim  any  very  great  value  for  these  efforts  to  point 
out  resemblances  to  names  used  by  the  Buddhists.  There  is  no 
one  of  the  cases  as  to  which  the  explanations  that  are  given  may 
not  be  erroneous  ;  and  yet  it  does  not  seem  probable  that  so 
many  resemblances  can  be  wholly  accidental.  They  have  been 
mentioned,  however,  mainly  in  refutation  of  the  negative  argu 
ment  which  might  be  urged  if  the  names  "  Sakya,"  "  Guatama," 
etc.,  were  not  found  in  the  country,  that  therefore  the  religion 
of  this  sage  could  never  have  been  jso  preached  in  the  land  as  to 
have  had  any  effect  upon  the  belief  of  its  people. 

Several  of  the  religious  tenets  and  practices  of  the  Aztecs, 
which  bear  a  striking  analogy  to  those  of  the  Buddhists,  may  be 
mentioned. 


590  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Among  these  may  be  named  the  belief  as  to  the  road  to  the 
abode  of  the  dead. 

The  officiating  priests  laid  passports  with  the  body,  which 
were  to  serve  for  various  points  along  the  road.  The  first  papers 
passed  him  by  two  mountains,  which,  like  the  symplegades, 
threatened  to  meet  and  crush  him  in  their  embrace.  The  second 
was  a  pass  for  the  road  guarded  by  a  big  snake  ;  the  other 
papers  took  him  by  the  green  crocodile,  Xochitonal,  across 
eight  deserts,  and  over  eight  hills.  Then  came  the  freezing 
itzehecaya,  "  wind  of  knives,"  which  hurls  stones  and  knives  upon 
the  traveler,  who  now  more  than  ever  finds  the  offerings  of  his 
friends  of  service.  How  the  poor  soul  escaped  this  ordeal  is  not 
stated.  Lastly  he  came  to  the  broad  river  Chiconahuapan,  "  nine 
waters,"  which  could  be  crossed  only  upon  the  back  of  a  dog  of 
reddish  colour,  which  was  killed  for  this  purpose  by  thrusting  an 
arrow  down  its  throat,  and  was  burned  with  the  corpse.  Accord 
ing  to  Gomara,  the  dog  served  for  a  guide  to  Mictlan  ;  but  other 
authors  state  that  it  preceded  its  master,  and,  when  he  arrived  at 
the  river,  he  found  it  on  the  opposite  bank,  waiting  with  a  num 
ber  of  others  for  their  owners.  As  soon  as  the  dog  recognized  its 
master,  it  swam  over,  and  bore  him  safely  across  the  rushing 
current.362 

The  Buddhists  also  speak  of  a  mountain  in  Hades,  near  which 
passes  the  road  which  the  souls  of  the  dead  must  travel  to  reach 
the  place  of  judgment,  and  of  a  river  which  must  be  crossed  on 
the  way.1489 

It  is  possible  that  the  nine  divisions  of  the  abode  of  the 
dead,  which  are  mentioned  as  having  had  an  existence  in 
the  Aztec  faith,  were  the  eight  places  of  torment  of  the  Bud 
dhists,1451  added  to  the  one  land  of  darkness  of  their  earlier 
faith. 

A  belief  in  transmigration,  so  firmly  rooted  and  widely  prop 
agated  in  Oriental  countries,  also  existed  in  Mexico.1065  In  both 
regions  it  was  the  practice  to  adorn  the  temples  with  hangings  of 
paper,1486  and  in  both  a  belief  in  enchantments  and  magic  played 
a  great  role.663  It  is  possible  that  if  the  details  as  to  the  belief 
in  lucky  and  unlucky  days,  and  other  superstitious  notions  as  to 
good  and  evil  fortune,  could  be  brought  to  light,  as  it  has  ex 
isted  in  the  two  regions  of  the  world,  a  comparison  would  go  far 
toward  a  settlement  of  the  question  as  to  whether  these  beliefs 


RELIGIOUS   CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS.  591 

had  a  common  origin,  or  had  grown  up  in  each  region  independ 
ently  of  the  other. 

One  of  the  most  striking  analogies  between  the  religious  tenets 
of  the  two  regions  is  that  in  Mixtecapan  or  Zapotecapan  they  are 
convinced  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  wander  about  for  a  certain 
number  of  years,  before  they  enter  into  the  sojourn  of  the 
blessed,  and  that  they  return,  once  each  year,  to  visit  their  fami 
lies.  This  opinion  has  given  rise  to  a  singular  feast,  conse 
crated  to  the  reception  of  these  returning  spirits,  which  is  held 
in  the  twelfth  month  of  the  Zapotec  year,  corresponding  to  the 
month  of  November.684  It  is  also  a  practice  of  the  Buddhist 
priests  to  celebrate  every  year  a  great  nocturnal  feast  of  the 
dead,  summoning  the  hungry  ghosts  by  beat  of  gong  and  sound 
of  bells.1740 


Fio.  18.— Sculptured  tablet  at  Palenque. 


592 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


In  the  translation  of  d'Eichthal's  "Study,"  contained  in 
Chapter  VIII,  an  engraving  is  given  (Fig.  2,  page  128)  of  a  bas- 
relief  found  at  Palenque,  which  contains  a  figure  seated  in  the 
characteristic  attitude  of  Buddha,  upon  a  lion-headed  couch. 
Figs.  18  and  19  are  reproductions  of  the  same  design  as  drawn 
by  different  artists. 


FIG.  19. — Another  representation  of  the  sculptured  tablet  at  Palenque. 

I  am  indebted  for  both  cuts,  as  well  as  for  most  of  those 
which  follow,  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  H.  H.  Bancroft,  from  whose 
great  work,  entitled  "The  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States," 
they  are  borrowed. 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  the  several  artists  have  differed 
somewhat  as  to  a  number  of  the  details,  the  general  resemblance 
to  the  usual  Asiatic  representations  of  Buddha,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
1,  page  128,  and  Fig.  9,  page  135,  is  equally  striking  in  all  the 
copies. 


.RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS. 


593 


The  representations  of  Buddha  by  the  Asiatics,  when  he  is 
drawn  as  occupying  the  central  part  of  a  picture,  present  him,  as 
a  rule,  as  seated  upon  "  the  throne  of  lions  "  (in  Sanskrit,  Sim- 


FIG.  20. — Beau-relief  in  stucco  at  Palenque. 

hdsana  ;  in  Thibetan,  Sengti,  or  Senge  chad  ti,  "  the  seat  of  eight 
lions  ").     The  throne  is  so  called  from  the  eight  lions  which  sup- 
38 


594 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


port  it  ;  in  the  drawings,  however,  two  lions  only  are  seen  in 
front.2235  Fig.  20  (see  last  page)  represents  a  cross-legged  figure 
found  at  Palenque,  seated  upon  a  similar  couch,375  upheld  by  the 
heads  and  forelegs  of  two  of  the  American  animals  which  most 
nearly  resemble  the  lion,  and  which  are  often  called  by  that 
name. 

Above  the  doors  of  the  "  House  of  the  Monks,"  at  Uxmal, 
there  are  niches  containing  seated  figures  (see  Fig.  21)  which 


FIG.  21.— Detail  of  facade  of  a  building  at  Uxmal. 

bear  a  great  resemblance  to  the  statues  of  Buddha,  which  are 
placed  in  similar  niches  in  the  walls  of  many  Asiatic  temples. 

Taken  by  itself,  the  similarity  might  be  considered  as  acci 
dental  ;  but  when  consideration  is  given  to  the  nature  of  the 
building  in  which  the  American  figure  is  found,  and  to  its  won 
derful  resemblance  to  the  religious  structures  erected  by  the 
Buddhists  of  Asia,  much  weight  is  added  to  the  assumption  that 
both  figures  are  the  product  of  the  same  religious  belief. 

If  these  resemblances  are  accidental,  why  is  it  that  the  ac 
cident  occurs  nowhere  in  the  world  except  in  the  region  de 
scribed  by  Hwui  Shan  ? 


RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS. 


595 


Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  similarity  to  the  Asiatic  images 
of  Buddha  which  is  found  in  any  Mexican  object  is,  however, 
exhibited  in  a  small  image  now  contained  in  the  museum  of  the 
Ethnographical  Society  of  Paris,  and  said  to  be  a  representation 
of  Quetzalcoatl. 


FIG.  22. — A  Mexican  image,  said  to  represent  Quetzalcoatl. 

Fig.  22,  which  (as  well  as  the  cut  of  the  elephant-mound  in 
the  following  chapter)  is  copied  by  permission  of  Messrs  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons,  from  the  translation  published  by  them  of  the 
Marquis  de  Nadaillac's  "  Pre-Historic  America,"  shows  the  com 
plete  identity  of  this  image  with  those  which  are  found  in  Asia. 

The  Chinese  character  for  Buddha  is  ^  Fo,  which  consists 
of  the  Chinese  representation  of  a  "bow,"  ;=J,  KUNG,  and  four 
nearly  vertical  lines.  On  each  side  of  the  seated  figure,  of  which 


596  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

an  illustration  is  given  on  the  last  page,  there  may  be  seen  a 
number  of  hieroglyphics  ;  and  the  one  in  the  upper  left-hand 
corner  consists  of  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  Chinese  "  bow  " 
(except  for  the  reversal— which  may  exist  only  in  the  engrav 
ing,  not  in  the  original  figure),  together  with  four  vertical  lines. 
It  certainly  does  not  seem  impossible  that  the  Chinese  character 
Fo,  copied  blindly  by  one  generation  of  Indians  after  another, 
may,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  have  degenerated  to  the  form 
shown  in  this  image  ;  and  it  is  at  least  a  surprising  coincidence 
that  a  figure  which  so  closely  resembles  the  representations  of 
the  Asiatic  Buddha  should  bear  a  hieroglyph  so  similar  to  the 
one  by  which  he  was  designated  by  the  Chinese. 

If  any  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the  story  in  regard  to 
Camaxtli,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  father  of  Quetzalcoatl,743 
it  may  be  considered  as  adding  something  to  the  proofs  which 
have  already  been  adduced  of  an  early  visit  to  Mexico  by  a  parly 
of  men  of  the  Caucasian  race. 

This  story  is  thus  told  by  Bancroft  : 4C5  "  It  is  stated  that 
when  the  Mexicans  were  practically  forced  into  a  nominal  ac 
ceptance  of  Christianity,  'the  people  secretly  hid  the  adored 
images,  and  while  accepting  baptism  still  retained  the  old  wor 
ship  in  secret.'  Among  the  idols  and  relics  saved  from  the 
general  destruction  were  the  ashes  of  Camaxtli,  the  chief  god  of> 
the  tribe,  said  by  some  to  have  been  the  brother  of  Tezcatlipoca, 
by  others  the  father  of  Quetzalcoatl.  They  were  jealously 
guarded  by  the  chief  Tecpanecatl  Tecuhtli,  of  Tepeticpac,  till 
1576,  when,  tired  of  the  temporal  injuries  which  were  falling 
upon  him,  owing  to  their  presence  in  his  house,  he  turned  to  the 
Church  and  surrendered  the  relic,  and  died  the  same  week,  on 
Holy  Thursday,  while  penitently  lashing  himself  before  the 
Madonna.  On  opening  the  envelope  of  the  relic,  a  mass  of 
blonde  hair  fell  out,  showing  that  tradition  was  true  in  describ 
ing  the  god  as  a  white  man."  (Camargo,  "  Hist.  Tlax.,"  pp.  151- 
159,  178,  179.) 

Having  thus  called  attention  to  many  analogies  between  the 
religious  belief  and  practices  of  the  Aztecs,  and  those  of  the 
Asiatic  Buddhists,  the  following  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  an 
examination  of  the  similar  analogies  existing  in  the  pyramids, 
temples,  and  other  buildings,  and  in  the  arts  and  customs  of  the 
two  regions  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE    PYRAMIDS,    IDOLS,    AND    ARTS    OF   MEXICO. 

Temples  built  upon  truncated  pyramids — Mounds  antedating  Aztec  occupation — 
Speculations  as  to  the  date  of  their  erection — The  Place  of  the  House  of 
Flowers — The  monuments  of  San  Juan  Teotihuacan — Their  size — Their  con 
struction — Mexican  "  teocallis  " — Their  proportions — Resemblances  to  the 
pyramids  of  India — Pyramids  found  wherever  Buddhism  prevails — The  tumu 
lus  or  tope — Its  occurrence  at  Nineveh,  in  China,  and  Ceylon — Resemblances 
noticed  by  several  authors — The  temple  of  Boro-Budor  in  Java — The  palace 
at  Palenque — Dome-shaped  edifices — The  dome  at  Chichen — The  construc 
tion  of  the  pyramids — The  layer  of  stone  or  brick — The  layer  of  plaster 
— The  false  arch — Decorative  paintings — The  priests  the  artists — The  orna 
ment  upon  the  breast — The  name  Chaacmol — Cornices — Friezes— Representa 
tion  of  curved  swords — An  elephant's  head  as  a  head-dress — Other  ornaments 
in  shape  of  an  elephant's  trunk — The  elephant  the  symbol  of  Buddha — The 
tapir — Remains  of  the  elephant  or  mastodon  in  America — Their  possible  con 
temporaneity  with  man — Pipes  carved  in  the  shape  of  elephants — Their  dis 
covery — An  inscribed  tablet — The  elephant  mound  of  Wisconsin — A  Chippe- 
wa  tradition — Ganesa — Teoyaomiqui — Their  resemblance — The  conception  of 
Huitzilopochtli — The  story  of  Cuaxolotl — Tezcatlipoca — The  mirror  held  by 
him — Similar  idols  in  Asia — The  imprint  of  the  hand — The  cataclysms  by 
which  the  human  race  has  been  destroyed — The  cardinal  points — Their  con 
nection  with  certain  colours — The  temples  of  Thibet — The  palace  of  Quetzal- 
coatl — A  small  green  stone  buried  with  the  dead — Sweeping  the  path  before 
the  monarch — The  use  of  garments  and  dishes  but  once — The  breech-cloth — 
Quilted  armour — Suspension-bridges — Books — Marriage  ceremonies  and  cus 
toms — Tying  the  garments  together — Postponement  of  the  consummation  of 
marriage — Polygamy — Children  carried  on  the  hip — Children's  toys — The 
cakes  used  as  food — A  game — Practices  of  many  Asiatic  countries — Milk 
not  used — Authors  led  to  believe  in  a  connection  between  Asiatic  and  Mexican 
civilization — Differences  between  the  Mexicans  and  other  American  tribes — 
Erroneous  criticism. 

WHEN  the  Spaniards  first  pushed  their  way  into  the  Mexi 
can  country,  they  found  in  each  Aztec  settlement  one  or  more 
temples  or  places  for  the  worship  of  the  natives'  gods.  The  idols 


598  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

and  the  buildings  containing  them  were  uniformly  placed  upon 
the  summit  of  a  truncated  earthen  pyramid.  Some  of  these 
structures  were  of  immense  size,  and  the  ruins  of  many  are  still 
to  be  found  in  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  Yucatan.  Although 
some  of  the  smaller  mounds  may  have  been  built  by  the  tribe 
then  occupying  the  country,  they  were,  if  so,  merely  imitations 
of  the  larger  and  more  perfect  pyramids  erected  by  some  more 
civilized  nation  which  had  been  displaced  by  the  Aztecs.  It  is 
the  uniform  testimony  of  travelers  that  the  most  ancient  archi 
tecture  is  in  the  highest  style,  and  shows  "  marvelous  workman 
ship,"  while  the  later  additions  are  much  inferior,  and  seem  to 
be  the  work  of  a  people  less  advanced  in  culture  and  skill.93 

That  the  mounds  of  Mexico  antedate  Aztec  occupation  is 
proved  by  records  that  the  Aztecs  did  not  enter  the  valley  until 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  by  investigations  showing 
that  the  mounds  contain  skulls  that  are  not  Aztec,  and  that  they 
contain  specimens  of  the  plastic  art  which  could  not  have  come 
from  the  hand  of  an  Aztec  ; 1323  while  the  tradition,  still  existing 
among  the  natives  in  many  places,  also  credits  these  monuments 
to  an  earlier  race.647  An  old  Indian,  living  near  Uxmal,  in  1586, 
told  a  traveler  that,  according  to  the  native  traditions,  the  struct 
ures  there  found  had  been  built  nine  hundred  years,  and  that 
their  builders  had  left  the  country  nearly  that  long  ago.823  The 
editor  of  the  "  Antiquites  Mexicaines  "  thinks  that  the  temples  at 
Palenque  "  may  antedate  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era," 1226 
and  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  refers  to  them  as  "  antediluvian,"  771 
while  the  very  name  Palenque  means  "  a  thing  that  is  decayed."  1397 

There  is  therefore  reason  for  believing  that  these  pyramids 
may  have  been  built  for  the  worship  of  a  gentler  and  purer  relig 
ion  than  that  which  was  dominant  in  the  country  in  the  early 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Humboldt  remarked  that  one  of 
these  ancient  sacred  structures  bore  the  name  of  Xochicalco, 
meaning  "the  Place  of  the  House  of  Flowers,"  and  asked 
whether  this  name  might  not  have  been  given  it  "because  the 
Toltecs,  like  the  Peruvians,  offered  nothing  to  the  divinity  but 
fruits,  flowers,  and  incense."  1585 

The  monuments  of  San  Juan  Teotihuacan,  said  to  be,  with 
the  exception  of  Cholula,  probably  the  most  ancient  remains 
on  the  Mexican  soil,  are  thus  described  : 675  "  They  were  found 
by  the  Aztecs,  according  to  their  traditions,  on  their  entrance 


MEXICAN  PYRAMIDS.  599 

into  the  country,  when  Teotihuacan  (the  Habitation  of  the  Gods), 
now  a  paltry  village,  was  a  flourishing  city,  the  rival  of  Tula, 
the  great  Toltec  capital.  The  two  principal  pyramids  were 
dedicated  to  Tonatiuh,  the  Sun,  and  Meztli,  the  Moon.  The 
former,  which  is  considerably  the  larger,  is  six  hundred  and 
eighty-two  feet  long  at  the  base,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  high,  dimensions  not  inferior  to  those  of  some  of  the  kin 
dred  monuments  of  Egypt.  They  were  divided  into  four  stories, 
of  which  three  are  now  discernible,  while  the  vestiges  of  the 
intermediate  gradations  are  nearly  effaced.  The  interior  is  com 
posed  of  clay  mixed  with  pebbles,  incrusted  on  the  surface  with 
light  porous  stone.  Over  this  was  a  thick  coating  of  stucco,  re 
sembling  in  its  reddish  colour  that  in  the  ruins  of  Palenque.  Ac 
cording  to  the  traditions,  the  pyramids  are  hollow  ;  but  hitherto  the 
attempt  to  discover  the  cavity  in  that  dedicated  to  the  Sun  has 
been  unsuccessful.  In  the  other  an  aperture  has  been  found  in  the 
southern  side  at  two  thirds  of  the  elevation.  It  is  a  narrow  gal 
lery,  which,  after  penetrating  several  yards,  terminates  in  two  pits, 
or  wells,  the  largest  about  fifteen  feet  deep,  the  sides  faced  with 
unbaked  bricks  ;  but  to  what  purpose  devoted,  nothing  is  left  to 
show.  It  may  have  been  to  hold  the  ashes  of  some  powerful  chief, 
like  the  solitary  apartment  in  the  great  Egyptian  pyramid.  That 
these  monuments  were  dedicated  to  religious  uses  there  is  no  doubt, 
and  it  would  only  be  conformable  to  the  practice  of  antiquity,  in 
the  Eastern  Continent,  that  they  should  have  served  for  tombs  as 
well  as  temples.  Distinct  traces  of  the  latter  destination  are  said 
to  be  visible  on  the  summit  of  the  smaller  pyramid,  consisting  of 
the  remains  of  stone  walls,  showing  a  building  of  considerable 
size  and  strength.  There  are  no  remains  on  the  top  of  the  pyra 
mid  of  the  Sun.  The  summit  of  this  larger  mound  is  said  to  have 
been  crowned  by  a  temple.  .  .  .  Around  the  principal  pyramids 
are  a  great  number  of  smaller  ones,  rarely  exceeding  thirty  feet 
in  height."  (Copied  from  Prescott.) 

The  Mexican  teooalUs  were  very  numerous.  There  were  sev 
eral  hundred  in  each  of  the  cities,  and  the  towns,  villages,  and 
districts  had  their  share,  many  of  them,  doubtless,  but  humble 
edifices.  They  were  masses  of  earth  cased  with  bricks  or  stone, 
about  one  hundred  feet  square,  and  in  their  form  resembled  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt,  except  that  they  were  truncated.  The  as 
cent  was  by  four  or  more  stories,  by  a  flight  of  steps  turning  at 


600  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  angles  of  the  pyramids,  so  that  one  or  more  circuits  had  to 
be  made  before  reaching  the  top,  or,  in  other  cases,  the  steps  led 
directly  to  the  summit ;  the  top  was  a  broad  area  with  one  or 
two  towers  forty  feet  or  more  high.574  The  base  was  either 
circular  or  quadrangular  ;  the  pyramids  sometimes  consisted  of 
only  a  single  story,  but  were  usually  of  several,  each  smaller  than 
that  below  it.1227  None  of  them  terminated  in  a  point.  They 
always  had  a  platform  of  greater  or  less  extent,  which  served, 
without  doubt,  as  a  foundation  upon  which  to  place  the  statues 
or  the  sacrificial  altars  of  their  divinities.1233  At  the  first  view 
one  is  not  only  struck  by  their  conical  or  pyramidical  form,  but 
also  by  the  slight  elevation  of  the  edifices  as  compared  with  their 
extent,  as  well  as  by  the  solidity  of  their  construction.725  The 
main  teocalli  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  as  well  as  others  elsewhere, 
stood  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  area,  encompassed  by  a  wall  of  stone 
and  lime.573 

These  pyramids  have  often  been  compared  with  those  of 
Egypt ;  but  the  resemblance  is  more  in  the  name  than  in  the  ap 
pearance,  the  material  or  style  of  construction,  the  proportions  of 
the  structure,  or  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  erected.  The 
Egyptian  pyramids  were  of  stone  ;  the  Mexican  mainly  of  earth. 
The  Egyptian  pyramids  were  carried  up  to  a  point;  the  Mexican 
were  always  truncated.  The  Egyptian  were  nearly  as  high  as  the 
diameter  of  their  base  ;  the  Mexican  were  usually  very  much 
broader  than  their  height.  Stephens  urges  the  following  addi 
tional  facts  in  proof  of  their  radical  dissimilarity  : 2381 

"  The  pyramids  of  Egypt  are  peculiar  and  uniform,  and  were 
invariably  erected  for  the  same  uses  and  purposes,  so  far  as  those 
uses  and  purposes  are  known.  They  are  all  square  at  the  base, 
with  steps  rising  and  diminishing  until  they  come  to  a  point. 
The  nearest  approach  to  this  is  at  Copan  ;  but  even  at  that 
place  there  is  no  entire  pyramid  standing  alone  and  disconnected, 
nor  one  with  four  sides  complete,  but  only  two,  or,  at  most,  three 
.sides,  and  intended  to  form  part  of  other  structures  ;  all  the  rest, 
without  a  single  exception,  were  high  elevations,  with  sides  so 
broken  that  we  could  not  make  out  their  form,  which,  perhaps, 
were  merely  walled  around,  and  had  ranges  of  steps  in  front  and 
rear  as  at  Uxmal,  or  terraces  or  raised  platforms  of  earth,  at  most 
of  three  or  four  ranges,  not  of  any  precise  form,  but  never  square, 
and  with  small  ranges  of  steps  in  the  center.  Besides,  the  pyra- 


MEXICAN  PYRAMIDS.  601 

mids  of  Egypt  are  known  to  have  interior  chambers,  and,  what 
ever  their  other  uses,  to  have  been  intended  and  used  as  sepul- 
chers.  These,  on  the  contrary,  are  of  solid  earth  and  stone.  No 
interior  chambers  have  ever  been  discovered,  and  probably  none 
exist ;  and  the  most  radical  difference  of  all  is,  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt  are  complete  in  themselves  ;  the  structures  of  this  country 
were  erected  only  to  serve  as  the  foundations  of  buildings. 
There  is  no  pyramid  in  Egypt  with  a  palace  or  temple  upon  it ; 
there  is  no  pyramidal  structure  in  this  country  without,  at  least 
none  from  whose  condition  any  judgment  can  be  formed. 

"  But  there  is  one  further  consideration,  which  must  be  con 
clusive.  .  .  .  There  is  no  doubt  that  originally  every  pyramid  in 
Egypt  was  built  with  its  sides  perfectly  smooth.  The  steps 
formed  no  part  of  the  plan.  It  is  in  this  state  only  that  they 
ought  to  be  considered,  and  in  this  state  any  possible  resemblance 
between  them  and  what  are  called  the  pyramids  of  America 
ceases." 

If  the  American  pyramids  do  not  resemble  those  of  Egypt, 
have  they  any  similarity  to  any  found  elsewhere,  or  do  they 
stand  alone  in  the  world  ? 

Mr.  Squier  has  answered  the  question,  though  in  a  manner 
somewhat  contrary  to  what  seems  his  own  predilection  for  the 
theory  of  an  aboriginal  civilization,  by  stating  that  "  in  India  are 
found  the  almost  exact  counterparts  of  the  religious  structures  of 
Central  America  ;  analogies  furnishing  the  strongest  support  of 
the  hypothesis  which  places  the  origin  of  American  semi-civiliza 
tion  in  Southern  Asia."  1645  Wherever  the  religion  of  Buddha  pre 
vails,  temples  of  a  pyramidal  form,  both  with  square  and  circular 
bases,  are  to  be  found,1806  in  some  instances  rising  to  an  elevation 
that  has  only  one  parallel  among  the  works  of  man.1441  The  ear 
liest  Buddhist  temple  was  the  tumulus  (tope).  Outside  was  a 
circle  of  rude  stone  monoliths,  like  those  of  Avebury,  Stennis, 
Stonehenge,  etc.,  and  within  this  circle  was  the  principal  edifice, 
the  tope,  a  gigantic  hemisphere  of  brick  or  stone,  and  earth,  con 
taining  a  tiny  little  secret  chamber  in  the  center.  Huge  statues, 
and  sumptuous  railings  of  stone  and  marble,  with  gateways  at 
intervals,  were  erected  around  the  tope.1739  Truncated  earthen 
pyramids  are  found  throughout  Central  and  Eastern  Asia.  There 
is  one  near  the  ruins  of  Nineveh.1443  They  were  erected  in  China 
in  early  days,  as  is  shown  by  the  character  T'AX,  J[J,2569  which  is 


602  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

defined  as  "  an  open  altar  on  which  to  offer  sacrifice,  a  high  ter 
race  for  worship."  In  Ceylon,  the  principal  dagobas  (as  these 
religious  structures  are  sometimes  called)  are  at  Anuradhapura  ; 
and  though  time  has  divested  them  of  a  part  of  their  original 
majesty,  they  are  yet  most  imposing  in  their  appearance.  The 
Abhayagiri  was  originally  four  hundred  and  five  feet  high,  being 
only  about  fifty  feet  less  than  the  highest  of  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt,  or  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  and  fifty  feet  higher 
than  St.  Paul's  at  London.  Its  elevation  is  not  now  more  than 
two  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  The  wall  around  the  platform 
upon  which  it  is  built  extends  to  the  distance  of  one  mile  and 
three  quarters.  The  Jaitawanarama,  completed  A.  D.  310,  was 
originally  three  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  high,  but  is  now  reduced 
to  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  feet.  It  has  been  calculated  that 
the  contents  of  this  erection  are  456,071  cubic  yards,  and  that  a 
brick  wall  twelve  feet  high,  two  feet  broad,  and  ninety-seven 
miles  long  might  be  built  with  the  materials  that  yet  remain.1442 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  size,  proportions,  materials,  uses,  and 
appearance,  these  Asiatic  structures  closely  resemble  those  of 
Mexico  and  Central  America.  Von  Tschudi  mentions,  with  sur 
prise,  "  the  characteristic  likeness  which  exists  between  the  pa 
godas  of  India  and  the  teocallis  of  Mexico." 406  Hardy  says 
upon  the  subject : 

"  The  ancient  edifices  of  Chichen,  in  Central  America,  bear  a 
striking  resemblance  to  the  topes  of  India.  The  shape  of  one  of 
the  domes,  its  apparent  size,  the  small  tower  on  the  summit,  the 
trees  growing  on  the  sides,  the  appearance  of  masonry  here  and 
there,  the  style  of  the  ornaments,  and  the  small  doorway  at  the 
base,  are  so  exactly  similar  to  what  I  had  seen  at  Anuradhapura, 
that  when  my  eye  first  fell  upon  the  engravings  of  these  remark 
able  ruins,  I  supposed  that  they  were  presented  in  illustration  of 
the  dagobas  of  Ceylon."  1444 

The  writer  of  an  article  in  the  "  Edinburgh  Review,"  for 
April,  1867,  says  : 

"  The  great  temple  of  Palenque  corresponds  so  exactly  in  its 
principal  details  to  that  of  Boro-Budor,  situated  in  the  province 
of  Kedu  (in  Java),  that  it  is  impossible  to  reasonably  dispute  the 
community  of  the  origin  and  of  the  purpose  of  the  two  monu 
ments."  19 

It  should  be  observed  that  these  two  writers  had  no  theory 


MEXICAN  PYRAMIDS. 


603 


to  serve,  and  that  they  were  probably  unaware  of  any  other 
reason  for  believing  that  there  had  been  early  communication 
of  any  kind  between  the  two  continents.  In  order  that  the  won 
derful  resemblance  last  mentioned  may  be  seen  by  the  reader, 


FIG.  23.— The  temple  of  Boro-Budor  in  Java. 

Figs.  23  and  24  have  been  inserted  :  the  first  being  a  copy  of 
the  frontispiece  of  Volume  II  of  Crawfurd's  "History  of  the 
Indian  Archipelago,"  illustrating  the  temple  of  Boro-Budor,  in 


FIG.  24.— The  "palace"  or  temple  at  Palenque,  Yucatan. 


604:  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

Java  ;  and  the  second  being  a  plate  of  the  so-called  "  palace  " 
at  Palenque,  Yucatan,  enlarged  from  an  illustration  found  on 
page  394  of  the  second  volume  of  the  ninth  edition  of  the  "  En 
cyclopaedia  Britannica  " — American  reprint. 

If  these  engravings  are  compared  with  a  representation  of 
the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  the  dissimilarity  of  the  latter  to  the 
structures  of  Asia  and  America  will  be  very  apparent,  and  the 
close  resemblance  of  these  last  to  each  other  will  be  brought  out 
by  the  contrast. 

Most  of  the  Buddhist  edifices  in  Asia  are  dome-shaped. 
Again  we  find  the  coincidence  that,  while  most  of  the  temples  of 
Mexico  were  quadrangular,1069  those  which  were  specially  dedi 
cated  to  Quetzalcoatl  were  completely  circular,  "without  an 
angle  anywhere,"  827  and  were  surmounted  by  a  dome.252  Chief 
among  the  temples  of  Cholula  was  the  semi-spherical  structure 
devoted  to  Quetzalcoatl,  standing  upon  a  quadrilateral  mound 
nearly  two  hundred  feet,  ascended  by  one  hundred  and  twenty 
steps,  and  with  a  larger  base  than  any  Old  World  pyramid.457  A 
similar  dome  at  Chichen  is  thus  described  by  Norman  : 197a 

"  This  building  stood  upon  a  double  foundation,  as  far  as  I 
could  judge,  although  I  was  unable,  to  satisfy  myself  complete 
ly,  owing  to  the  fallen  ruins,  which  once  formed  a  part  of  its 
structure,  but  which  now  almost  concealed  its  base  from  the  view. 
I  found,  on  the  east  side,  broken  steps,  by  which  I  ascended 
to  a  platform,  built  about  thirty  feet  from  the  base,  the  sides  of 
which  measured  each  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet. 
The  walls  were  constructed  of  fine  hewn  stone,  beautifully  fin 
ished  at  the  top,  and  the  angles,  parts  of  which  had  fallen,  were 
tastefully  curved.  In  the  center  of  this  platform,  or  terrace,  was 
a  foundation  work,  twelve  feet  high,  and  in  ruins  ;  the  four 
broken  sides  measuring  about  fifty  feet  each,  upon  which  is  built 
a  square  of  a  pyramidical  form  fifty  feet  high,  divided  off  into 
rooms,  but  inaccessible,  or  nearly  so,  owing  to  the  tottering  con 
dition  of  the  walls.  I  could  discover,  however,  that  the  inside 
walls  were  covered,  and  the  wood  that  supported  and  connected 
the  ceilings  was  in  good  preservation.  In  the  center  of  this  square 
is  the  DOME,  a  structure  of  beautiful  proportions,  though  par 
tially  in  ruins.  It  rests  upon  a  finished  foundation,  the  interior 
of  which  contains  three  conic  structures,  one  within  the  other,  a 
space  of  six  feet  intervening,  each  cone  communicating  with  the 


MEXICAN  PYRAMIDS.  605 

others  by  doorways,  the  inner  one  forming  the  shaft.  At  the 
height  of  about  ten  feet  the  cones  are  united  by  means  of  tran 
soms  of  zaporte.  Around  these  cones  are  evidences  of  spiral 
stairs,  leading  to  the  summit." 

The  pyramids  of  Asia  are  either  of  brick,1442  or  else  of  earth, 
covered  with  a  layer  of  stone  or  brick,  the  whole  overlaid  with  a 
plaster  or  stucco,  which,  according  to  Hardy,  is  composed  of 
"  lime,  cocoanut  water,  and  the  juice  of  the  paragaha."  1442 

The  pyramid  upon  which  stood  the  temple  of  Mexico  was 
composed  of  well-hammered  earth,  stones,  and  clay,  covered  with 
a  layer  of  large  square  pieces  of  "  tetzontli "  (a  species  of  stone 
or  lava),  all  of  equal  size,  hewn  smooth,  and  joined  with  a  fine 
cement,  which  scarcely  left  a  mark  to  be  seen  ;  it  was,  besides, 
covered  with  a  polished  coating  of  lime  or  gypsum.250 

Nearly  all  the  pyramids  of  which  the  material  is  described 
were  similarly  constructed,1223  among  them  one  near  San  Andres 
Chachicomula,1-24  and  one  near  Tehuantepec,1232  but  some  were 
partly  built  of  the  sun-dried  brick  of  the  country.  One  of  the 
mounds  of  Cholula  was  known  by  the  name  Ixtenextl™  or  "  Lime- 
faced"  ;  evidently  derived  from ixtti,  "face,"  and  tenextli,  "lime." 
This  "  lime  "  was  a  native  carbonate  which  was  not  burned,  and 
which  still  gives  a  strong  effervescence  when  treated  with 
acids.501  The  stucco  with  which  nearly  or  quite  all  the  pyramids 
were  originally  covered  is  said  to  have  been  composed  solely 
of  this  native  carbonate  of  lime,  mixed  with  water  in  which  the 
bark  of  a  certain  tree  had  been  steeped.  (See  Brasseur  de  Bour- 
bourg's  "Relation  des  Choses  de  Yucatan,  de  Diego  de  Landa," 
p.  335.) 761  This  is  nearly  the  same  composition  as  that  used  in 
Asia. 

Another  similarity  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  stones  of  the 
ancient  Buddhist  temples  of  Java  "  overlap  each  other  within,  so 
as  to  present  to  the  eye  the  appearance  of  the  inverted  steps  of 
a  stair." *  This  peculiarity  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  ruins  of 
Mexico,  Central  America,  and  Yucatan.  The  nations  of  Amer 
ica  were  not  acquainted  with  the  principle  of  the  arch,  and  the 
species  of  false  arch  above  described  is  the  nearest  approach  to  it 
that  they  ever  made. 

We  are  informed  that  in  Asia  the  inner  surface  of  the  walls 
of  Buddhist  temples  is  whitewashed,  or  covered  with  a  kind  of 
plaster.  This  is  then  generally  decorated  with  paintings  rep- 


606  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

resenting  episodes  taken  from  the  life  of  the  Buddhas,  or  images 
of  gods  of  dreadful  countenance.2234  The  lamas  are  the  only  art 
ists  who  contribute  to  the  ornament  and  decoration  of  the  tem 
ples.  The  paintings  are  quite  distinct  from  the  taste  and  princi 
ples  of  art  as  understood  in  Europe,  the  fantastical  and  the 
grotesque  predominating  inside  and  out,  both  in  carvings  and 
statuary.1565  At  Palenque,  as  well  as  elsewhere  in  the  neighbour 
ing  region  of  America,  the  walls  and  roofs  of  the  temples  were 
covered  with  stucco,1234  and  the  excellence  of  this  material,  which 
was  also  employed  for  making  bas-reliefs,  is  said  to  be  difficult 
to  describe,  for  neither  sand  nor  powdered  marble  can  be  distin 
guished  in  its  composition,  and,  in  addition  to  its  hardness  and  its 
fineness,  it  is  of  a  beautiful  white  colour.1236  The  paintings,  bas- 
reliefs,  and  statues  well  come  under  the  description  of  "  fantas 
tical  and  grotesque." 

Le  Plongeon  states  that  the  ornament  hanging  from  the  breast 
of  the  American  figure,  shown  in  Fig.  2,  page  128,  is  a  badge  of 
his  rank  ;  that  the  same  is  seen  at  the  breast  of  many  other  per 
sonages  in  the  American  bas-reliefs  and  mural  paintings,  and 
that  a  similar  mark  of  authority  is  yet  in  usage  in  Burmah.2049 
The  name  Chaacmol,  mentioned  by  him,  is  as  good  a  preservation 
of  the  epithet  Sdkya  Muni  (I  and  n  often  being  interchanged  in 
American  languages)  as  could  be  expected  to  have  come  down 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  fourteen  centuries. 

Above  one  of  the  ruins  at  Mictlan  there  was  a  projecting  cor 
nice,  ornamented  with  capricious  sculptures,  which  formed  a  sort 
of  diadem  placed  upon  the  summit  of  the  edifice.  This  crown, 
which  still  existed  in  the  times  of  Burgoa,  who  gives  an  incom 
plete  description  of  it,  seems  to  resemble,  as  far  as  we  can  judge, 
those  of  certain  temples  of  Hindostan.685  It  may  also  be  noticed 
that  the  frieze  which  surrounds  one  of  the  stories  of  the  pyramid 
of  Xochicalco  presents  a  series  of  small  human  figures,  seated  in 
the  Eastern  manner,  with  the  right  hand  crossed  on  the  breast 
and  the  left  resting  on  a  curved  sword,  whose  hilt  reminds  us  of 
ancient  swords  ;  a  thing  the  more  worthy  of  attention  since  no 
tribe  descended  from  the  Toltecs  or  Aztecs  has  made  use  of  this 
kind  of  arms.384 

Stephens,  in  his  "  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Central  America," 
etc.,2379  Humboldt,  in  his  "  Vues  des  Cordilleres,"  plate  15,  figure 
4,1590  and  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  in  "Monuments 


MEXICAN  PYRAMIDS. 


GOT 


Anciens  du  Mexique,"  figure  2,  plate  13,575  give  an  engraving 
of  a  bas-relief  in  stucco,  on  the  west  side  of  the  palace  at  Pa- 
lenque.        The     resem 
blance  of  the  head-dress 
to  an  elephant's  head  and 
trunk  is  somewhat  strik 
ing.371      (See  Fig.  25.) 

At  Uxmal,  in  Yuca 
tan,  an  ornament  of  the 
walls,  in  the  shape  of  a 
curved  projection,  has 
been  "  supposed  by  more 
than  one  traveler  to  be 
modeled  after  the  trunk 
of  an  elephant."  364  The 
trunk  is  yet  visible  on 
the  east  side,  though  the 
whole  figure  is  much 
broken  on  the  west 
side.1973  The  elephant 
trunk  reappears  in  the 
interior  steps  at  Kabah, 
Yucatan,363  and  again  in 
the  wall  at  Zayi,  Yuca 
tan.369  The  resemblance 
is  hardly  so  close  as  to 
make  it  absolutely  cer 
tain  that  the  ornaments 
were  intended  as  representations  of  an  elephant's  trunk,  although 
many  seem  to  think  that  there  can  be  no  question  on  the  subject. 
Waldeck  says  that  the  head-dress  first  mentioned  "is  evidently  an 
elephant's  head,"  and  that  the  same  figure  is  also  found  in  other 
reliefs  and  among  the  hieroglyphical  characters.767  He  also  men 
tions  another  building  as  possessing  "a  small  chancel  containing 
two  birds  perched  upon  elegant  scroll-work,  in  adoration  before 
an  elephant's  head  "  ; 766  and  Le  Plongeon  states  that  the  mas 
todon's  head  forms  a  prominent  feature  in  all  the  ornaments  of 
the  edifices  of  Yucatan.2050  Lillie  also  claims  that "  the  elephant 
is  everywhere " 1743  in  the  drawings  of  the  Abbe  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg  (I  admit,  however,  that  I  am  unable  to  find  it),  and 


FIG.  25. — The  elephant's- head  head-dress. 


608  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

he  gives  an  engraving,  of  which  Fig.  26  is  a  copy,  as  repre 
senting  a  sculpture  at  Palenque.1745  This  is  a  perfect  elephant's 
head,  and,  if  the  drawing  is  correct,  may  be  considered  as  settling 
the  question  of  the  existence  of  this  orna 
ment  in  the  temples  of  America.  He  does 
not  give  his  authority,  however,  and  there 
seems  a  possibility  that  the  original  sculpt 
ure  may  not  settle  the  point  so  decisively. 
The  question  is  one  of  interest,  since  any 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  Mexicans  of 
even  one  species  of  animal  peculiar  to  the 

FIG.  2G.-Lillte's drawing     old  continent,  and  not  found  in  America, 
wouM>  if  distinctly  proved,  furnish  a  con- 
at  Palenque.  vincing  argument  of  a  communication  hav 

ing  taken  place  in  former  ages  between  the 

people  of  the  two  hemispheres.408  It  is  of  the  greater  interest,  as 
the  elephant  is  in  Asia  the  usual  symbol  of  Buddha,1738  and  a 
Guatemalan  tradition  asserts  that  Votan,  who  was  probably  one 
of  our  party  of  Buddhist  priests,  created,831  or  brought  with  him,622 
the  tapir — the  nearest  American  representative  of  the  elephant — 
which  was  therefore  considered  in  Guatemala,  as  the  elephant  is  in 
Siam  and  other  Buddhist  countries,  as  a  sacred  animal. 

If  the  sculptures  of  Yucatan  are  really  intended  for  elephants' 
trunks,  a  possible  explanation  of  their  existence  may,  however, 
be  found  in  the  theory  that  some  species  of  elephant  or  masto 
don  existed  in  America  until  a  comparatively  recent  date,  and 
has  become  extinct  in  what  may  be  called  modern  times.  Re 
mains  of  the  mastodon  are  occasionally  disinterred  in  the  Mexi 
can  Valley2069  (see  Latrobe's  "Rambler  in  Mexico,"  p.  145),  and 
Professor  Newberry,  some  years  ago,  made  the  following  state 
ments  on  the  subject : 1968 

"  We  know  that  both  these  great  monsters— the  elephant  and 
mastodon— continued  to  inhabit  the  interior  of  our  continent  long 
after  the  glaciers  had  retreated  beyond  the  upper  lakes,  and 
when  the  minutest  details  of  surface  topography  were  the  same 
as  now.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  we  not  infrequently 
find  them  embedded  in  peat,  in  marshes  which  are  still  marshes, 
where  they  have  been  mired  and  suffocated.  It  is  even  claimed 
that  here,  as  on  the  European  Continent,  man  was  a  contemporary 
of  the  mammoth,  and  that  here,  as  there,  he  contributed  largely 


MEXICAN  PYRAMIDS. 


609 


to  its  final  extinction.  On  this  point,  however,  more  and  better 
evidence  than  any  yet  obtained  is  necessary,  before  we  can  con 
sider  the  contemporaneity  of  man  and  the  elephant  in  America 
as  proven.  The  wanting  proof  may  be  obtained  to-morrow,  but 
to-day  we  are  without  it." 


FIG.  27. — Elephant-pipe,  found  in  a  field  in  Iowa. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  lacking  evidence  seems  to 
have  been  obtained.     There  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Academy 


FIG.  28.— Elephant-pipe,  found  in  a  mound. 

of  Natural   Sciences   of  Davenport,   Iowa,   two   carved   stone 
pipes,  of  which  representations  are  given  in  Figs.  27  and  28. 
89 


610  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

The  first  was  found  in  Louisa  County,  Iowa,  about  the  year  1870, 
by  Mr.  Peter  Mare  (now  living  in  Kansas),  while  planting  corn 
on  his  farm.1182  The  discovery  of  the  second  is  thus  described 
by  the  Rev.  Ad.  Blumer,  in  a  letter  dated  Geneseo,  Illinois, 
March  27,  1880  :1184 

"Having  formerly  resided  in  Louisa  County,  Iowa,  ...  I 
visited  that  place,  during  the  first  week  of  the  present  month,  in 
company  with  Rev.  J.  Gass.  .  .  .  We  visited  several  groups  of 
mounds,  .  .  .  and  finally  determined  to  open  those  of  a  group 
situated  two  miles  east  of  Grand  View,  and  three  miles  south  of 
the  boundary  of  Muscatine  County.  .  .  .  Our  work  was  begun 
on  the  farm  of  Mr.  P.  Haas,  S.  W.  J,  N.  E.  £,  Sec.  25,  Twp. 
75,  N.,  R.  3.  .  .  .  The  first  mound  we  opened,  and  the  only  one  at 
the  exploration  of  which  I  was  present,  proved  to  be  a  sacrificial 
or  cremation  mound.  .  .  .  An  opening  of  five  by  ten  feet  was 
made.  The  surface  was  a  layer  of  hard  clay,  about  one  and  a 
half  foot  thick.  Beneath  this  layer,  which  exhibited  here  and 
there  the  effects  of  fire,  we  found  a  layer  of  red  burned  clay,  about 
as  hard  as  a  rather  soft-burned  brick.  This  layer  was  of  an 
oval  form,  five  feet  in  the  shortest  diameter,  one  foot  thick  in  the 
center,  and  gradually  diminishing  to  three  inches  at  the  circum 
ference.  Under  this  was  a  bed  of  ashes  thirteen  inches  deep  in 
the  middle,  and  also  gradually  diminishing  to  the  edges,  where 
it  terminated,  with  the  burned  clay  above.  ...  In  the  midst  of 
this  bed  of  ashes,  a  few  inches  above  the  bottom,  were  found 
...  a  carved  stone  pipe,  entire,  and  representing  an  elephant, 
which  was  first  discovered  by  myself." 

The  illustrations  given  upon  the  last  page  were  copied  by  a 
photo-engraving  process  from  photographs  of  the  pipes  in  ques 
tion.  They  seem  to  be  unmistakable  representations  of  an  ele 
phant  or  some  closely  allied  quadruped,  and  their  makers  must 
have  been  acquainted  with  the  animal. 

The  Davenport  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  also  have  a 
tablet,  found  in  a  mound  near  their  city,  containing  some  thirty 
rude  pictures  of  animals,  most  of  which  can  be  recognized,  and 
among  them  there  are  two  that  seem  intended  for  elephants.1181 
It  may  be  worthy  of  notice  that  in  these  drawings,  in  the  pipes, 
and  in  the  sculptures  of  Yucatan,  the  animal's  head  is  uniformly 
represented  without  any  trace  of  tusks.  In  that  otherwise  truth 
ful  representation  of  the  mastodon,  the  elephant-mound  of  Wis- 


MEXICAN  IDOLS.  611 

consin  (see  Fig.  29),  the  artist  has  also  totally  omitted  the  tusks, 
and  shortened  the  trunk  to  very  moderate  dimensions.     Surely 


FIG.  29.— The  "  Elephant-Mound  "  of  Wisconsin. 

not  for  want  of  space,  for  the  whole  animal  has  a  length  of  over 
one  hundred  feet,  and  a  proportionate  height.  There,  therefore, 
seems  some  reason  for  believing  that  an  animal  much  resem 
bling  the  elephant,  but  destitute  of  tusks,  existed  in  America  up 
to  a  comparatively  recent  date. 

Schoolcraft  mentions  a  Chippewa  tradition  which  was  nar 
rated  by  Maidosegee,  an  aged  chief  of  that  tribe,  regarding  the 
former  existence  of  an  animal  from  whose  skin  the  wind  had 
blown  the  hair.2240  When  first  found  he  was  very  small,  but  he 
began  to  shake  himself,  and  at  every  shake  he  grew.  His  body 
became  heavy  and  massy  ;  his  legs  thick  and  long,  with  big, 
clumsy  ends,  or  feet.  He  still  shook  himself,  and  rose  and 
swelled  ;  a  long  snout  grew  from  his  head,  and  two  great,  shin 
ing  teeth  out  of  his  mouth.  His  skin  remained  as  it  was,  naked, 
and  only  a  tuft  of  hair  grew  on  his  tail.  He  was  enormous.  "  I 
should  fill  the  earth,"  said  he,  "  were  I  to  exert  my  utmost 
power,  and  all  there  is  on  the  earth  would  not  satisfy  me  to 
eat." 

This  may  possibly  be  a  genuine  tradition  of  the  compara 
tively  recent  existence  in  America  of  some  elephantine  quad 
ruped. 

Fig.  30  is  a  copy  of  the  frontispiece  of  the  second  volume 
of  Sir  Thomas  Raffles's  "  History  of  Java," 2I25  and  represents  the 
elephant  god  Bitara  Gana,  or  Ganesa,  worshiped  in  that  island. 
Fig.  31  is  a  picture  of  one  of  the  gods  of  the  Mexicans,  said  to 
be  Teoyaomiqui,  copied  from  the  plate  given  on  page  513  of 
the  fourth  volume  of  Bancroft's  "  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific 


612 


AN   INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


States."  3S5    A  comparison  of  the  two  will  show  so  many  resem 
blances  that  the  conclusion  hardly  seems  far-fetched  that  the  lat- 


FIG.  30.— Bitara  Gana,  or  Ganesa. 

ter  is  merely  a  modification  of  the  former,  brought  about  by 
gradual  changes,  which  have  accumulated  through  many  cent 
uries.  In  both  we  see  skulls  and  encircling  serpents.  The  po- 


MEXICAN  IDOLS. 


613 


FIG.  31. — An  Aztec  god — said  to  be  Teoyaomiqui. 


614  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

sition  of  the  four  hands  and  feet  is  nearly  the  same  in  both, 
with  an  additional  pair  of  hands  appearing  near  the  shoulders  ; 
and  the  distorted  head  of  the  Mexican  idol  may  possibly  have 
been  made  by  workmen  who,  knowing  nothing  of  the  existence 
of  the  elephant,  or  any  other  animal  with  a  long  proboscis,  there 
fore,  by  gradual  changes,  shortened  up  the  trunk  and  split  it,  as 
shown  in  the  protruding  tongue  of  the  engraving,  and  changed 
the  tusks  into  the  two  projections  at  each  side  of  the  tongue. 
A  god  with  four  or  six  hands,  as  here  shown,  is  an  anomaly 
in  Mexican  and  Central  American  mythology,2447  and  its  counter 
part  can  be  found  only  in  Asia. 

There  was  a  tradition  current  in  Mexico  of  the  miraculous 
conception  of  Huitzilopochtli,  which  closely  resembles  the  Asiatic 
stories  of  the  conception  of  Buddha,  and  which  Clavigero  relates 
as  follows  : 319  "  In  the  ancient  city  of  Tulla  lived  a  most  devout 
woman,  Coatlicue  by  name.  Walking  one  day  in  the  temple,  as 
her  custom  was,  she  saw  a  little  ball  of  feathers  floating  down 
from  heaven,  which,  taking  without  thought,  she  put  into  her 
bosom.  The  walk  being  ended,  however,  she  could  not  find  the 
ball,  and  wondered  much,  all  the  more  that  soon  after  this  she 
found  herself  pregnant." 

The  Mexican  story  of  Cantico,  or  Cuaxolotl,  who,  having  sac 
rificed  after  having  eaten  fried  fish,  was  changed  into  a  dog,  as  a 
punishment  for  not  having  kept  fast  until  after  sacrifice,1406  also 
closely  resembles  an  East  Indian  tale. 

Tezcatlipoca,  one  of  the  principal  deities  worshiped  in  Mexi 
co,1852  was  represented  as  holding  in  his  hand  a  great  circular 
mirror  of  gold,  bordered,  like  a  fan,  with  precious  feathers, 
green,  and  azure,  and  yellow  ;  the  eyes  of  the  god  were  ever  fixed 
on  this,  for  therein  he  saw  reflected  all  that  was  done  in  the 
world.308  A  similar  story  is  told  in  Thibet,  of  Shinje,  "  the  Lord 
of  the  Dead,"  "  the  King  of  the  Law,"  who  is  said  to  possess  a 
wonderful  mirror  which  shows  him  all  the  good  and  bad  actions 
of  men.222'  In  Japan,  also,  the  same  tale  is  told  by  the  Buddhists 
regarding  a  great  judge,  before  whom  the  souls  of  the  dead  are 
tried,  before  whom  stands  a  large  mirror  in  which  the  actions  of 
all  men  are  imaged  forth.968 

Dr.  Le  Plongeon  says  that  the  tribes  of  Yucatan,  and 
several  of  those  that  dwell  in  Hindostan,  have  in  common 
the  custom  of  printing  the  impress  of  the  human  hand,  dipped 


MEXICAN  ARTS.  615 

in  a  red-coloured  liquid,  on  the  walls  of  certain  sacred  edi 
fices.2051 

In  Chapter  IX  have  been  given  the  remarks  of  von  Humboldt 
upon  the  analogy  which  the  Mexican  mythology  presents,  in  its 
fable  regarding  the  system  of  the  universe,  of  its  periodic  de 
structions  and  regenerations,  to  the  account  contained  in  the 
sacred  books  of  the  Hindoos  of  the  four  ages,  and  of  the  pralayqs, 
or  cataclysms,  which,  at  different  epochs,  have  caused  the  de 
struction  of  the  human  species.  It  will,  therefore,  be  unneces 
sary  to  repeat  these  legends  here,  although  it  may  be  stated  that 
the  traditions  of  the  two  countries  so  closely  resemble  each  other 
that  both  speak  of  four  ages,  each  terminating  by  a  general 
catastrophe,  and  each  catastrophe  exactly  the  same  in  both.  At 
least  that  is  the  doctrine  of  one  of  the  Shastras.  The  race,  it 
teaches,  has  been  destroyed  four  times  :  first,  by  water  ;  second 
ly*  by  winds  ;  thirdly,  the  earth  swallowed  them  ;  and,  lastly, 
fire  consumed  them.  (Sepp,  "  Heidenthum  und  Christenthum," 
i,  p.  191.)809 

In  Mexico,2203  as  in  China,  the  leading  one  of  the  four  points 
of  the  compass  was  the  south  ;  Gemelli  and  Sahagun  both  follow 
ing  exactly  the  same  order  in  the  enumeration  of  the  quarters  of 
the  world  :  first,  the  south,  then  the  east,  and  finally  the  north 
and  the  west ; 933  and  one  point,  as  to  which  there  seems  much 
reason  for  believing  that  the  American  custom  was  influenced  by 
communication  with  some  of  the  nations  of  Asia,  is  the  employ 
ment,  in  both  regions  of  the  world,  of  definite  colours  to  symbol 
ize  the  points  of  space.931 

Schlagintweit  says  that  in  Thibet  the  walls  of  the  temples 
look  toward  the  four  quarters  of  heaven,  and  each  side  should  be 
painted  with  a  particular  colour  :  the  north  side  with  green,  the 
south  side  with  yellow,  the  east  side  with  white,  and  the  west 
side  with  red  ;  but  this  rule  was  not  strictly  adhered  to,  as  many 
temples  were  seen  with  all  sides  of  the  same  colour,  or  simply 
whitewashed.2233  If  the  Mexican  traditions  may  be  believed,  the 
sacred  palace  of  that  mysterious  Toltec  priest-king,  Quetzalcoatl, 
had  four  principal  halls,  facing  the  four  cardinal  points.  .  .  . 
That  on  the  east  was  called  the  Hall  of  Gold,  because  its  walls 
were  ornamented  with  plates  of  that  metal,  delicately  chased 
and  finished  ;  the  apartment  lying  toward  the  west  was  named 
the  Hall  of  Emeralds  and  Turquoises,  and  its  walls  were  pro- 


616  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

fusely  adorned  with  all  kinds  of  precious  stones  ;  the  hall  facing 
the  south  was  decorated  with  plates  of  silver,  and  with  brilliant 
coloured  sea-shells,  which  were  fitted  together  with  great  skill. 
The  walls  of  the  fourth  hall,  which  was  on  the  north,  were  red 
jasper,  covered  with  carving,  and  ornamented  with  shells. 
Another  of  these  palaces  or  temples,  for  it  is  not  clear  which  they 
were,  had  also  four  principal  halls  decorated  entirely  with  feather- 
work  tapestry.  In  the  eastern  division  the  feathers  were  yellow; 
in  the  western  they  were  blue,  taken  from  a  bird  called  Xiuh- 
tototl  ;  in  the  southern  hall  the  feathers  were  white;  and  in  that 
on  the  north  they  were  red.162 

The  colours  used  to  symbolize  the  points  of  the  compass  varied 
among  different  races.  In  Java  the  divisions  of  the  horizon  and 
the  corresponding  colours  were  named  in  the  following  order  : 
first,  white  and  the  east  ;  second,  red  and  the  south  ;  third,  yel 
low  and  the  west  ;  fourth,  black  and  the  north;  and  fifth,  mixed 
colours  and  the  focus  or  center.1134  Among  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan 
the  east  was  distinguished  by  yellow,  the  south  by  red,  the  west 
by  black,  and  the  north  by  white.804  In  Mexico,  according  to 
the  declaration  of  Gemelli,  the  hieroglyph  of  the  south  is  a  hare 
upon  a  blue  field  ;  that  of  the  east,  a  reed  upon  a  red  field  ;  that 
of  the  north,  a  lance  upon  a  yellow  field  ;  and  that  of  the  west,  a 
house  upon  a  green  field.932  The  order  of  the  first  three  colours 
is  the  same  as  that  of  the  colours  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan — blue, 
red,  and  yellow.  It  is  true  that  a  difference  appears  in  the  colour 
appropriated  to  the  west,  but  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that 
Gemelli  was  mistaken  as  to  that  point,  as  the  Mexicans  desig 
nated  blue  and  green  by  the  same  term,  and  had  no  way  of  dis 
tinguishing  between  the  two  colours  ;  it,  therefore,  seems  not  im 
probable  that  the  hieroglyph  of  the  west  was  painted  upon  a 
field  which  the  Mexicans  intended  for  white,  but  which,  from 
some  cause,  was  of  so  dingy  a  colour  that  Gemelli  mistook  it  for 
light  green.  The  colour  black,  of  which  we  are  not  able,  other 
wise  than  as  a  matter  of  conjecture,  to  establish  the  employment 
among  the  Mexicans  as  symbolizing  any  point  of  space,  plays  as 
important  a  part  as  any  of  the  other  colours  in  the  account  of 
Fu-sang,  and  appears  to  correspond  to  the  central  region.  Here 
there  are  traces  of  archaism,  easy  to  explain  among  a.  people 
whose  civilization  goes  back  to  a  much  earlier  date  than  that  of 
other  American  races.934 


MEXICAN  ARTS.  617 

Another  practice  of  the  Mexicans,  to  which  attention  should 
be  called,  was  that  of  interring  a  small  green  stone  with  the 
dead.811  This  was  also  done  in  Yucatan,2582  and  the  custom  is  in 
striking  accord  with  the  Chinese  belief  that  smooth  and  clean 
jade-stone  has  the  power  to  harmonize  the  hundred  spirits  of 
Nature,  and  that  it  should  be  placed  in  the  tomb  to  illuminate  the 
path  of  the  spirits.1266 

It  has  been  a  common  Asiatic  practice  to  "  prepare  the  way," 
and  "  make  the  path  straight,"  before  any  great  ruler  when  he  vent 
ured  abroad.  Thus  a  mandate  was  issued  by  the  king,  the  father 
of  Buddha,  throughout  his  dominions,  that,  wherever  the  prince 
should  go,  the  roads  and  streets  should  be  swept  and  watered, 
perfumes  should  be  burned,  and  tapestries,  flags,  and  canopies 
hung  up.1351  A  similar  custom  existed  in  Mexico  ;  and  it  is 
said  that  when  the  prince  Cacumatzin,  lord  of  Tezcuco,  and  a 
nephew  of  Montezuma,  came  to  visit  Cortez,  as  soon  as  he 
alighted  from  the  litter  in  which  he  was  borne,  some  of  his  serv 
ants  ran  before  him  to  sweep  the  ground  upon  which  he  was 
about  to  tread.2347 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  repeated  statements 
of  the  Spanish  conquerors,  that  Montezuma  never  used  either  the 
same  garments  or  the  same  dishes  twice.734  The  same  thing  is 
said  of  the  Dairi  of  Japan.  "  He  and  his  wives  wear  new  gar 
ments  every  day.  Everything  necessary  for  their  meals,  and 
everything  for  their  personal  use,  is  renewed  every  day."  1686 

In  India  the  common  native  dress  consists  of  a  large  piece  of 
cloth,  which  is  rolled  around  the  waist,  one  end  being  passed  be 
tween  the  legs,  and  then  drawn  up  and  fastened  to  the  girdle. 
This  method  of  covering  is  very  ancient,  for  we  find  it  repre 
sented  in  numerous  ancient  figures.2236  This  was  precisely  the 
dress  adopted  by  the  Aztecs.  An  early  English  translation  of 
Herrera  describes  it  as  follows  : 

"The  prime  men  wore  a  Rowler  eight  fingers  broad  round 
about  instead  of  Breeches,  and  going  several  times  around  the 
waste,  so  that  one  end  of  it  hung  before  and  the  other  be 
hind."2382 

Gabriel  de  Chaves,  in  a  report  preserved  in  the  publications 
of  M.  Ternaux-Compans,  gives  the  following  description  of.  the 
clothing  of  the  natives  :  "  All  classes  cover  their  nakedness  with 
a  long  band  of  cloth,  similar  to  an  almaizar,  which  they  wind 


618  AN   INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

several  times  about  the  body  and  then  pass  between  the  legs,  the 
extremities  falling  in  front  down  to  the  knees."  244° 

This  article  of  clothing  was  known  as  a  maxtli,  of  which 
Bancroft  says  that  it  was  about  twenty-four  feet  long,  and  nine 
inches  wide,  and  was  generally  more  or  less  ornamented  at  the 
end  with  coloured  fringes  and  tassels,  the  latter  sometimes  nine 
inches  long.  The  manner  of  wearing  it  was  to  pass  the  middle 
between  the  legs  and  to  wind  it  about  the  hips,  leaving  the  ends 
hanging  one  in  front,  and  the  other  at  the  back,  as  is  done  at  this 
day  by  the  Malays  and  other  East  Indian  natives.207 

While  speaking  of  the  dress,  it  may  also  be  noticed  that  the 
Mexicans  wore  an  armour  of  quilted  cotton,  which,  while  it  an 
swered  its  purpose  of  protecting  the  wearer  from  arrows,  was 
useless  against  the  musketry  of  the  Spaniards.  A  similar  quilted 
dress  was  worn  by  the  Tartars  as  a  defensive  armour.997 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Chinese  used  suspension-bridges 
for  many  centuries  before  they  were  known  in  Europe.  The 
Mexicans  also,  as  well  as  the  Peruvians,  used  bridges  of  this 
kind,  which  are  thus  described  by  Clavigero  :  "  They  are 
woven  of  certain  ropes  or  natural  ligaments  of  a  tree  more 
pliant  than  the  willow,  but  larger  and  stronger,  called  in 
America  the  Bejucos.  The  extremities  of  these  are  attached  to 
the  trees  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stream,  and  the  network  is  sus 
pended  in  the  air  between  them  like  a  swing.  Some  bridges  had 
their  ropes  so  tightly  drawn  that  they  did  not  undulate,  and  they 
all  had  their  side  supports  made  of  these  same  ropes.  Over  some 
rivers,  bridges  of  this  nature  are  still  found." 1079 

The  books  of  the  Mexicans  and  Mayas  also  resembled  those 
of  some  of  the  nations  of  Asia  ;  being  written  "  on  a  large  leaf, 
doubled  in  folds,  and  inclosed  between  two  boards,  which  they 
made  very  fine  [decorated],  and  they  wrote  on  both  sides  in  col 
umns  according  to  the  folds."  28°  The  paper  was  folded  back  and 
forth  in  a  particular  manner,  almost  like  the  paper  or  other 
material  of  our  fans.  In  this  respect  the  Mexican  paintings 
offer  a  close  analogy  to  the  Siamese  manuscripts,  which  have  been 
preserved  in  the  Imperial  Library  of  Paris,  which  are  also  folded 
"  en  zigzag."  1589 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  peculiarities  in  which  the  Mexican 
customs  resembled  those  of  some  of  the  Buddhist  nations  of  Asia 
was  connected  with  the  ceremony  of  marriage.  In  Mexico,  the 


MEXICAN  ARTS.  619 

priest,  after  the  arrival  of  the  bride  at  the  house  of  the  bride 
groom,  tied  the  gown  of  the  one  to  the  mantle  of  the  other ;  and 
in  this  ceremony  the  matrimonial  contract  chiefly  consisted.1849 

The  newly  married  couple  sit  upon  a  mat  together  during  the 
first  four  days  after  their  marriage,  not  leaving  it  until  midnight, 
when  they  go  together  to  burn  incense  before  the  domestic  gods. 
.  .  .  For  the  young  married  couple  these  four  days  are  a  time  of 
penitence,  during  which  they  clothe  themselves  with  the  orna 
ments  of  the  gods  for  which  they  have  the  most  devotion.  They 
pass  the  nights  separated  from  each  other,  each  upon  a  separate  bed 
prepared  by  the  priests.  These  beds  consist  of  mats  covered  with 
superstitious  symbols,  having  at  the  side  some  ears  of  maize,  and 
some  maguey-thorns,  with  which  to  draw  blood  in  honour  of  the 
divinity.  It  is  not  until  the  fourth  day  that  they  are  permitted 
to  consummate  their  marriage,  any  anticipation  being  considered 
as  unlucky  for  the  future.707 

The  marriage  ceremonies  of  the  Hindoos  are  remarkably  simi 
lar  to  those  of  the  Mexicans  in  some  leading  particulars  ("  Asiat. 
Res.,"  vii,  p.  309  ;  Ward's  "  View  of  the  Hindus,"  i,  p.  173), 
and  which,  to  avoid  a  tedious  description,  we  shall  but  recapitu 
late.  The  bridegroom  goes  in  procession  to  the  house  of  the 
bride's  father,  and  is  there  welcomed  as  a  guest.  The  bride  is 
then  given  to  him  in  the  usual  form  of  any  solemn  donation, 
and  their  hands  are  bound  together  with  grass  ;  the  bride 
groom  then  clothes  the  bride  with  an  upper  and  lower  garment ; 
then  the  skirts  of  their  mantles  are  tied  together,  the  bridegroom 
makes  oblations  to  the  fire,  and  the  bride  drops  rice  upon  it,  and 
after  several  inconsiderable  ceremonies  the  company  is  dismissed  ; 
the  marriage  being  now  complete  and  irrevocable.  In  the  even 
ing  of  the  same  day,  the  bridegroom  points  out  to  her  the  pole 
star,  as  an  emblem  or  figure  of  constancy  ;  during  the  three  subse 
quent  days  the  married  couple  must  live  chastely  and  austerely, 
and  after  these  three  days,  which  is  the  fourth  from  the  celebra 
tion  of  the  marriage  ceremony,  the  bridegroom  conducts  the  bride 
to  his  own  house.  The  custom  of  tying  the  garments  of  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  together  was  also  practiced  in  the  marriage  of  the 
ancient  Persians.  (Hyde,  "De  Religio  Vet.  Pers.,"  p.  405.) 1849 

In  some  parts  of  India  marriage  is  not  consummated  until  the 
husband  and  the  wife,  sleeping  apart,  have  for  seven  days  eaten 
together  seven  times  a  day.1734 


620  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

In  the  Mexican  empire,  as  in  most  Asiatic  countries,  polyg 
amy  was  tolerated,  the  kings  and  princes  taking  a  great  number 
of  wives  ;  but  in  general  they  had  only  one  who  was  regarded  as 
their  legitimate  spouse,  and  of  whom  the  marriage  was  cele 
brated  according  to  the  customary  rites.708  In  both  Yucatan 
and  India  it  was  customary  to  carry  young  children  astride  on 
the  hip  ; 2051  and  in  Mexico,  as  in  China,  it  was  the  practice  to  place 
in  the  hands  of  a  child,  at  a  festive  gathering,  held  a  few  days 
after  its  birth,  toy  instruments  of  war,  of  craft,  or  of  household 
labour,325  symbolical  of  those  with  which  it  was  expected  that 
its  after-life  would  be  engaged. 

Among  the  minor  coincidences  between  Mexican  and  Asiatic 
life,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  thin  oval  cakes  of  meal  which 
formed  the  principal  food  of  the  Aztecs,  as  well  as  of  the  Mexi 
cans  of  the  present  day,  closely  resemble  the  chapati  of  India,1319 
and  that  a  Mexican  game  called  patolli,  which  is  described  in  the 
Spanish  chronicles  as  played  with  coloured  stones  moved  on  the 
squares  of  a  cross-shaped  figure,  according  to  the  throws  of  beans 
marked  on  one  side,  corresponds  closely  with  the  Hindoo  back 
gammon  called  pachisi.  (See  Tylor,  in  "  Jour.  Anthrop.  Inst.," 
vol.  viii,  p.  116.) 1318 

In  presenting  these  coincidences  between  the  religious  prac 
tices,  the  arts  and  the  customs  of  the  Mexicans  and  the  na 
tives  of  Yucatan  in  America,  and  those  of  the  Asiatic  Buddhists, 
many  countries  in  Asia  have  been  mentioned.  This  has  seemed 
legitimate,  as  the  five  Buddhist  priests  must  have  been  acquainted 
with  many  Asiatic  countries  before  they  reached  America. 
Moreover,  a  large  part  of  the  civilization  of  Asia  is  Buddhistic  in 
its  origin,  and  the  same  practices,  customs,  and  arts  were  intro 
duced  by  the  Buddhist  priests  throughout  nearly  all  Asia.  Many 
practices  mentioned  by  travelers  as  existing  in  a  certain  country 
may  also  exist  in  others,  without  having  been  mentioned  by 
any  explorer  ;  and  arts  and  customs  once  introduced  into  many 
lands  may  now  survive  in  only  one. 

It  may  be  said  that  not  only  did  the  Mexican  civilization  so 
closely  resemble  that  of  Asia  as  to  make  it  almost  incredible 
that  the  two  can  have  grown  up  entirely  independent  of  each 
other,  but  that  even  the  arts  and  useful  customs  known  to  the 
Europeans,  and  not  known  to  the  Mexicans,  were  either  equally 
unknown  to  the  Asiatics  or  were  not  practiced  by  them. 


MEXICAN  ARTS.  621 

Milk,  and  food  made  from  it,  were,  for  instance,  formerly 
unknown  to  the  Americans  as  articles  of  diet.1581  If  the  Mexi 
can  civilization  had  been  founded  upon  any  introduction  of  Euro 
pean  ideas,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  use  of  these  articles 
would  have  been  known.  Humboldt  pointed  out,  however,  that 
several  nations  of  Eastern  Asia  equally  ignored  their  use.15sl 
Milk,  butter,  and  curds  are  all  insupportably  odious  to  a  Chi 
nese,1570  and  the  Buddhists  of  Java,  who  are  so  little  scrupulous  in 
diet  as  to  eat  not  only  the  flesh  of  the  cow,  but  even  that  of 
dogs  and  other  animals,  never  use  milk  as  an  article  of  food.2121 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
again  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  many  independent  observers 
have  been  led,  by  some  one  or  more  of  the  coincidences  that  have 
been  noted,  to  the  belief  that  they  could  be  most  easily  accounted 
for  on  the  supposition  that  the  practices  or  arts  in  question  were 
borrowed  by  the  Mexicans  from  Asia.  The  authors  of  the  arti 
cle  upon  Mexico  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  (Tylor  and 
Keane)  say  that  these  details  of  Mexican  civilization  do  not 
seem  ancient  enough  to  have  to  do  with  a  remote  Asiatic  origin 
of  the  nations  of  America,  but  rather  to  be  the  results  of  com 
paratively  modern  intercourse  between  Asia  and  America,  prob 
ably  since  the  Christian  era.1318  In  other  words,  these  gentle 
men,  paying  no  attention  to  the  story  of  Hwui  Shan,  have  been 
led,  by  the  study  of  Mexican  civilization,  to  the  belief  that  there 
was  a  visit  of  some  kind  from  Asia  to  America,  at  just  about  the 
time  that  Hwui  Shan  says  the  party  of  Buddhist  priests  visited 
Fu-sang. 

More  than  a  century  ago  there  sprang  up  a  school  of  critics 
who  disputed  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  ecclesiastics,  the 
soldiers,  and  the  historians  who  first  witnessed  the  remarkable 
civilization  of  Mexico.  No  such  arts,  customs,  or  religious  prac 
tices  were  found  elsewhere  in  America  ;  the  Americans  were  in 
reality  one  homogeneous  people,  and  therefore  those  who  bore 
witness  of  the  peculiar  civilization  of  Mexico  were  either  them 
selves  deceived  or  else  deliberately  attempted  to  deceive  others, 
and  their  stories  were  either  without  foundation,  or  else  were 
gross  exaggerations  or  perversions  of  the  truth. 

This  was  the  course  of  reasoning  adopted  by  these  critics. 
The  facts  were  all  against  them,  it  is  true — so  much  the  worse  for 
the  facts.  Clavigero,  meeting  this  species  of  criticism,  when  he 


622  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

commenced  the  publication  of  his  "  Ancient  History  of  Mexico," 
replied  to  it  as  follows  : 

"  Those  who  foolishly  claim  to  know  all  about  the  ancient 
Mexicans  by  their  descendants,  or  else  by  the  nations  of  Canada 
or  of  Louisiana,  will  consider  as  fables,  invented  by  the  Spaniards, 
what  we  have  to  say  of  their  knowledge,  their  laws,  and  their 
arts.  But  that  we  may  not  violate  the  laws  of  history,  nor  the 
fidelity  due  to  the  public,  we  shall  candidly  set  forth  all  that  we 
have  found  to  be  true,  without  fear  of  censure." 1071 

Of  late  there  has  been  a  revival  of  the  same  species  of  criti 
cism  as  that  of  which  Clavigero  complained,  and  there  are  not 
wanting  those  who  are  rea'dy  to  deny  the  unanimous  testimony 
of  innumerable  independent  witnesses,  in  order  that  their  own  in 
ferences  may  take  the  place  of  the  proven  facts.  Mr.  Bancroft's 
"  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  "  has  been  attacked  by  several 
of  this  ilk,  on  the  ground  that  he,  like  other  historians,  has  been 
guided  by  the  statements  of  eye-witnesses,  rather  than  by  the 
customs  of  "  the  nations  of  Canada." 

The  grain  of  truth  contained  in  the  views  of  these  critics 
renders  their  argument  all  the  more  dangerous.  The  natives  of 
Mexico  were  Indians,  of  the  same  race  as  other  American  In 
dians.  Many  of  their  customs  were  undoubtedly  founded  upon 
practices  existing  before  their  lives  had  been  swayed  by  any  for 
eign  influence.  Upon  these,  the  discoveries  of  Morgan  and  hi& 
followers,  in  regard  to  the  organization  and  customs  of  other  In 
dian  tribes,  will  undoubtedly  throw  much  light ;  and  many  things, 
which  the  early  Spanish  historians  understood  but  imperfectly, 
may  in  this  way  be  now  more  fully  explained.  There  is  only  one 
theory,  however,  which  will  account  for  all  the  facts.  That  is 
that,  at  some  time  in  the  past,  the  nations  of  Mexico,  Yucatan,  and 
Central  America  were  powerfully  affected  by  the  introduction 
of  Asiatic  arts,  customs,  and  religious  belief  ;  that,  when  this 
region  was  rediscovered  by  the  Europeans,  many  evidences  of 
this  influence  still  existed  in  these  countries,  and  that  the  state 
of  civilization  found  by  the  Spaniards  was  the  result  of  this 
adoption  of  Asiatic  customs  and  beliefs,  which  were  mixed  with 
or  engrafted  upon  such  civilization  as  the  natives  themselves  had 
previously  been  able  to  attain. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE    HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

Records  reaching  back  nominally  to  660  n.  c. — Gaps  in  the  history — Great  age  of 
sovereigns — A  giant — Absence  of  .exact  dates — The  introduction  of  writ 
ing — Manufacture  of  paper — Chinese  records  of  embassies — Mention  of  a 
Japanese  sovereign  whose  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Japanese  annals — 
Translation  of  extracts  from  the  Japanese  history — Intercourse  with  Corea 
and  China — Embassies — Wars — Introduction  of  Buddhism — Titles  of  nobility 
— Copper,  silver,  and  gold — Intercourse  of  Corea  with  Japan  and  China — The 
Chinese  account  of  Japan — The  route  from  China  to  Japan — The  distance — 
Cattle  and  horses  not  raised — Tattooing— Clothing — Cities — Polygamy — Laws 
— Burial  of  the  dead — The  "  Chi-shuai  " — An  envoy — A  later  embassy — A 
Japanese  princess — The  kingdom  of  Kiu-nu ;  that  of  Chu-ju — The  Eastern 
Fish-People — A  Chinese  expedition  to  seek  for  P'ung-lai — Tan-cheu — Route  to 
Japan — The  divisions  of  Japan — Titles  of  the  officers — Embassies — Tattooing 
— Absence  of  writing-^Mourning-garments — Buddhism — Route  to  Japan — 
Discovery  of  gold,  silver,  iron  ore,  and  copper — The  Country  of  Women — 
Reasons  why  Fu-sang  can  not  have  been  situated  in  Japan — Consideration 
of  other  theories — Proof  that  Hwui  Sha"n  had  visited  some  unknown  land — 
Had  the  Chinese  any  earlier  knowledge  of  America  ? — The  Shan  Hai  King. 

As  it  has  been  thought  by  some  that  the  country  visited  by 
Hwui  Shan  was  situated  in  some  part  of  Japan,  it  will  be  perti 
nent  to  examine  the  history  of  that  kingdom,  and  the  accounts 
regarding  it  possessed  by  the  Chinese  in  early  ages,  to  see 
whether  any  such  coincidences  can  be  found  in  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people,  and  in  the  plants  and  animals  of  the  coun 
try,  with  those  of  the  land  of  Fu-sang,  as  to  make  this  theory 
tenable. 

The  Japanese  possess  a  concise  history  of  their  country, 
which  gives  a  short  account  of  the  principal  events  pouring  in 
the  land,  and  which  runs  back,  nominally,  as  far  as  the  year  660 
B.  c.  There  are  numerous  gaps  in  the  record  for  the  first  thousand 
years,  however,  and  as  late  as  A.  D.  435  there  is  a  hiatus  from  that 


624  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

date  until  the  year  453.  It  is  evident  that  until  this  time,  or  a 
little  later,  the  record  is  of  little  value,  and  is  merely  a  compilation 
at  some  later  date  of  the  traditions  then  current  in  the  country 
as  to  its  early  history.  From  the  earliest  date  that  is  named 
(660  B.  c.),  up  to  the  year  399  A.  D.,  we  are  presented  with  a  list 
of  sovereigns,  almost  all  centenarians,  some  of  whom  are  said  to 
have  attained  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  one 
of  whom  is  stated  to  have  been  ten  feet  tall ;  it  is  also  notice 
able  that  neither  the  month,  nor  the  day  of  the  month,  on  which 
any  event  occurred  is  mentioned  prior  to  the  year  643  A.D.,1684 
but  that  after  that  time  they  are  frequently  named. 

The  date  of  the  introduction  of  the  art  of  writing,  and  that  of 
the  first  manufacture  of  paper  in  the  country  (which  will  be  re 
ferred  to  farther  on),  also  indicate  that  their  history  was  not  re 
duced  to  writing  prior  to  the  third  century  A.  D.,  and  more  prob 
ably  not  until  about  the  sixth  century. 

It  is  the  long  life  attributed  to  their  early  sovereigns,  how 
ever,  which  more  than  any  other  cause  tends  to  throw  sus 
picion  upon  their  historical  records.  Such  a  chronology  imme 
diately  inspires  more  than  doubt,  and  the  idea  at  once  presents 
itself  that  the  memory  of  a  good  many  of  the  ancient  sover 
eigns  has  been  lost,  and  that  the  gaps  which  would  be  so  caused 
in  Japanese  history  are  filled  up.  by  extending  the  reigns  of 
which  the  remembrance  has  been  preserved.  Klaproth  evi 
dently  had  this  suspicion  when  he  wrote,  "From  the  year 
660  B.  c.  to  400  A.  D.,  the  history  of  Japan  mentions  only  sev 
enteen  emperors,  a  number  too  small  for  so  great  a  length  of 
time."  But  that  which  for  Klaproth  was  merely  a  probable 
hypothesis  has  been  placed  by  M.  d'Hervey  beyond  all  reason 
able  doubt.  Ma  Twan-lin,  in  his  writings,  mentions  all  the  em 
bassies  sent  by  Japan  to  China,  naming  the  Japanese  emperors 
from  whom  they  bore  homage  or  tribute,  and  also  stating  the 
dates.  Among  others,  he  mentions  that  in  the  year  107  A.  D. 
envoys  came  to  China,  from  the  king  of  Japan,  named  Shui  Shing. 
The  Japanese  chronology  indicates  that  at  this  date  a  prince  was 
reigning  aged  one  hundred  and  seventeen  years,  named  Kei  Ko 
(or,  in  Chinese,  King  Hang),  who  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  years,  and  it  does  not  mention  the  king  Shui  Shing  of 
whom  Ma  Twan-lin  reveals  the  existence  and  preserves  the  name. 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  early  portion  of  the  record  can 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  625 

not  be  relied  upon,  any  further  than  that  it  is  probably  a  faithful 
preservation  of  the  recollections  and  traditions  of  the  country 
as  they  existed  about  the  sixth  century  A.  D.  The  account  of 
events  that  happened  as  late  as  the  date  of  Hwui  Shan's  visit  to 
China  (499  A.  D.)  seems,  however,  to  be  deserving  of  entire  credit, 
as  there  was  then  some  little  knowledge  in  the  country  of  writing 
with  Chinese  characters,  and  the  official  history  of  the  kingdom 
was  reduced  to  writing  either  about  this  time  or  within  a  cent 
ury  after. 

The  following  extracts  are  presented  from  the  translation  of 
these  records,  which  was  made  by  Siebold,  as  having  a  bearing, 
more  or  less  direct,  upon  Hwui  Shan's  story  : 

B.  c.  87.       Many  immigrants  arrived  from  foreign  countries.2251 

B.  c.  81.  By  command  of  the  Mikado,  ships  were  built  in  2262  dif 
ferent  districts. 

B.  c.  33.  Japan  received  the  first  visit  from  Mimana,  a  land 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  Corean  peninsula.2253 

B.  c.  27.  A  son  of  the  king  of  Sin-ra  *  came  to  Japan  and 
brought  many  valuable  things,  f  2254 

A.  D.  57.  A  deputation  went  from  Japan  to  Han  (China). J  An 
account  of  this  visit  is  contained  in  the  Chinese 
history  of  the  later  Han  Dynasty.2255 

A.  D.  59.  Kijofiko,  a  descendant  of  the  prince  who  came  from 
Sin-ra  in  the  year  27  B.  c.,  presented  to  the  court  of 
the  Mikado  the  curiosities  which  had  been  brought 
into  the  country  by  the  prince.  They  were  es 
teemed  as  objects  of  great  value,  and  carefully  pre 
served  in  the  treasury.2266 

A.  D.  61.  Tatsima  Mori  left  Japan,  by  order  of  the  Mikado,  in 
order  to  bring  back  the  "  fragrant  fruit." 2257 

A.  D.  71.  Tatsima  Mori  returned  to  Japan  from  Toko  jono 
Jcuni  (the  Land  of  Eternity),  bringing  with  him  the 
"  fragrant  fruit "  (i.  e.,  the  pomegranate).5 


2258 


*The  ancient  kingdom  of  Sin-ra  (or  "Sin-lo,"  as  the  Chinese  pronounce  the 
name)  occupied  the  province  of  Corea,  now  called  K'ing  Chang,1659  which  is  situ 
ated  in  the  eastern  part  of  that  country.1672 

f  These  presents  are  said  to  have  consisted  of  mirrors,  Oriental  jade,  sabers, 
cutlasses,  and  other  valuable  articles.1673 

\  This  embassy  reached  China  in  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  the  emperor 
Kwang  Wu  Hwang  Ti.16T4 
40 


626  AN"  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

A.  D.  193.  In  this  year  EJung  Man~wang,  a  descendant  of  the 
Chinese  emperor  Shi  Hwang  Ti,  came  to  Japan.2260 

A.  D.  201.  The  fifteenth  Mikado  was  Zin-gu  Kwo-gu,  known  in 
her  life-time  as  Oki  naga  tarasifimeno  mikoto, 
great-granddaughter  of  the  Mikado  Kai  JTwa, 
daughter  of  the  prince  Okinaga  Sukune.  In  the 
third  month  she  conquered  the  race  of  JKuma-oso, 
in  Kiusiu,  with  her  troops,  and  annihilated  the 
robber  Kuma-wasi  with  his  followers,  and  peace 
and  order  were  restored  in  Kiusiu.  In  the  tenth 
month  she  with  her  large  army  undertook  a  plun 
dering  expedition  against  Sin-ra,  whose  king  im 
mediately  surrendered  to  her.  Kao-li  *  and  Pe-tsi  \ 
also  came  and  submitted  themselves  to  her,  so  that 
the  three  Kara  state  all  became  subject  to  the 
Japanese  empire.  In  the  twelfth  month,  after  re 
turning  to  Japan,  she  bore  a  son  in  Tsukusi  who 
afterward  succeeded  her  upon  the  throne  of  the 
Mikado.2261 

A.  D.  239.  An  embassador  was  sent  to  the  Wei  dynasty  WM  (of 
Ohina)4 

A.  D.  240.     The  Wei  dynasty  sent  an  embassy  in  return.2263 

A.  D.  246.     Embassadors  were  sent  to  Toksiu.mi 

A.  D.  249.  A  Japanese  expedition  went  to  Toksiu,  and  from  that 
country  attacked  Sin-ra.™* 

A.  D.  250.  By  command  of  the  government,  stations  were  intro 
duced  throughout  the  kingdom  for  the  change  of 
post-horses.2260 

A.  D.  262.     A  Japanese  expedition  attacked  iSm-ra.2267 

A.  D.  266.     A  Japanese  embassy  visited  Tain  (China).226* 

A.  D.  272.     The  country  of  Pe-tsi  neglected  to  pay  tribute  to  Ja- 

*  Kao-li  (pronounced  "  Ko-rai "  by  the  Japanese)  was  a  province  of  Corea,1653 
from  which  the  whole  country  has  since  taken  the  name  by  which  it  is  known  to 
Europeans.1677 

f  The  ancient  kingdom  of  Pc-tsi  was  situated  in  the  province  of  Corea,  now 
called  Ts'iuan.1658 

\  The  "  History  of  China  "  speaks  of  this  embassy  as  follows :  "  The  second  of  the 
years  king  t'su  (238  A.  D.),  under  the  emperor  Ming  Ti,  of  the  Wei  dynasty,  Pi  Mi 
Hu,  queen  of  the  country  of  Wo  (Japan),  sent  to  the  capital  one  of  her  noblemen, 
who  bore  tribute.  The  emperor  gave  him  a  golden  seal  in  an  envelope  of  purple 
silk.1679 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  627 

pan.  In  retaliation  Kitsuno  Siikune  was  sent  with 
an  expedition  against  it.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
country  slew  their  king.  The  Japanese  placed 
AJcwa  upon  the  throne  and  returned  home.2269 

A.  D.  276.     San  Kan  and  Mimana  brought  tribute.7270 

A.  D.  284.  The  king  of  Pe-tsi  sent  his  son  Atogi  with  horses  to 
Japan.  Atogi  laid  in  Japan  the  first  foundation  of 
a  knowledge  of  Chinese  writing.2271 

A.  D.  285.  The  Chinese  philosopher  Wang  Shin  came  from  Pe-tsi 
to  the  Japanese  court  and  gave  the  first  instruction 
in  Chinese  literature.2"'"2 

A.  D.  289.     Immigration  of  two  Chinese  families.2273 

A.  D.  324.  An  iron  shield  and  target  were  sent  to  Japan  from 
Kao-li,  and  an  officer  of  the  shield-bearers  pierced 
them  with  an  arrow-shot.2274 

A.  D.  368.  The  people  of  Jesso  revolted.  Damitsi  undertook 
an  expedition  against  them,  suffered  defeat,  and  re 
turned."75 

A.  D.  414.  A  Chinese  physician  was  called  from  Sin-ra  in  order 
to  cure  the  Mikado  of  a  disease.2276 

A.  D.  462.  Strangers  from  the  land  of  Wu  brought  presents  to 
the  court.*2277 

A.  D.  464.     A  deputation  was  sent  to  the  land  of  TFw.2278 

A.  D.  465.  A  Japanese  expedition  made  war  upon  Sin-ra,  and 
suffered  a  defeat.2279 

A.  D.  467.  Kui  /Sin,  a  native  of  the  land  of  Wif,  came  from  Pe-tsi 
to  Japan.3280 

A.  D.  463.  Musano-awo  and  a  learned  man  of  FinoJcuma  went 
as  an  embassy  to  the  land  of  TFw.2281 

A.  D.  475.     JTao-li  conquered  Pe-tsi.'™ 

A.  D.  477.  Pe-tsi,  under  King  Monsu,  recovered  its  independ 
ence.2283 

A.  D.  493.  Fitdka  no  Jcisi  (falconer),  of  Ndniva^  returned  from 
a  mission  to  Kao-li,  with  two  architects.2284 

A.  D.  543.  Pe-tsi  sent  a  valuable  apparatus,  which  pointed  out 
the  south 2295  (i.  e.,  a  magnetic  compass). 

A.  D.  546.  The  embassadors  from  Pe-tsi  returned  home  with  a 
present  of  seventy  horses  and  ten  ships.228* 

*  China  was  at  this  time  divided  into  three  kingdoms,  called  Wei,  Shu,  and  Wu. 


16T9 


628  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

A.  D.  552.  Pe-tsi  sent  a  statue  of  Buddha  to  the  Japanese  court, 
and  also  Buddhistic  utensils  and  books ;  but  as  a 
contagious  disorder  broke  out  among  the  people  at 
this  time,  the  statue  was,  by  order  of  the  higher 
authorities,  sunk  in  the  river,  and  the  temple  built 
for  it  was  burned.* 2287  (Although  these  last  facts 
are  entered  under  the  year  552,  they  did  not  take 
place  until  585,  thirty-three  years  later.  See  the 
record  for  this  last-named  date.) 

A.  D.  553.  Two  colossal  statues  of  Buddha  were  made  by  high 
authority.2288 

A.  D.  562.  Ohodomono  Sadefiko  undertook  an  expedition  against 
Kao-li,  with  several  legions  of  men,  conquered  it, 
and  returned  to  Japan  with  rich  booty,  among  which 
were  many  books  in  the  departments  of  Chinese 
Buddhistic  and  medicinal  literature,  and  also  many 
images  of  Buddha,  and  musical  instruments.2289 

A.  D.  577.  The  king  of  Pe-tsi  sent  books  and  writings,  two  Bud 
dhist  priests,  a  nun,  and  a  sculptor.2290 

A.  D.  579.  Sin-ra  sent  tribute  ;  among  the  rest  an  image  of  Bud 
dha.2291 

A.  D.  584.  Two  Japanese,  Ka  fukano  wonnoko  and  Sae  'kino 
murazi,  brought  images  of  Buddha  from  Petsi. 
Sogano  Mumako  built  a  temple  in  which  they  were 
placed.  The  religion  of  Buddha  constantly  spread 
more  and  more  throughout  the  country.2292 

A.  D.  585.  A  contagious  disease  broke  out,  which  carried  off  a 
great  part  of  the  people.  Oho  murazi  Monono 
beno  juke  morija  gave  the  command  to  lay  the 
temple  of  Buddha  in  ashes,  and  to  throw  Buddha's 

*  The  following  account  is  given  in  another  place : 1683  This  embassy  pre 
sented  to  the  emperor  an  image  of  Buddha,  tents,  parasols,  and  the  classical  books 
of  the  religion  of  Buddha.  These  presents  were  very  agreeable  to  the  Dairi.  The 
minister  Ihame  attempted  fco  persuade  him  to  adore  this  god ;  but  Mono  no-be  no- 
oyosi  dissuaded  him,  saying,  "Our  kingdom  is  of  divine  origin,  and  the  Dairi 
already  has  many  gods  to  adore.  If  we  worship  those  of  foreign  countries,  our 
own  gods  will  be  angry."  Intimidated  by  this  argument,  the  Dairi  presented  the 
image  to  Iname,  who  with  joy  pulled  down  his  house,  and  constructed  upon  its 
site  the  temple  of  Hiang-yuan-szu.  Here  he  placed  the  idol,  and  constantly  paid 
his  worship  to  it.  It  is  from  this  time,  that  tlie  introduction  of  the  religion  of 
Sakya  (Buddha)  into  Japan  dates. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  629 

images  into  the  canal  Fori-je,  of  Naniva.  Three 
months  later  Sogano  MumaJco  asked  for  permis 
sion  to  profess  the  Buddhist  faith,  and  the  Mikado 
refused  to  give  his  consent.2293 

A.  D.  588.  The  minister  Mumdko  built  the  Buddhist  temple 
F6-Jci6-sl,  i.  e.,  the  Temple  of  the  Reception  of  the 
Law.22" 

A.  D.  590.  Several  nuns,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Sen  Sin,  "  the 
Virtuous,  the  Believing,"  came  from  Pe-tsi  to  Ja 
pan.2295 

A.  D.  593.  Prince  Mumajadono  miko  founded  the  Buddhist 
temple  called  the  "  Temple  of  the  Four  Heavenly 
Kings."2296 

A.  D.  594.  An  order  was  issued  to  extend  the  Buddhist  doctrine 
and  to  build  Buddhist  temples.2297 

A.  D.  603.  The  twelve  ranks  or  titles  of  nobility,  with  distin 
guishing  caps,  were  introduced.2299 

A.  D.  604.  Prince  Mumajadono  miko  composed  the  seventeen 
Buddhist  precepts,  and  introduced  innovations  in 
the  court  creemonies.2300 

A.  D.  608.  The  colossal  copper  image  of  Buddha  was  set  up  in 
the  Temple  of  the  Reception  of  the  Law.2301 

A.  D.  612.     Music  was  taught  for  the  first  time.2302 

A.  D.  624.  The  Buddhist  clergy  were  organized,  and  placed  un 
der  the  supervision  of  a  high-priest.  Mos 

A.  D.  625.  Kao-li  sent  the  Buddhist  priest  Jei  IKwan  to  Ja 
pan.2304 

A.  D.  708.  The  first  silver  was  received  from  the  province  of 
Musasi.  The  copper  mint  Wa-do-kai-tsin  was 
established.2305 

A.  D.  709.  A  law  was  established  against  the  private  coinage  of 
silver  money.2306 

A.  D.  749.  The  province  of  Mutsu  delivered  the  first  gold  to  the 
emperor.2307 

A.  D.  750.  The  prince  of  the  province  of  Suruga  brought  gold, 
which  he  had  found,  to  the  court  of  the  Mikado.8308 

A.  D.  760.  New  copper,  gold,  and  silver  mints  were  established 
and  set  in  operation.230* 

A.  D.  792.  The  learning  of  the  Chinese  language  according  to 
the  Han  dialect  was  commanded.2310 


630  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

A.  D.  861.     The  calendar  which  had  been  in  use  in  China  since 

821  was  introduced  into  Japan.2311 

A.  D.  1034.     The  study  of  the  Chinese  literature  became  a  means 
of  obtaining  a  livelihood."12 

Fortunately,  we  are  not  compelled  to  rely  upon  this  record 
alone  for  our  knowledge  of  the  early  condition  of  Japan.  Corea 
and  Japan  have  had  constant  relations  with  each  other  from  a 
date  prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era,  as  have 
also  Corea  and  China.  The  Chinese  must  have,  therefore,  had 
some  knowledge  of  Japan,  even  at  the  time,  in  the  year  57  A. 
D.,  when  the  first  recorded  embassy  from  that  country  visited  the 
Chinese  emperor.  After  that  date,  visits  back  and  forth  be 
tween  the  two  countries  were  of  frequent  occurrence. 

In  accordance  with  their  usual  custom,  the  Chinese  historians 
reduced  to  writing  such  information  regarding  the  country  as 
they  were  able  to  obtain,  and  as  they  thought  of  interest.  These 
accounts  were  collected  and  condensed  by  Ma  Twan-lin,  and  ex 
tracts  from  the  translation  of  his  work  made  by  M.  the  Marquis 
d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys  are  given  below.  It  may  be  pre 
mised  that  the  Chinese  author  arranged  his  authorities  in  chro 
nological  order,  and  the  first  statements  are  therefore  drawn  from 
the  oldest  authorities. 

The  country  of  Wo,  Japan,  is  southeast  of  the  country  of  the 
Han,  and  of  the  government  of  Tai-fang™  It  is  formed  of  a 
collection  of  islands  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  Great  Sea.  The 
distance  of  the  journey  to  it  from  the  districts  of  Lo-lang  or 
Tai-fang  is  about  twelve  thousand  li.*  It  contains  more  than  a 
hundred  kingdoms.  At  the  time  when  the  emperor  Wu-ti,  of  the 
Han  dynasty,  conquered  Chao-sien  (Corea),  more  than  thirty  of 
these  kingdoms  maintained  steadfast  relations  with  the  Chinese 
empire  by  embassies,  or  by  messages. 

Each  kingdom  has  its  hereditary  king.     The  great  king  of 

*  This  distance  seems  to  have  been  given  by  the  Coreans,  and  adopted  by  the 
Chinese.  M.  de  Rosny  thinks,  however,  that  he  has  found  the  original  document 
from  which  Ma  Twan-lin  drew  his  geographical  descriptions,  and  calls  attention  to 
a  variation  in  the  reading  which  gives  the  distance  of  one  of  the  divisions  of  the 
journey  (that  from  Kiu-ye-Jian  to  Tsu-sima)  as  one  thousand  li  instead  of  seven  thou 
sand.  This  correction  removes  most  of  the  confusion  regarding  the  length  of  the 
ft,  which  has  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  journey  to  Japan  was  described  as  being 
twelve  thousand  li  in  length.  See  d'Hervey's  "  Ethnography."— E.  P.  Y. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAX.  631 

Wo  resides  in  the  kingdom  of  Ye-yen-tai  (now  pronounced 
Ye-mo-toy  i.  e.,  Yamato),  which  kingdom  is  found  twelve  thou 
sand  li  from  the  frontiers  of  the  government  of  Lo-lang  and 
more  than  seven  thousand  li  from  the  kingdom  of  Kiu-ye-han 
(a  small  kingdom  situated  at  the  southeastern  extremity  of 
Corea),  which  is  toward  the  northwest.  Its  territory  is  almost  to 
the  east  of  Kuei-ki  and  Tong-ye.  It  is  near  Chu-yai  and  Tan- 
eul,  and  the  customs  and  laws  of  these  different  regions  are  very 
similar  to  each  other. 

The  soil  is  suitable  for  the  cultivation  of  rice  and  hemp,  and 
of  mulberries,  which  are  used  to  feed  silk-worms.  The  people 
know  how  to  spin  and  weave  ;  they  make  the  silk  cloth  called 
kien-pu.  They  have  white  pearls  and  green  jade.  Their  mount 
ains  furnish  cinnabar.  The  climate  is  temperate.  In  winter, 
as  in  summer,  they  reap  crops.  Neither  cattle,  horses,  panthers, 
sheep,  nor  fowls  are  seen. 

The  arms  of  the  Japanese  are  the  lance,  the  shield,  the 
wooden  bow,  and  bamboo  arrows,  the  heads  of  which  are  some 
times  made  of  bone.  All  the  men  have  the  face  marked  with 
black  spots,  and  the  body  tattooed.  According  as  the  tattooing 
is  upon  the  right  or  left  side,  large  or  small,  it  indicates  the 
nobility  or  the  humbler  position  of  the  person.  The  men  clothe 
themselves  by  placing  cloth  about  their  bodies  and  holding  it  to 
gether  by  means  of  knots.  The  women  at  first  let  their  hair  fall 
about  them,  and  then  coil  it  up  and  fasten  it  in  place.  Their 
robe  is  like  a  simple  covering,  or  piece  of  cloth,  with  a  hole 
through  which  the  head  is  passed.  They  smear  their  bodies 
with  a  red  powder,  just  as  the  Chinese  women  do  with  paint. 

The  Japanese  have  cities  surrounded  by  an  inclosure  of 
palisades  and  great  houses.  The  father,  the  mother,  the  elder 
brothers  and  the  younger  brothers  live  separately,  but  the  boys 
and  girls  show  themselves  freely  in  public.  They  eat  with 
their  fingers,  but  they  use  vases  similar  to  those  which  in  China 
are  called  pien-teu  (a  species  of  vases  made  of  bamboo).  It  is 
a  general  custom  with  them  to  go  barefoot.  They  do  not  con 
sider  it  impolite  to  sit  without  attention  to  their  position,  leaning 
upon  their  elbows  with  their  legs  extended,  or  even  holding 
their  knees  with  their  hands.  They  love  to  drink  wine.  They 
often  live  to  a  great  old  age,  many  of  them  being  more  than 
one  hundred  years  old.  In  their  country  there  are  many  girls 


032  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

(i.  e.,  more  girls  are  born  than  boys  ;  a  fact  said  to  be  true  at 
the  present  day).  The  great  personages  have  generally  four 
or  five  wives.  Others  possess  two  or  three.  The  women  are 
neither  debauched  nor  jealous.  The  men  are  not  inclined 
either  to  robbery  or  brigandage.  They  have  few  legal  forms. 
If  any  one  violates  the  law,  his  wife  and  children  are  reduced  to 
servitude.  If  the  crime  is  very  grave,  his  entire  race  is  extermi 
nated.  The  bodies  of  the  dead  are  preserved  for  ten  days  or 
more,  the  people  of  the  house  lamenting,  and  abstaining  from  eat 
ing  and  drinking  ;  then  their  friends  come  singing  and  dancing 
to  drive  away  their  sorrow.  The  bones  of  the  dead  are  burned, 
to  be  used  in  sorcery,  good  or  evil  omens  being  drawn  from 
them. 

The  sailors  take  with  them  a  man,  who  is  forbidden  to  comb 
or  wash  himself,  to  eat  food,  or  to  approach  any  woman.  This 
man  is  called  Chi-shuai.  If  the  voyage  is  fortunate,  he  is  re 
warded  with  rich  presents  ;  but  if  unfortunate,  if  they  have  met 
with  accidents,  or  suffered  from  disease,  it  is  thought  that  the 
Chi-shuai  has  not  been  attentive  to  his  duties,  and  they  all  join 
in  putting  him  to  death. 

In  the  year  A.  D.  57  the  kingdom  of  Japan  sent  an  embassador, 
bearing  its  homage,  and  its  felicitations,  and  carrying  presents. 
This  embassador  gave  himself  the  title  of  Ta-fu.  His  master 
resided  in  the  southern  portion  of  Japan.  The  emperor  Kwang- 
wu  gave  him  an  official  seal  with  its  silk  envelope. 

In  the  year  107  A.  D.  the  envoys  of  the  king  of  Japan,  named 
Shui  Shing,  came  offering  slaves  to  the  number  of  a  hundred 
and  sixty,  and  soliciting  an  audience  of  the  emperor. 

At  about  the  time  when  Hiao  Ling-ti  inherited  the  throne  of 
his  father  (168  A.  D.)  great  troubles  burst  upon  Japan.  Civil 
war  coloured  the  waves  with  blood,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
the  country  remained  in  a  state  of  anarchy.  There  was  then  a 
princess  named  Pi-mi-hu  (the  same  whom  the  Japanese  call  Zin- 
gu  Kwo-gu,  or  the  empress  Zin-gii).  When  she  became  of  age 
she  would  not  marry,  but  devoted  herself  to  the  worship  of 
demons  and  spirits,  and  astonished  the  people  with  her  sorceries  ; 
and  hence  they  all  recognized  her  as  their  queen.  She  had  a  thou 
sand  servants.  She  allowed  herself  to  be  seen  but  seldom,  and 
had  an  attendant  who  carried  food  to  her,  and  who  conveyed  her 
orders.  She  lived  in  a  palace  fortified  with  towers  several  stories 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAK 

in  height,  and  surrounded  by  palisades,  and  always  guarded  by 
soldiers.  Her  laws  were  severe. 

From  the  kingdom  of  this  queen,  in  an  easterly  direction,  and 
across  the  sea  at  a  distance  of  more  than  one  thousand  lit  the 
kingdom  of  Kiu-nu  was  to  be  found  ;  of  which  the  inhabitants, 
although  they  were  all  of  the  same  race  as  the  Japanese,  were 
nevertheless  not  submissive  to  the  authority  of  the  queen. 

From  the  kingdom  of  this  queen,  toward  the  south,  at  a  dis 
tance  of  more  than  four  thousand  li,  is  the  kingdom  of  Chu-ju,  of 
which  the  people  are  of  the  height  of  three  or  four  Chinese  feet. 
To  the  southeast  of  Chu-ju,  by  sailing  a  year,  the  Kingdom  of  Lo, 
or  the  Naked  People,  is  found,  and  the  Black-Teeth  Kingdom, 
countries  with  which  periodical  relations  have  been  maintained. 
No  one  has  ever  been  farther. 

Beyond  the  sea  of  Kwei-Jci  (the  sea  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Hoang-ho  or  the  Yang-tse-kiang  to  the  strait  of  Formosa,  now 
called  Tong-hai,  or  the  Eastern  Sea)  are  the  Tong-ti-jin*  (the 
Eastern  Fish-People).  They  form  more  than  two  thousand 
kingdoms. 

Y-cheu  and  Tan-cheuare  also  to  be  found.  Tradition  reports 
that  formerly  Tsin  Shi  Hwang  Ti  sent  a  priest,  of  the  name  of 
Sin-fw,  with  some  thousands  of  young  people,  boys  and  girls,  to 
explore  the  sea  and  seek  for  P'ung-lai,  the  home  of  the  immortals. 
Not  being  able  to  discover  this  marvelous  place,  and  fearing  the 
punishment  which  Tsin  Shi  Hwang  Ti  might  inflict  upon  him, 
Sin-fu  did  not  dare  to  return.  He  remained  in  the  islands  which 
bear  his  name.  In  the  course  of  generations  they  were  peopled 
with  several  scores  of  thousands  of  families,  and  from  time  to  time 
the  people  of  this  country  have  come  to  Kuei-ki  for  the  purposes 
of  commerce. 

It  is  also  stated  that  inhabitants  of  Kuei-ld  and  of  Tong-ye, 
sailing  upon  the  sea,  have  been  driven  by  the  winds  until  they 
reached  Tan-cheu  ;  but  the  distance  is  so  great  that  (as  a  rule) 
it  is  impossible  to  go  or  return. 

*  Williams,  p.  884,  defines  the  Tong-ti-jin  as  the  Chusan  Islanders.  D'llervey 
adds  this  note  :  "  Ma  Twan-lin  does  not  say  anything  more  about  these  people  ; 
but  if  we  remember  that  beyond  this  Eastern  Sea  there  is  the  Pacific  Ocean,  we 
may  suppose  that  this  term  is  used  to  designate  the  numerous  islanders,  as  to  which 
the  Chinese  lacked  precise  information,  although  they  were  not  ignorant  of  their 
existence  in  the  midst  of  the  Great  Sea." 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

(Plere  follow  the  accounts  of  a  country  situated  at  a  great 
distance  southwest  of  Japan  inhabited  by  naked  black  people,  as 
given  in  the  description  of  CHU-JU.  Also  the  accounts  of  WEN- 
SHIN — or  the  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies  " — and  Great  HAN.  ) 

We  read  in  the  "  Chronicles  of  the  Wei  Dynasty  "  :  "  To  reach 
Japan,  starting  from  the  government  of  Tai-fang,  the  coast 
should  be  followed.  The  country  of  the  Han  is  passed  and  left 
behind,  at  first  to  the  south,  and  then  to  the  west,  and  in  this 
way  the  northern  coast  is  reached,  where  the  country  of  Kiu-ye- 
han  is  situated.  After  having  gone  seven  thousand  lit  the  coun 
try  of  Tid-hai  is  reached.*  .  .  .  Then,  turning  to  the  south,  a 
sea  of  more  than  one  thousand  li,  called  the  Han-hai,  is  crossed 
(the  name  Han-hai  is  also,  according  to  M.  de  Rosny,  given  to 
an  island  situated  near  the  southern  coast  of  Corea),  and  a  great 
country  is  reached,  about  three  hundred  li  square.  .  .  .  Crossing 
a  sea  of  more  than  one  thousand  li,  the  country  of  Mo-lu  is 
reached.  .  .  .  Then,  going  by  land  about  five  hundred  li  to  the 
southeast,  the  country  of  Yn-tu  is  reached.  .  .  .  One  hundred 
li  to  the  southeast  is  the  kingdom  of  Nu.  One  hundred  li  to 
the  east  is  the  kingdom  of  Pu-mi.  ...  By  sailing  along  the 
southern  coast  for  twenty  days,  the  kingdom  of  Teu-ma  is 
reached.  .  .  .  Finally,  by  sailing  toward  the  south  for  ten  days, 
or  else  by  a  land  voyage  of  a  month,  the  kingdom  of  Ye-ma-y 
is  reached,  which  is  that  in  which  the  queen  resides.  From  the 
kingdom  of  this  queen,  toward  the  north,  the  population  and 
the  distances  are  known  with  approximate  accuracy,  but  those  of 
the  distant  kingdoms  situated  in  other  directions  are  not  accu 
rately  known.  The  kingdoms  which  are  known  are  those  of 
Sse-yen,  Ifi-pe-chi,  Y-ye,  Kiun-cTii^  Mi-nu,  Hao-ku-tu,  Pu-hu, 
Tsie-nu,  Tui-su,  Su-nu,  Hu-y,  Hoa-nu-su-nu,  JKicei,  Wei-u, 
Kwei-nu,  Ye-ma,  Kong-chin,  Pa-li,  Chi-wei,  U-nu,  and  J¥u, 
which  is  the  boundary  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  queen.  To  the 
south  of  this  last  kingdom  is  that  of  Kiu-mi.  It  is  governed  by 
a  king.  His  functionaries  are  called  I£eu-ku~clii-pi-keu.  From 

*  The  name  means  "a  country  which  faces  the  sea."  According  to  M.  de  Ros 
ny,  it  is  the  island  of  Tsu-sima.  See  a  former  note  for  an  account  of  a  varia 
tion  in  the  reading,  discovered  by  M.  de  Rosny,  in  what  he  thinks  to  be  the 
original  document  from  which  Ma  Twan-lin  drew  his  account,  which  reduces  the 
distance  from  Kiu-ye-han  to  Tsu-sima  to  one  thousand  li  instead  of  seven  thou 
sand. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  635 

the  capital  of  this  kingdom,  to  the  kingdom  of  the  queen  the  dis 
tance  is  at  least  twelve  thousand  U." 

The  titles  of  the  mandarins  or  officers  of  most  of  the  coun 
tries  above  named  are  then  given.  None  of  them  at  all  resemble 
the  titles  found  in  Fu-sang.  Next  in  order  come  accounts  of  the 
visits  of  embassies  from  Japan  to  China,  in  the  years  238,  242, 
246,  265,  some  time  between  the  years  397  and  418,  in  421,  425, 
444,  452,  463,  478,  and  at  later  dates. 

"A  great  number  of  the  men  and  women  have  the  back 
tattooed  in  black,  the  face  marked  in  the  same  way,  and 
the  entire  body  often  tattooed.  They  plunge  into  the  water 
to  fish.  They  have  no  writing,  but  merely  cut  certain  marks 
upon  wood,  arid  make  knots  in  cords  ;  but,  in  order  to  study 
the  Buddhist  religion,  books  were  brought  from  the  king 
dom  of  Pe-tsi,  and  they  thus  became  acquainted  with  written 
characters.  .  .  .  The  dead  are  inclosed  in  a  double  coffin. 
The  relatives  and  friends  come  singing  and  dancing  to  visit 
the  body.  The  wife,  the  children,  and  the  brothers  wear  mourn 
ing-garments  of  white  cloth.  .  .  .  Some  time  between  the 
years  581  and  588  A.  D.  a  Japanese  embassy  was  sent  to  China 
by  the  direct  maritime  route,  in  order  to  obtain  the  Buddhist 
books  called  *  The  Books  of  the  Flowers  of  the  Law.'  ...  In 
653  A.  D.  Lu-sse-tao  went  to  China  to  study  the  Buddhist  relig 
ion.  He  studied  three  years  under  the  bonze  Hiuen-chong, 
and  the  books  called  Lu-lun  were  given  him.  ...  In  701  a 
bonze  called  So-tien  was  sent  officially  to  China,  to  obtain  the 
Buddhist  books  of  which  Lu-sse-tao  had  previously  learned,  and 
his  mission  was  successful.  .  .  .  About  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century  an  embassy  was  sent  to  China,  which  included  several 
priests,  whose  mission  it  was  to  procure  a  complete  collection  of 
Buddhist  books,  and  to  learn  the  deepest  mysteries  of  the  doc 
trine  of  Fo." 

The  historians  of  the  empire  have  written  :  "  To  go  to  the 
kingdom  of  Japan,  setting  forth  from  Tai-fang,  the  kingdom  of 
Chao-sien  (Corea)  is  passed  ;  and  sailing  first  toward  the  south 
and  then  to  the  west,  three  seas  are  crossed,  and  seven  countries 
are  visited ;  and  after  having  traveled  a  total  distance  of  twelve 
thousand  li,  the  capital  is  reached." 

The  historians  say  again  :  "  In  order  to  reach  it  (the  capital  of 
Japan)  from  Lo-lang,  or  Tai-fang,  the  distance  from  either  is 


636  AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

twelve  thousand  li.  Japan  is  situated  to  the  east  of  Kwei-ki,  and 
it  is  not  very  far  from  Tan-eul.  The  route  is  therefore  extremely 
long  via  Leao-tong,  but  it  is  quite  short  by  the  direct  route, 
from  the  coast  of  Min  or  of  Che." 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  extracts  from  the  "  Ethnography  " 
of  Ma  Twan-lin,  the  following  statements,  derived  from  a  num 
ber  of  different  sources,  will  assist  in  throwing  light  upon  the 
state  of  affairs  in  Japan  during  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian 
era: 

Gold  was  first  discovered  and  melted  in  Japan  in  the  year 
749  A.  D.,  during  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Shomu  ; 1313  it  came 
from  the  department  of  Oda,  in  the  province  of  Oshiu,  and  in  the 
following  year  more  was  found  in  the  province  of  Suruga. 

Silver  ore  was  discovered  accidentally  in  the  year  667  A.  D., 
in  the  island  of  Tsu-sima  ;  this  ore  produced  the  first  Japanese 
silver  metal,  in  the  year  674. 

Loadstone  was  discovered  in  the  year  713,  in  the  province 
of  6mi.  The  exact  date  of  the  first  manufacture  of  iron  is  un 
known.  .  .  .  Japanese  legends  assert  that  the  first  sword  was 
forged  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Seijin  (97-30  B.  c.)  ;  but 
this  statement  is,  of  course,  open  to  considerable  doubt.  Copper 
was,  it  is  said,  smelted  in  Japan  for  the  first  time  in  the  year 
698,  at  Inaba,  in  the  province  of  Suwo  ;  and  in  the  year  708  the 
first  Japanese  copper  coin  was  cast  in  the  province  of  Musahi. 

We  read  in  the  history  of  Japan  called  Ni-pon  Ki:  "The 
third  year  of  the  reign  of  Ten-bu-ten-o,  white  silver  was  offered 
to  him,  the  seventh  day  of  the  third  month,  by  the  prince  of 
Tsu-sima.  It  is  the  first  time  that  the  mines  of  this  metal  had 
been  worked  in  the  empire." 1685  Klaproth  adds  to  this  transla 
tion  the  statement  that  it  is  from  this  time  that  the  use  of  silver 
in  Japan  dates. 

In  a  Japanese  work  entitled  "  Ko  Dou  Dzu  Roku,"  or  "  A 
Memoir  on  Smelting  Copper,"  it  is  said  that  for  about  a  thousand 
years  the  copper  from  every  district  was  chiefly  of  the  third  qual 
ity,  as  the  Japanese  had  not  learned  how  to  extract  the  silver ; 
so  that  they  might  be  called  deficient  in  manipulation.  This  is 
known  from  the  fact  that  if  broken  copper  utensils,  made  in  the 
reign  of  Tenshei,  and  before  him,  be  smelted,  silver  can  always 
be  extracted  from  them.  The  silver  used  in  those  days  was  all 
obtained  from  mines.  At  the  end  of  Tenshei's  reign  certain  for- 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  637 

eign  merchants  came  to  Sakai,  in  the  country  of  Shen,  and  taught 
the  mode  of  extracting  silver  to  Sumitomo  Zhiyusai ;  this  was 
in  the  year  1591.1015 

In  1708  an  influential  minister  of  Japan  brought  the  subject 
of  the  currency  before  the  government,  in  an  able  memorial,  of  a 
portion  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation  :  "A  thousand 
years  ago,  gold,  silver,  and  copper  were  unknown  in  Japan,  yet 
there  was  no  want  of  necessaries.  The  earth  was  fertile,  and  this 
is  undoubtedly  the  most  desirable  species  of  wealth.  After  the 
discovery  of  these  metals,  the  use  of  them  spread  but  slowly,  and 
so  late  as  the  time  of  Gongin  they  were  still  very  rare.  That 
prince  was  the  first  who  caused  the  mines  to  be  diligently 
wrought.  ...  In  ancient  times,  as  I  have  said,  when  the  people 
were  unacquainted  with  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  they  knew  no 
want,  and  were  good  and  virtuous.  Since  those  metals  were  dis 
covered,  the  heart  of  man  has  become  daily  more  and  more  de 
praved."  1004 

From  a  statement  made  by  Fischer,1025  it  appears  that  even  at 
a  comparatively  recent  date  the  Japanese  did  not  understand 
the  art  of  separating  gold-dust  from  the  sands  of  the  rivers 
which  contained  it. 

The  art  of  writing  did  not  exist  in  Japan  before  the  reign  of 
the  Mikado  O-zin  (270  to  312  A.  D.).2156  It  is  stated  that  it  was 
in  the  year  284  1554  that  a  prince  of  Corea  brought  the  first  knowl 
edge  of  the  art,  and  that  immediately  after,  the  tutor  to  that 
prince,  a  Chinese,  named  Wang  Shin,  having  been  invited,  the 
Japanese  courtiers  applied  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  Chinese 
language  and  literature.  According  to  the  Japanese  historians, 
Wang  Shin  was  the  first  teacher  of  the  Chinese  language  in 
Japan.  He  brought  the  Lun  yu  (one  of  the  books  of  Confucius) 
and  other  books,  which  he  presented  to  the  emperor,  whose  son  he 
taught  to  read  and  write.  Then  were  also  introduced  the  arts  of 
spinning,  weaving,  and  sewing.  He  came  from  the  kingdom  of 
Wuy  in  Southern  China.  Since  his  time  the  ideographic  characters 
of  the  Chinese  have  remained  in  use  in  Japan  ;  .  .  .  but  as  the 
construction  of  the  Japanese  language  differs  materially  from 
that  of  the  Chinese,  the  syllabaries,  called  kata-kana  and^ra- 
Jcana,  were  invented  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighth  cent 
ury.1880 

In  China,  silk  or  cloth  was  used  for  writing  before  paper  was 


638  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

made.  This  was  invented  by  Ts'ai  King-chung,  alias  Ts'ai  Lun, 
about  A.  D.  100,  who  made  it  of  the  bark  of  the  Broussonetia, 
old  rags,  and  fishing-nets,  all  cut  and  rasped  together.2584 

In  Japan,  however,  the  introduction  of  writing-paper  dated 
from  the  reign  of  the  Mikado  Sui-Jco  (593  to  628),  with  which 
an  embassy  bearing  presents  had  been  sent  from  the  kingdom 
of  Kao-li  (in  Corea) ;  but  this  paper  lacked  solidity  and  was  bored 
by  insects.  The  hereditary  prince  therefore  tried  the  black  mul 
berry  (Broussonetia),  which  has  since  continued  to  be  the  chief 
material  used  in  the  manufacture  of  Japanese  paper.2160 

The  tree  from  which  paper  is  made 1035  is  the  Broussonetia 
papyrifera^  commonly  known  as  the  paper-mulberry.  The 
Chinese  call  it  |ff,  CH'U,  or,  more  specifically,  $g  ||,  CH'U  SANG.  A 
coarse  kind  of  cloth  is  also  made  of  it  by  the  Coreans,  but  the 
paper  itself  is  much  used  for  garments.2529 

Among  the  titles  applied  to  the  rulers  and  noblemen  of 
Japan  are  "  Mikado "  and  "  Siogoun."  The  potentate  bearing 
the  first  of  these  two  titles  is  also  designated  by  a  great  number 
of  others  :  among  them  being  Kubo,  Kubo  sama  (i.  e.,  "  Lord 
Kubo  "),  Kinri  Wori  or  Wori  sama,  Dairi,  Sora  Mikado,  and 
Kinri.  The  Siogoun  is  also  called  Tenka  or  Tenka sama™'* and 
the  title  Kubo  is  also  sometimes  applied  to  him.1030  Tylcoon, 
Itoogih,  Daimio,  and  Hata  moto  are  terms  applied  to  various 
grades  of  Japanese  officials,1943  as  are  also  Koku-sU,  Sai-mio,  and 
Kie-nin™ 

As  the  fact  that  a  certain  region  of  Japan  was  known  as 
"the  Country  of  Women"  has  been  considered  to  add  some 
weight  to  the  theory  that  the  country  visited  by  Hwui  Shan  was 
situated  in  Japan,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  learn  to  what  portion  of 
the  kingdom  this  name  was  applied,  and  the  reason  of  the  desig 
nation. 

At  about  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era,  the 
Japanese  Dairi  sent  his  officer,  called  "  the  Prince  of  the  War 
riors  of  Japan,"  to  crush  out  an  insurrection  of  the  Eastern 
Barbarians.  While  at  sea,  he  was  assailed  by  a  great  tempest, 
and  one  of  his  wives,  believing  the  god  of  the  sea  to  be  angry 
with  him,  threw  herself  into  the  sea  to  appease  him,  and  the  tem 
pest  ceased.  Afterward  the  prince,  when  he  came  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain  called  Hsu  fi  toghe,  from  which  there  is  a 
beautiful  view  to  the  south  and  east,  recalled  the  death  of  his 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  (539 

wife,  and  cried  with  a  deep  sigh  "Akatsuma"  (i.  e.,  "my  wife," 
"  ma  femme  "),  and  hence  the  eastern  provinces  of  the  empire 
received  the  name  of  "  Atsuma,"  or  "  the  Country  of  Women." 1676 
With  the  foregoing  information  as  to  the  early  history  of 
Japan,  we  are  now  prepared  to  consider  the  question  whether  this 
could  by  any  possibility  have  been  the  country  which  Hwui 
Shan  visited,  and  of  which  he  attempted  to  give  a  description. 
The  following  facts  seem  to  make  this  theory  wholly  incredible  : 

1.  Japan  was  not  an  unknown  country,  or  land  of  mystery,  as 
to  which  marvelous  tales  would  be  likely  to  be  told.     It  had  had 
relations  with  Corea  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  had  sent  an  embassy  to  China  in  57  A.  D.,  fully  four  cent 
uries  before  the  party  of  Buddhist  priests  mentioned  by  Hwui 
Shan  started  on  their  travels.     Since  that  time  the  visits  back 
and  forth  had  been  numerous,  and  the  Chinese  of  the  fifth  cent 
ury  were  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  its  history,  and  its 
customs. 

2.  Fu-sang  was  said  to  be  situated  twenty  thousand  li  easterly 
from  the  country  of  Great  Han  (or  rather,  as  is  shown  by  other 
statements,  southeasterly).     This  was  five  thousand  li  or  more 
east  of  the  country  of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  which  in  turn  was  seven 
thousand  li  or  more  northeasterly  from  Japan.     How  can  it  be 
believed  that  a  traveler,  starting  from  Japan,  going  seven  thou 
sand  li  to  the  northeast,  then  five  thousand  li  to  the  east,  and 
then  twenty  thousand  li  to  the  east  or  southeast,  would  at  the 
end  of  his  journey  find  himself  in  Japan,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  district  from  which  he  had  set  out  ?    If  Great  Han  was 
twelve  thousand  li  from  Japan,  how  could  Japan  be  twenty 
thousand  /*  from  Great  Han  ?    It  should  also  be  remembered  that 
Ma  Twan-lin  expressly  declares  that  Japan  is  situated  directly 
to  the  east  of  China,  and  that  Fu-sang  is  situated  directly  east  of 
Japan,  and  at  a  distance  of  thirty  thousand  li  from  China.    (This 
is  in  a  direct  line,  while  the  total  distance  of  forty-four  thousand 
li,  which  was  traveled  in  going  from  one  country  to  the  other, 
shows  that  the  route  was  indirect.) 

3.  The  most  reliable  histories  of  Japan  emphatically  deny 
that  their  country  was  ever  called  Fu-sang,  or  that  any  such  region 
as  that  described  by  Hwui  Shan  was  ever  to  be  found  in  it. 

4.  A  country  which  lay  both  to  the  east  of  Great  Han  (a 
country  twelve  thousand  li  northeasterly  from  Japan)  and  to  the 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

east  of  China,  must  have  been  of  great  extent,  or  else  situated  at 
a    great  distance,  or  both,  and  hence  could  not  have  been  a 
province  of  any  of  the  islands  constituting   the  kingdom   of 
,       Japan. 

5.  The  country  visited  by  Hwui  Shan  derived  its  name  from 
a  wonderful  plant  or  tree  growing  there.     Neither  Japan  nor 
any  of  its  districts  derived  its  name  from  any  plant  or  tree,  and 
nothing  at  all  answering  to  the  fu-sang  tree  is  found  in  that 
country.     The  only  tree  which  answers  the  description  in  any 
respect   is   the  CH'U   SAXG,    or  paper-mulberry,    and,    although 
the   people  now  make  paper  from  its  bark,  this  art  was   not 
known  until  at  least  a  century  after  the  days  of  our  Buddhist 
priests.     Furthermore,  its  first  sprouts  do  not  in  the  most  re 
mote  degree  resemble  those  of  the  bamboo,  and  the  people  never 
eat  them.     Its  fruit  is  not  a  red  pear,  and  no  fruit  of  the  kind 
is  found  in  the  country. 

6.  The  Japanese  were  not  destitute  of  citadels  and  walled 
cities,  or  of  military  weapons  or  armour,  and  they  were  almost 
constantly  engaged  in  military  enterprises. 

7.  Although  they  had  some  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  char 
acters,  they  had  no  system  of  writing  of  their  own  until  some 
centuries  later. 

8.  The  titles  of  the  ruler  and  of  his  nobility  do  not  in  any 
way  resemble  those  of  the  kingdom  of  Fu-sang. 

9.  Although  they  probably  knew  something  of  the  value  of 
gold  and  silver,  they  mined  none  themselves  and  they  had  no 
copper.     They  probably  had  iron,  or  at  least  knew  something 
about  it,  and  about  sabers  and  shields  made  from  it,  several 
centuries  before. 

10.  It  was  their  custom  to  wear  mourning-garments. 

11.  Although  there  was  a  region  of  Japan  which  was  some 
times  called  the  Country  of  Women,  this  region  was  well  known, 
and  did  not  contain   any  such   inhabitants  or  plants  as  those 
described  by  Hwui  Shan. 

12.  The  strongest  argument  against  the  location  of  Fu-sang 
in  America — that  it  is  said  that  horse-carts,  cattle-carts,  and  deer- 
carts  are  found  in  the  country — may  be  urged  with  equal  force 
against  the   identification   of  that   country  with  Japan.      Ma 
Twan-lin  states  distinctly  that  neither  cattle  nor  horses  were 
raised  in  the  country,  and,  up  to  the  present  day,  carts  or  wagons 


THE  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  641 

are  not  used,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  a  road  in  the 
country  upon  which  they  could  be  used. 

13.  Nothing  at  all  corresponding  to  the  southern   and  north 
ern  place  of  confinement ;  to  the  great  assembly  of  the  people  to 
judge  a  guilty  nobleman  ;  to  the  infliction  of  the  death -penalty 
by  smothering  in  ashes  ;  to  the  change  of  the   colour  of  the 
king's  garments  from  year  to  year  ;  to  the   use   of   immense 
horns  ;  to  the  practice  of  raising  deer,  or  to  the  peculiar  method 
of  courtship  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan — has  ever  been  stated  to 
exist  in  Japan. 

14.  Perhaps  the  most  convincing  proof,  however,  that  Japan 
and  Fu-sang  could  not  possibly  have  been  the  same  country,  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  Buddhist  religion  was  introduced  into 
Fu-sang  in  458  A.  D.,  while  the  testimony  is  uniform  and  over 
whelming  that  it  was  not  until  the  year  552  that  the  first  knowl 
edge  of  the  Buddhist  religion  reached  Japan. 

If  the  argument  is  made  that  Fu-sang  was  situated  in  some 
remote  region  of  Japan,  not  then  under  the  sovereignty  of  the 
ruler  of  that  country,  and  which  had  not  previously  been  visited 
by  the  Chinese,  or  by  the  natives  of  the  known  portion  of  Japan, 
the  facts  that  the  people  of  Fu-sang  were  acquainted  with  the  art 
of  making  paper,  with  the  use  of  copper,  and  with  the  doctrines 
of  the  Buddhist  religion,  will  be  sufficient  to  overthrow  the  argu 
ment  ;  for  it  can  hardly  be  believed  that  any  wild  tribe  in  a 
remote  corner  of  the  country  can  have  been  further  advanced  in 
civilization  than  the  people  of  the  great  empire  of  Japan,  who 
for  many  centuries  had  visited,  and  been  visited  by,  the  people 
of  the  Asiatic  Continent. 

As  the  hypothesis  that  Fu-sang  was  a  portion  of  Japan  seems 
to  be  wholly  untenable,  we  are  therefore  thrown  back  upon  the 
theories  that  Fu-sang  was  situated  in  America,  or  else  that  Hwui 
•Shan  invented  the  whole  story.  This  last  hypothesis  is  incredible 
to  one  who  will  read  his  account  with  any  care.  The  motives  which 
led  to  his  journey,  the  credence  which  he  succeeded  in  obtaining 
from  all  to  whom  he  told  his  story,  the  so-called  "  silk  "  and  the 
strange  mirror  that  he  brought  back  with  him,  the  lack  of  the 
marvelous  or  impossible  in  his  tale,  the  numerous  little  points  in 
which  his  account  is  just  such  as  would  have  been  given  by  an 
eye-witness,  and  which  no  impostor  has  ever  been  able  to  success 
fully  imitate,  all  place  it  beyond  question  that  he  had  been  some- 
41 


642  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

where,  and  that  he  attempted  to  give  a  truthful  account  of  the 
land  that  he  had  found. 

This  country  must  have  been  either  in  Japan  or  America. 
It  is  evident  that  it  was  not  in  Japan.  No  explanation  of  his 
story  is  therefore  left  us  except  that  he  had  actually  visited 
America. 

Before  concluding  this  work,  the  inquiry  may  be  made  whether 
the  Chinese  had  any  earlier  or  other  knowledge  of  America  than 
that  given  them  by  Hwui  Shan.  It  seems  unquestionable  that 
they  had  some  earlier  knowledge  of  a  land  which  they  called 
Fu-sang  :  but  I  hope  to  be  able  to  show  that  this  was  a  different 
country  ;  that  it  took  its  name  from  the  plantain  or  banana  tree 
(called  pisang  by  the  Malays),  and  that  it  was  situated  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  or  in  some  of  the  islands  in  their  neighbour 
hood,  southeast  of  China.  As,  with  the  exception  of  the  extracts 
translated  by  M.  the  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  the  prin 
cipal  account  of  this  land  of  Fu-sang  is  found  in  the  SHAN  HAI 
KING,  or  Chinese  "  Classic  of  Mountains  and  Seas,"  I  have  at 
tempted  to  translate  all  that  part  of  the  work  which  relates  to 
the  regions  east  of  China.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  some 
errors  will  probably  be  found  in  the  translation,  by  those  who  are 
more  conversant  than  myself  with  the  Chinese  language.  Never 
theless,  as  no  one  else  has  undertaken  to  translate  it,  and  as  it 
seemed  important  that  some  light  should  be  thrown  upon  the 
knowledge  possessed  by  the  Chinese  regarding  the  countries  lying 
east  of  them,  I  have  ventured  to  do  the  best  that  I  could  with  it, 
believing  that  I  could  at  least  give  a  correct  general  idea  of  the 
work,  and  that  -those  who  are  able  to  rectify  my  errors  will  most 
deeply  appreciate  the  disadvantages  under  which  I  have  la 
boured,  and  will  be  disposed  to  view  with  leniency  such  mistakes 
as  I  may  make. 

This  translation  will  be  found  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 

THE    CHINESE 

Preface — SUH-CHU  Mountain — The  Mountain  of  Creeping  Plants — Aspen  Mountain 
— Hairy  birds — The  Foreign  Range — KAN  fish — KU-MAO,  KAO-SHI,  Lofty, 
Wolf,  Lone,  Bald,  and  Bamboo  Mountains — K'CNG-SANG,  TS'AO-CHI,  YIH-KAO, 
and  Bean  Mountains — An  excessively  high  peak — TU-FU,  KANG,  LU-K'I — 
KU-SHE,  Green  Jade-stone,  WEI-SHI,  KU-FUNG,  FC-LI,  and  YIN  Mountains — 
SHI-HU,  K'I,  CHU-KEU,  Middle  Fu,  HU-SHE,  MANG-TSZ',  K'I-CHUNG,  MEI-YU,  and 
WU-KAO  Mountains — The  Fu-Tree  (or  FU-SANG) — North  HAO,  MAO,  Eastern 
SHI,  NU-CHINO,  K'IN,  TSZ'-TUNG,  YEN,  and  T'AI  Mountains— The  CHA  Hill— 
The  Great  Men's  Country — SHE-PI'S  body — The  Country  of  Refined  Gentlemen 
— HUNG-HUNG — The  Valley  of  the  Manifestation  of  the  Dawn — The  Green  Hills 
Country — The  journey  of  SHU-HAI — The  Black-Teeth  Country — The  Warm 
Springs  Ravine — FU-SANG — The  Place  where  the  Ten  Suns  bathe — An  ac 
count  of  the  Ten  Suns — Yu-sm's  concubine — The  Black-Hip  Country — The 
Hairy  People's  Country — A  boat  upon  the  sea-shore — The  Distressed  Peo 
ple's  Country — K'EU-WANS — A  great  valley — SHAO-HAO — PI-MU-TI  Hill — Place 
where  the  Sun  and  Moon  rise — The  Great  Men's  Country — Giants  and  dwarfs 
—The  Great  People's  Market— The  Little  People— KUEH  Mountain— The 
Country  of  Plants — HOH-HU  Mountain — The  Mountain  of  the  Eastern  Pass — 
The  Mountain  of  the  Bright  Star— The  White  People's  Country— The  Green 
Hills  Country— The  Nation  of  Courteous  Vassals— The  Black-Teeth  Country- 
Summer  Island — The  KAI-YU  Country — CHEH-TAN  and  the  Place  of  the  Rising 
of  the  Sun — YU-KWOH — Quaking  Mountain — The  Black-Hip  Country — The 
Needy  Tribe — King  HAI — NU-CHEU — YEH-YAO-KIUN-TI  Mountain — The  Fu- 
tree — Warm  Springs  Valley — I-T'IEN-SU-MAN  Mountain — The  YIXG  Dragon — 
The  Mountain  of  the  Flowing  Waves. 

THE  CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS. 

PEEFACE. 

THE  edition  of  the  (book  written  by  Confucius  entitled) 
"  Spring  and  Autumn,"  which  was  edited  by  Ltf-SHi,  says  that 
(the  domain  of  the  emperor)  Yti  (who  reigned  about  2205  B.  c.) 
reached  on  the  east  to  the  "  Country  of  the  Fu-tree,"  the  nine 
"  Places  where  the  Sun  Rises,"  the  "  Green  Shepherds'  Plains,"  the 


AN  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"  Land  of  Numerous  Trees,"  the  "  Mountain  which  Touches  Heav 
en,"  the  "  Valley  of  Birds,"  the  "  Region  of  the  Green  Mounds," 
and  the  "  Black-Teeth  Country." 

THE  CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS. 

FOUKTH    BOOK. 

The  Classic  of  the  Eastern  Mountains. 

1.  The  beginning  of  the  "  Classic  of  the  Eastern  Mountains  " 
says  that  SUH-CHU  Mountain*  on  its  northern  side  adjoins  KAN- 
MEI  Mountain  (or  Sunless  Mountain),  f  SHIH  River  (or  "  drinkable 
water  ")  is  found  here,  a  stream  that  flows  northeasterly  into  the 
sea.     In  it  there  are  many  water  animals  called  YUNG-TUNG. 
These  look  like  brindled  cattle  [i.  e.,  they  resemble  cattle  that 
are  striped  like  tigers].     Their  voices  sound  like  the  grunting  of 
swine. 

2.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  II  to  the  south,  LEI  Mount 
ain  (or  the  Mountain  of  Creeping  Plants)  is  to  be  found.     Upon 
this  there  are  gems  and  below  it  there  is  gold.   Hu  River  is  found 
here,  a  stream  that  flows  easterly  into  SHIH  River.     In  this  there 
are  many  HWOH-SHI.     [These  are  tadpoles  ;  the  book  entitled 
the  RH'-YA  calls  them  HWOH-TUNG.] 

3.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  KEU-CHWANG 
Mountain  (or  Aspen  Mountain)  is  to  be  found.     Upon  this  there 
are  many  gems  and  much  gold,  and  below  it  many  green  jade- 
stones.     Wild  animals  are  found  there  which  look  like  dogs  with 
six  legs.     These  are  called  TS'UNG-TS'UNG,  the  name  being  given 
them  in  imitation  of  their  cry.     Birds  are  also  found  there  which 
look  like  domestic  fowls,  but  which  have  hair  like  a  rat.     These 
are  called  TSZ'  rats.     When  they  are  seen,  the  country  is  subject 

*The  character  translated  "mountain,"  in  this  and  other  cases,  may  mean 
"island"  instead  of  "mountain."  All  islands  are  described  as  "hills"  or 
"  mountains,"  under  the  terms  SHAN  and  TAU.  (See  F.  Porter  Smith's  "  Vocab.  of 
Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  66.) 

f  The  words  included  in  parentheses  (  )  are  possible  variations  in  the  transla- 
tion,  or  additions  necessary  to  complete  the  sense.  Those  included  in  brackets 
[  ]  are  notes  by  the  Chinese  commentator,  in  the  original  work.  The  paragraphs 
are  not  numbered  in  the  original,  numbers  being  used  in  the  translation  for  con 
venience  of  reference.  Many  of  the  following  notes  have  little  or  no  bearing  on 
the  work ;  but  it  was  thought  best  to  give  everything  that  the  translator  could  find 
which  could  be  of  any  possible  aid. 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    645 

to  great  drought.  The  CHI  River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing 
northerly  into  Hu  River.  In  this  there  are  many  lancet-fish. 
These  are  of  a  dark  colour,  spotted  (or  striped)  with  blue,  and 
have  a  bill  like  a  lancet.  [These  were  originally  found  in  the 
Eastern  Sea,*  and  they  are  now  found  in  the  KIANG-TUNG  f  River 
also.]  Those  who  eat  them  are  not  subject  to  epidemic  diseases. 

4.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  PUH-T'SAN 
Mountain  is  found.     It  has  no  grass  or  trees,  and  no  water. 

5.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  FAN-T'IAO 
Mountain  (or  the  Foreign  Range)  is  to  be  found.    It  has  no  grass 
or  trees,  but  has  much  sand.    The  KIEN  J  (Diminishing)  River  is 
found  here,  a  stream  flowing  northerly  into  the  sea.     In  this 
there  are  many  KAN  fish.     (The  KAN  fish  is  described  as  a  fish 
three  feet  long,  that  is  found  in  the  YANG-TSZ'  River,  having  a 
large  mouth  and  yellowish  gills,  and  a  greenish  back.)     [One 
authority  names  these  "  the  yellow-jawed  fish."] 

6.  And  it  says  that,  four  hundred  li  to  the  south,  KU-MAO 
Mountain  (or  the  Mountain  of  the  Maiden)  is  found.    Upon  this 
there  are  many  lacquer-trees,  and  below  it  many  mulberry-trees, 
and  silk-worm  oaks.    KU-MAO  River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flow 
ing  northerly  into  the  sea,  in  which  there  are  many  KAN  fish. 

7.  And  it  says  that,  four  hundred  li  to  the  south,  KAO-SHI  * 
Mountain  is  to  be  found.     Upon  this  there  are  many  gems  and 
below  it   many  sharp  stones.      [From   these  they  are   able  to 
make  smooth  lancets  to  cure  boils  and  swellings.]     CHU-SHING 
River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing  easterly  into  a  marsh,  and 
in  it  there  are  many  gems  and  much  gold. 

8.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  YOH  ||  (Lofty) 
Mountain  is  found.     Upon  this  there  are  many  mulberry-trees, 

*  The  "  Eastern  Sea  "  is  the  sea  off  the  southeast  coast  of  China.   (See  "  Yocab. 
of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  58.) 

f  KIANG-TUXG  is  a  term  applied  to  the  right  bank  of  the  river  YANG-TSZ'  in  its 
course  through  HU-PEH.  This  name  is  also  applied  to  SU-CHAU.  ("  Yocab.  of  Chin. 
Prop.  Names,"  p.  20.) 

\  There  is  a  river  in  CHIH-LI  bearing  this  name.    (See  Williams's  Diet.,  p.  383.) 

*  KAO-SHI  was  the  name  of  a  man  who  usurped  the  kingdom  of  Corea,  during 
the  HAN  dynasty  (between  202  B.  c.  and  25  A.  D.),  and  named  it  after  himself. 
("  Vocab.  of  Chinese  Prop.  Names,"  p.  17.) 

|  This  is  a  term  applied  to  five  mountains  in  China,  the  easternmost  one  being 
the  T'AI  Mountain,  in  SHAN-TUNG,  mentioned  a  little  farther  on.  (See  Williams's 
Bict.,  p.  1117.) 


646  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  below  it  many  ailantus-trees.  LOH  *  River  is  found  here,  a 
stream  flowing  easterly  into  a  marsh,  and  in  it  there  are  many 
gems  and  much  gold. 

9.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  Wolf  Mount 
ain  is  to  be  found.     Upon  this  there  is  no  grass  and  there  are 
no  trees,  and  below  it  there  is  much  water  (or  there  are  many 
streams),  in  which  there  are  many  KAN-TSZ'  fish.    [These  are  not 
fully  described.]     They  have  wild  animals,  which  look  like  the 
(quadrumana,  called)  KW'A-FU,  but  they  have  hair  like  that  of 
swine,  and  their  voice  is  like  an  expiration  of  the  breath.     When 
these  are  seen,  then  heaven  sends  down  great  rains. 

10.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  Lone 
Mountain  is  found.     Upon  this  there  are  many  gems  and  much 
gold,  and  below  it  many  beautiful  stones.     MOH-T'U  (Muddy) 
River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing  southeasterly  into  a  mighty 
flood,  in  which  there  are  many  T'IAO-YUNG.     These  look  like  yel 
low  serpents  with  fish's  fins.     They  go  out  and  in.     They  are 
bright  (or  smooth).     When  these  are  seen,  then  that  region  is 
subject  to  great  drought. 

11.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  TCAI  f 
(Bald)  Mountain  is  found.     [Then  the  mountain  was  called  the 
Eastern  YOH  or  T'AI-TSUNG,  which  is  now  called  T'AI  Mountain. 
It  is  in  the  northwestern  part  of  FUNG-KAO  district,  and  the  dis 
tance  from  the  foot  of  the  mountain  to  its  summit  is  forty-eight 
li  and  three  hundred  paces.]     Upon  this  there  are  many  gems, 
and  below  it  there  is  much  gold.     Wild  animals  are  found  here 
which  look  like   sucking  pigs,  but   they  have   pearls.      They 
are  called  TUNG-TUNG,  their  name  being  given  them  in  imita 
tion  of  their  cry.      The  HWAN  J  River  is  found  here,  a  stream 
flowing  easterly  into  a  river  (or  into  the  river,  i.e.,  the  YANG- 
TSZ'  River  ).*     [One  authority  says  that  it  flows  into  the  sea.] 
In  this  there  are  many  water-gems  (quartz  crystals). 

*  This  is  the  name  of  a  river  near  the  city  of  TSI-NAN  in  the  north  of  SHAN 
TUNG.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  554.) 

f  This  is  the  high  peak  in  T'AI-NGAN  FU,  in  SHAN-TUNG.  (See  Williams's  Diet., 
p.  848.) 

t  There  is  a  district  known  as  the  HWAN  district,  among  the  mountains  in 
the  east  of  KAN-SUH,  on  a  branch  of  the  River  KING.  (See  Williams's  Diet.,  p. 
245.)  There  are  several  rivers  in  China  named  KING  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  405), 
and  the  "  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names  »  (p.  22)  states  that  the  name  is  applied  to 
the  YAXG-TSZ'  River  for  a  part  of  its  length.  «  See  Williams's  Diet.,  p.  362. 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC   OF  MOUNTAINS  AND   SEAS."    647 

12.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  Bamboo 
Mountain  is  found,  bordering  on  a  river  (or  the  river).     [One 
authority  says  that  it  is  on  the  shore— or  that  it  is  at  the  bound 
ary-line.  ]     There  is  no  grass  or  trees,  but  there  are  many  green- 
jasper  and  green-jade  stones.     The  Km  *  River  (or  water  im 
peded  in  its  course  by  rocks)  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing 
southeasterly  into  TS'U-TAN  River  (or  body  of  water).     In  this 
(country)  there  is  a  great  abundance  of  dye-plants. 

13.  The  first  section  of  the  "  Classic  of  the  Eastern  Mount 
ains  "  thus  gives  the  entire  distance  along  the  twelve  mountains, 
from  SUH-CHU  Mountain  to  Bamboo  Mountain,  as  three  thousand 
six  hundred  li.     Their  gods  all  have  human  bodies  and  dragons' 
heads.     When  they  are  offered  a  sacrifice  of  animals  having  hair, 
a  dog  is  used.     In  other  sacrifices  the  blood  of  a  fish  is  used  to  be 
smear  the  things  offered.     [To  use  blood  in  besmearing  the  things 
offered  in  sacrifice  is  called  "NI."     KUNG- YANG'S  "Chronicles" 
say  that  in  offering  sacrifices  of  creatures  having  flesh  and  blood, 
to  the  god  of  the  land,  and  of  grain,  they  besmear  with  blood  the 
being  that  is  sacrificed.     The  name  of  this  species  of  sacrifice  is 
pronounced  "  NI."] 

1.  THE  beginning  of  the  second  section  of  the  "  Eastern  Clas 
sic  "  says  that  KCUNG-SANG  Mountain  (or  the  Mountain  of  the 
Empty  Mulberry-Trees)  on  the  northern  side  adjoins  the  Sum 
River.  [This  mountain  rises  from  the  KIN-SEH  Forest  (the  For 
est  of  Lutes  and  Lyres) — see  the  book  called  "  CHEU-LI."]  On 
the  eastern  side  (it  adjoins  the  states  of)  Tsii  f  and  Wu  ;  \  on  the 
southern  side  a  number  of  sandy  mounds,  and  on  the  western  side 

*  A  country  to  the  south  of  FU-NAN,  whose  people  usurped  the  kingdom  of 
FU-NAN,  was  called  the  Km  country.  (See  "Vocab.  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  21.) 

f  Tsu  is  the  name  of  an  affluent  of  the  YANG-TSZ'  River,  west  of  K'ING-CHAU 
FU,  in  HU-PEH  ;  a  branch  of  the  river  HAN,  and  the  name  of  an  ancient  district 
near  their  basins,  now  the  extreme  south  of  SHEN-SI  in  HAN-CHUNG  FC  ;  also  a 
branch  of  the  River  WEI  in  Western  SHEX-SI,  which  it  joins  near  LIN-TUNG  HIEN. 
(Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1009.) 

\  AVu  was  the  eastern  of  the  "  Three  States,"  A.  D.  250,  comprising  CHEH-KIANG, 
and  extending  north  and  west.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1060.)  Wu,  in  Confucius's 
time,  included  the  north  of  CHEH-KIANG  (IIu-CHAU,  YEN-CHAU,  and  KIA-HING-CHAU) 
Province,  and  the  southern  part  of  KIANG-SU.  In  the  triarchy  of  the  "  Three 
States  "it  included  the  SAN-KIANG  Provinces,  or  61  prefectures.  The  kingdom 
of  Wu  was  merged  into  that  of  the  conquering  state  of  YUEH  in  the  same  prov 
inces.  ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  62.) 


64:8  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  MIN  (or  Muddy)  Marsh.  Here  there  are  wild  animals  which 
look  like  cattle,  but  which  are  striped  like  tigers.  Their  voices 
resemble  the  sound  of  a  person  stretching  and  yawning.  [Per 
haps  rather  the  sound  of  one  moaning.]  These*  are  named 
LING-LING,  and  this  name  is  an  imitation  of  their  cry.  When 
these  are  seen,  then  heaven  sends  down  great  rains. 

2.  And  it  says  that,  six  hundred  U  to  the  south,  TS'AO-CHI  * 
Mountain  is  found.     Below  this  there  are  many  paper-mulberry 
trees,  but  there  is  no  water  (or  river).     There  are  many  birds  and 
wild  animals. 

3.  And  it  says  that,  four  hundred  U  to  the  southwest,  Ym- 
KAO  f  Mountain  is  found.     Upon  this  there  are  many  gems  and 
much  gold,  and  below  it  there  is  much  white  plaster-rock.     The 
YIH-KAO  River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing  easterly  to  the 
KiH-NtrJ  River.     In  this  there   are  many  clams  with  pearly 
shells.     [These  are  clams  or  mussels  with  pearly  shells,  as  beauti 
ful  as  gems,  these  pearly  shells  belonging  to  a  species  of  mussel 
called  SHAN -PAN.] 

4.  And  thence  going  to  the  south,  five  hundred  U  by  water, 
and  three  hundred  U  over  shifting  sands,  *  one  end  of  the  KOH 
(or  Bean)  Mountains  is  reached.    There  is  no  grass  and  there  are 
no  trees  here,  but  there  are  many  smooth  whetstones. 

5.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  and  eighty  U  to  the  south, 
the  other  end  of  the  Bean  Mountains  is  found.     There  is  no  grass 
and  there  are  no  trees  here.     The  Li  ||  River  is  found  here,  a 
stream  flowing  easterly  into  the  Ytf  Marsh.      In  it  there  are 
many  CHU-PCIEH  fish  (or  water-animals).     These  look  like  lungs, 
but  have  eyes,  and  six  feet,  and  they  have  pearls.     They  taste 

*  TS'AO  was  a  small  feudal  state,  conferred  on  a  brother  of  WU-WANG,  B.  c. 
1122  ;  it  had  a  separate  existence  under  fifteen  rulers,  from  B.  c.  756  to  486,  when 
it  was  annexed  by  SUNG  ;  its  capital  was  in  the  present  TSAO-CHEU  FU,  in  the  south 
west  of  SHAN-TUNG,  along  the  Yellow  River.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  955.) 

f  YIH  is  the  name  of  a  hill  in  TS'AO-HIEN  in  SHAN-TUNG,  and  of  another  in  PEI- 
HIEN,  in  the  north  of  KIANG-SU.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1094.) 

\  The  character  Km  used  here  means  "  water  impeded  in  its  course  by  rocks," 
and  is  used  as  the  name  of  one  of  the  rivers  mentioned  in  the  preceding  section. 
The  character  Nii  used  here  means  a  woman. 

*  The  term  "  shifting  sand  "  is  applied  to  quicksands,  and  in  the  "  Book  of 
Records  "  is  applied  to  the  Gobi  Desert.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  730.) 

I  The  Li  River  is  one  of  the  affluents  of  the  TUNG-TING  Lake,  which  drains  the 
northwestern  portion  of  HU-NAN.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  520.) 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    649 

sour,  but  pleasant,  and  are  eaten  without  producing  sickness. 
[They  do  not  cause  diseases  at  any  time.  LU-SHI'S  edition  of 
the  book  of  Confucius,  called  "  Spring  and  Autumn,"  says  that 
the  Li  River  contains  fish  called  CHU-PIEH,  which  have  six  feet, 
and  which  are  beautiful  as  the  "  vermilion  "  fish.] 

6.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  and  eighty  li  to  the  south, 
YU-NGO  Mountain  (or  an  excessively  high  peak)  is  found.     Upon 
this  there  are  many  japonica- trees  and  JAN-trees,  and  below  it 
there  is  much  prickly  succory.     The  TSAH-YIJ  River  is  found 
here,  a  stream  flowing  easterly  into  the  Yellow  River.     Here 
there  are  wild  beasts  which  look  like  rabbits,  but  which  have  a 
crow's  bill,  an  owl's  eyes,  and  a  serpent's  tail.     When  they  see 
a  man,  they  pretend  to  sleep.     They  are  called  CHIU-YU,  this 
sound  being  an  imitation  of  their  cry.     When  these  are  seen, 
grasshoppers  or  locusts  cause  great  destruction.     [Grasshoppers 
are  a  species  of  locusts.     It  says  that  they  ruin  the  herbage. 
Their  name  is  pronounced  CHUNG.] 

7.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  H  to  the  south,  TU-FTJ 
Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass  and  there  are  no  trees 
here,  but  there  is  much  water  (or  there  are  many  streams). 

8.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  KANG  * 
Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass  and  there  are  no  trees 
here,  but  there  is  much  water,  and  there  are  many  green- jade 
stones  (or  there  are  many  water-jade  stones).     [These  are  a  spe 
cies  of  water-gems — i.  e.,  rock  crystals.]     There  are  many  great 
serpents,  and  there  are  also  wild  beasts  which  look  like  foxes,  but 
which  have  fish's  fins.     These  are   named  CHU-JU,  and  derive 
their  name  from  their  cry.     When,  these  are  seen,  the  country 
has  reason  to  fear  disasters. 

9.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  LU-K'I  f 
Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  vegetation,  and  there  are  no  trees, 
but  there  are  many  stones  and  much  sand.     The  Sand  River  is 
found  here,  a  stream  flowing  southerly  into  the  CH'AN  J  River 

*  KANG  was  the  name  of  the  capital  of  the  empire  of  the  SHANG  period,  an 
swering  to  the  present  P'ING-YANG  FD  (SHAN-SI).  ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names," 
p.  17.) 

f  A  wild  tribe  that  anciently  occupied  some  parts  of  HU-PEH  was  called  Lr. 
(Williams's  Diet.,  p.  554.) 

J  There  is  a  river  of  this  name  in  HAN-CHUNG  FU  in  SHAN-SI,  a  branch  of  the 
river  HAN.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  21.) 


650  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

(or  into  a  limpid  river).  In  this  there  are  many  LI  pelicans  ; 
these  look  like  ducks,  but  have  men's  legs.  They  derive  their 
name  from  their  cry.  When  these  are  seen,  then  the  country  will 
see  great  literary  achievements.  [These  pelicans  have  long  legs, 
which  somewhat  resemble  human  shanks.] 

10.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  and  eighty  H  to  the  south, 
KU-SHE  Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass  and  there  are  no 
trees  there,  but  there  is  much  water  (or  there  are  many  streams). 

11.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  south,  three  hundred  li  by 
water  and  one  hundred  li  over  shifting  sand,  the  Northern  KU- 
SHE  Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass  and  there  are  no 
trees  there,  but  there  are  many  stones. 

12.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  Southern 
KU-SHE  Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass,  and  there  are  no 
trees  there,  but  there  is  much  water  (or  there  are  many  streams 
there). 

13.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  Green- 
jade-stone  Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass  here,  but  there 
are  many  trees.     Many  great  serpents  are  found  here,  and  there 
are  also  many  green-jade  stones  and  quartz  crystals. 

14.  And  it  says  that,  five  hundred  li  to  the  south,  WET-SHI* 
Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass,  and  there  are  no  trees 
here,  but  there  are  many  gems  and  much  gold.     YUEN  f  River 
is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing  easterly  into  Sand  Marsh  (or 
into  a  sandy  marsh).     [One  authority  states  that  the  name  of  the 
mountain  is  pronounced  KIAH-SHI  instead  of  WEI-SHI.] 

15.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  li  to  the  south,  KU-FUXG 
Mountain  is  found.     There  is  no  grass,  and  there  are  no  trees 
here,  but  there  are  many  gems  and  much  gold.     Wild  beasts  are 
found  here  which  look  like  foxes,  but  which  have  wings  (or 
fins).     Their  voice  sounds  like  that  of  a  wild  goose,  and  they 
are  called  PI-PI.     When  these  are  seen,  then  heaven  sends  down 
a  great  drought. 

16.  And  it  says  that,  five  hundred  li  to  the  south,  Fu-LiJ 

*  WEI-TANG  was  the  name  during  the  middle  period  of  the  MING  dynasty  of  the 
province  now  called  YANG-CHAU  FU.  ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  61.) 

f  The  term  "  Middle  YUEN  "  at  first  denoted  HO-NAN,  but  now  means  all  China. 
(Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1133.) 

\  A  large  department  in  the  northwest  of  YUN-NAN,  through  which  the  YANG- 
TSZ'  River  flows,  is  called  the  Li  River  District.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  524.) 


CHINESE  "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    651 

Mountain  is  found.  Upon  this  there  are  many  gems  and  much 
gold,  and,  below  it,  many  lancet-stones.  They  have  wild  beasts 
which  look  like  foxes,  but  which  have  nine  tails  and  nine  heads, 
and  tigers'  claws.  They  are  called  LUNG-CHIH.  Their  voice  is 
like  that  of  an  infant  child,  and  they  eat  men. 

IT.  And  it  says  that,  five  hundred  li  to  the  south,  YIN  Mount 
ain  is  found.  To  the  south  the  YIN  River  is  to  be  seen,  and  to 
the  north  the  Hu  *  Marsh  (or  lakes  and  marshes).  Here  they 
have  wild  beasts  which  look  like  horses,  but  they  have  sheep's 
eyes,  four  horns,  and  cattle  tails.  Their  voice  is  like  the  howl 
of  a  dog,  and  they  are  called  YIU-YIU.  When  these  are  seen,  the 
country  will  be  visited  by  many  crafty  foreigners.  They  have 
birds  which  look  like  ducks,  but  they  have  rats'  tails,  and  can 
climb  trees.  They  are  called  CHIE-KEU.  When  these  are  seen, 
the  country  will  have  much  sickness. 

18.  The  second  section  of  the  "  Classic  of  the  Eastern  Mount 
ains"  thus  gives  the  entire  distance  along  the  seventeen  mount 
ains,  from  K'UNG-SANG  Mountain  to  YIN  Mountain,  as  six  thousand 
six  hundred  and  forty  li.  Their  gods  all  have  wild  beasts'  bodies, 
but  human  faces.  They  bear  the  KOH  f  fish.  [With  a  species  of 
stags'  or  deers'  horns  they  catch  (or  hold)  the  KOH  fishes.] 
When  they  are  offered  a  sacrifice  of  living  beings  having  hair  or 
feathers,  a  fowl  is  used.  When  the  people  pray  to  them  for  off 
spring,  they  retire  to  a  screened  place. 

1.  The  beginning  of  the  third  section  of  the  "  Eastern  Classic  " 
says  that  SHI-HU  J  Mountain  on  the  north  adjoins  SIANG  Mount 
ain.     Upon  it  there  are  many  gems  and  much  gold,  and  below 
it  there  are  many  thorny  plants.     Here  there  are  wild  beasts 
which  look  like  elks,  but  which  have  fish  eyes,  and  they  are  called 
WAN-HU  (or  YUEN-HU),  deriving  their  name  from  their  cry. 

2.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  eight 
hundred  li,  K'i  *  Mountain  is  found  (or  a  mountain  with  two 

*  HU-KWANG  is  the  old  designation  of  HU-PEH  and  HU-NAN.    ("  Vocab.  of  Chin. 
Prop.  Names,"  p.  12,  and  Williaras's  Diet.,  p.  222.) 

f  For  a  description  of  the  KOH  fish,  see  p.  653. 

\  The  term  Hu  is  applied  to  the  Mongols,  Huns,  and  other  tribes  of  Central 
Asia,  and  hence  it  is  used  for  "  foreign  "  or  "  Turkish."  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  221.) 

*  There  is  a  state  of  this  name  in  the  present  FUNG-TSIANG  FU,  in  the  south 
west  of  SHAN-SI,  not  far  from  the  river  WEI.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  345.) 


652  Atf  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

peaks).     Upon  this  there  are  many  peach-trees  and  plum-trees. 
There  are  also  wild  beasts  and  many  tigers. 

3.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  five  hun 
dred  li,  CHU-KEU  Mountain  is  found.      There  are  no  trees  or 
grass  here,  but  there  are  many  stones,  and  much  sand.     The 
distance    around   the  mountain  is  one  hundred  li.     There  are 
many  MEI  (or  sleeping)  fish  here.     [These  MEI  fish  are  of  excel 
lent  flavour.] 

4.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  seven 
hundred  li,  Middle  Fu  Mountain  is  found.     Here  there  are  no 
trees  or  grass,  but  there  is  much  sand. 

5.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  east  by  water  for  one  thou 
sand  li,  HU-SHE  *  Mountain  is  found.     Here  there  are  no  trees  or 
grass,  but  there  are  many  stones  and  much  sand. 

6.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  seven 
hundred  li,  MANG-TSZ'  (the  Eldest  Child)  Mountain  is  found. 
Here  there  are  many  trees  ;  japonicas  and  T'ONG  trees,  and  also 
many  peach-trees  and  plum-trees.     In  the  grass  there  are  many 
mushroom-rushes  (or  mushrooms  and  rushes,  or  KitiN  rushes). 
[These  are  not  fully  described.     They  are  called  KW'UN.]     They 
have  wild  beasts,  and  many  elks  or  deers.     The  distance  around 
the  mountain  is  one  hundred  li.     Upon  it  there  is  a  flowing 
stream  called   PIH-YANG  (or  the  River   of   Clear  Jade-stone). 
In  this  there  are  many  sturgeons  and  mud-sturgeons.     [These 
mud-sturgeons  are  a  species  of  eel.     They  resemble  sturgeons, 
but  have  a  long  body  like  an  eel.     One  authority  says  that  they 
are  a  species  of  herring.] 

7.  And  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  five  hundred  li,  and 
over  shifting  sand  for  five  hundred  li,  a  mountain  is  reached 
which  is  called  K'I-CHUNG  Mountain,  the  distance  around  which  is 
two  hundred  li.     There  is  no  grass  and  there  are  no  trees  here,  but 
there  are  great  serpents,  and  upon  the  mountain  there  are  many 
precious  stones.     It  has  a  body  of  water,  the  distance  around 
which  is  forty  li,  all  bubbling  up  and  running  off.f     [Now,  to  the 

*  The  character  Hu  here  used  is  the  same  as  that  used  in  the  first  paragraph 
of  this  section  in  the  name  SHI-HU,  and  the  character  SHE  is  the  same  as  that  used 
in  the  name  KU-SHE. 

f  An  affluent  of  the  YANG-TSZ'  River,  in  the  north  of  HU-PEH,  is  named  YUNG, 
the  character  meaning  "  bubbling  up  and  running  off,"  and  being  the  same  that  is 
used  here.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1148.) 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    653 

east  of  the  Yellow  River  is  the  FAN  *  River,  and  in  the  YIN 
(Dark)  District  it  has  the  FUN  f  River's  Spring  (or  source).  In 
this  place  the  water  rushes  out,  overflowing,  bubbling  up,  and 
running  rapidly.  It  is  deep,  and  it  can  not  be  restrained.  This 
is  of  the  same  class  as  the  water  above  referred  to.]  This  is 
called  SHAN-TSEH  (or  the  Deep  Marsh).  In  it  there  are  great 
tortoises.  [They  have  beaks  like  the  common  tortoise,  the  tor 
toise  being  a  great  turtle  ;  the  shell  has  variegated  marks,  like 
those  of  the  precious  tortoise-shell,  but  it  is  thinner.]  Here  there 
are  fish  (or  water-animals)  which  look  like  carp,  but  which  have 
six  feet  and  a  bird's  tail.  These  are  called  KOH-KOH  fish,  deriv 
ing  this  name  from  an  imitation  of  their  cry. 

8.  And  it  says  that,  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  eight 
hundred  li,  MEI-YU  Mountain  [or  MIN-TSZ']  Mountain  is  reached. 
Upon  this  there  are  many  trees  and  much  grass,  and  an  abun 
dance  of  gold  and  gems,  and  also  much  ocher.     Here  there  are 
wild  beasts  which  look  like  little  cattle,  but  which  have  horses' 
tails,  and  which  are  called  TSING-TSING,  deriving  their  name  from 
an  imitation  of  their  cry. 

9.  And  going  to  the  south  by  water  for  five  hundred  liy  and 
over  shifting  sand  for  three  hundred  li,  WU-KAO  (or  Not  Lofty) 
Mountain  is  reached.     Here  the  Yiu  (Young)  Sea  may  be  seen. 
[This  is  now  called  the  "  Little  Sea."    HWAI-NAN-TZ'  J  says  that 
the  great  island  of  the  Eastern  Region  is  called  the  "Little  Sea."] 
To  the  east  the  Fu-tree  may  be  seen  [or  FU-SANG].     There  is 
no  grass  and  there  are  no  trees  here,  and  much  wind  is  found 
upon  the  mountain.     The  distance  around  it  is  a  hundred  li. 

10.  The  third  section  of  the  "  Eastern  Classic  "  thus  gives  the 
entire  distance  along  the  nine  mountains,  from  SHI-HU  Mountain 
to  WU-KAO  Mountain,  as  six  thousand  eight  hundred  li.     Their 
gods  all  have  human  bodies  and  sheep's  horns.     When  a  sacrifice 
is  offered  to  them,  a  ram  is  used.     They  use  millet  for  food. 
When  these  gods  are  seen,  then  wind,  rain,  and  floods  cause  ruin. 

1.  The   beginning   of   the   fourth   section  of  the  "Eastern 
Classic  "  says  that  the  Northern  HAO  Mountain  slopes  down  to  the 

*  The  FAN  River  is  the  chief  river  of  SHAN-SI,  which  joins  the  Yellow  River 
at  LUNG-MAN.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  130.) 

f  FUN  is  the  old  name  of  a  stream  in  PU-CHEU  FU  in  the  southwest  of  SHAN-SI, 
whose  headwaters  spout  up  as  a  fountain.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  132.) 

\  For  note  regarding  HWAI-NAN-TZ',  see  page  47. 


654  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

North  Sea.*  It  has  trees  which  look  like  aspens,  but  which  have 
red  flowers.  The  fruit  is  like  the  jujube,  but  it  has  no  pit.  It 
tastes  sour,  but  delicious.  It  is  eaten  without  causing  any  ill 
results.  The  SHIH  River  (or  drinkable  water)  is  found  here,  a 
stream  that  flows  northeasterly  into  the  sea.  Here  there  are 
wild  animals  which  look  like  wolves,  but  which  have  red  heads 
and  rats'  eyes.  Their  voices  sound  like  those  of  sucking  pigs, 
and  they  are  called  HIEH-TSF.  They  eat  men.  There  are  birds 
here  which  look  like  domestic  fowls,  but  they  have  white  heads, 
rats'  legs,  and  tigers'  claws.  They  are  called  KWEI  [or  K'I]  birds, 
and  they  eat  men. 

2.  And  it  says  that,  three   hundred  U  to  the  south,  MAO 
Mountain  is  found.     Here  there  are  no  trees  and  no  grass.     The 
TS'ANG-T'I  River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing  westerly  into 
the  CHEN  River  (or  into  an  extensive  body  of  water).     In  this 
there  are  many  siu  fish.     [These  are  shrimps,  or  the  eels  in 
dicated  by  the  character  TS'IU,  and  possibly  the  character  siu 
was  then  pronounced  the  same  as  TS'IU.]     These  look  like  the 
carp,  but  have  a  larger  head.     Those  who  eat  them  have  no 
swellings. 

3.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  and  twenty  U  to  the  south, 
the  Eastern  SHI  Mountain  is  found.     Upon  this  there  are  many 
green  gems.     Here  there  are  trees  which  look  like  aspens,  but 
which  have  red  veins.    Their  sap  is  like  blood,  and  they  have 
no  fruit.     These  are  called  K'I.     They  can  break  horses  t>y  its 
use  [i.  e.,  by  rubbing  them  with  this  sap,  horses  become  tame 
and  gentle].    Clear  River  f  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing  north 
easterly  into  the  sea.     In  this  there  are  many  delicious  cowries 
and  many  cuttle-fish.  These  look  like  a  goby,  and  have  only  one 
head  with  ten  bodies.     They  smell  like  sedge-grass  or  a  jungle. 
Those  who  eat  them  have  no  asthma.     [It  says  that  they  cure 
the  disease  which  consists  of  a  difficulty  in  breathing.] 

4.  And  it  says  that,  three  hundred  U  to  the  southeast,  Nir- 
CHING  Mountain  is  found.     Upon  this  there  are  no  trees,  grass,  or 
stones.     KAO  (Rich,  Fertilizing)  River  is  found  here,  a  stream 
flowing  westerly  into  LIH  (Cauldron)  River.     In  this  there  are 

*  The  "  North  Sea  "  is  a  name  given  by  the  Chinese  to  the  Gulf  of  PEH-CHIH-LI, 
but  usually  assigned  in  foreign  works  to  Lake  Baikal,  in  Irkutsk.  ("  Vocab.  of 
Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  39.) 

f  This  is  an  old  name  of  a  stream  in  HU-NAN.    (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1034.) 


CHINESE  "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    655 

many  thin  fish  which  look  like  herring,  but  have  only  one  eye. 
Their  voice  sounds  like  vomiting  [i.  e.,  like  the  sound  of  a  man 
retching  and  vomiting].  When  these  are  seen,  then  heaven  sends 
down  a  great  drought. 

5.  And  it  says  that,  two  hundred  li  to  the  southeast,  the  K'IN 
(Imperial  or  Majestic)  Mountain  is  found.     Here  there  are  many 
gems  and  much  gold,  but  no  stones.     The  SHI  River  is  found 
here,  a  stream  flowing  northerly  into  KAO  *  marsh.     In  this  there 
are  many  eels  and  many  beautiful  cowrie-shells.     Here  there  are 
wild  animals  which  look  like  sucking  pigs,  but  which  have  tusks. 
These  are  called  TANG-K'ANG,  deriving  their  name  from  their  cry. 
When  these  are  seen,  then  heaven  causes  the  earth  to  produce 
much  grain. 

6.  And  it  says  that,  two  hundred  li  to  the  southeast,  TSZ'-T'UNG 
Mountain  is  found.    TSZ'-TCUNG  River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flow 
ing  westerly  into  Yii-jir  Marsh.     In  this  there  are  many  HWAH  f 
fish.     These  look  like  fish,  but  have  birds'  wings.     They  go  out 
and  in.      They   are  bright.      Their  voices  sound  like  those   of 
the  YUEIST-YANG.!   When  these  are  seen,  then  heaven  sends  down 
a  great  drought. 

7.  And  it  says  that,  two  hundred  li  to  the  northeast,  YEN 
(Sharp-pointed)  Mountain  is  found.     Here  there  are  many  pre 
cious  stones  and  much  gold.     There  are  also  wild  beasts  which 
look  like  swine,  but  which  have  men's  faces  and  yellow  bodies, 
but  red  tails.      These  are  called  HOH-YIT.     Their  voices  sound 
like  that  of  an  infant  child.     These  wild  animals  eat  men,  and 
eat  vermin  and  serpents.      When  these  are  seen,  then  heaven 
sends  down  great  rains. 

*  The  character  KAO  used  here  is  not  the  same  as  that  used  in  the  name  of  the 
KAO  River,  mentioned  in  the  last  paragraph,  but  is  the  same  as  that  used  in  the 
name  of  the  WU-KAO  Mountain,  in  the  ninth  paragraph  of  the  third  section  of  the 
fourth  book. 

f  HWAH,  a  reptile  with  four  feet,  found  in  marshes,  resembling  a  snake,  and 
having  wings,  which  feeds  on  fish.  Probably  the  basilisk  lizard.  (Williams's 
Diet.,  p.  242.) 

\  The  YUEN- YANG  is  an  aquatic  bird,  frequenting  ponds  and  marshes  ;  it  is  of 
the  size  and  form  of  the  wild  duck,  but  its  beak,  instead  of  being  flat,  is  round  ; 
its  red  head  is  sprinkled  with  white,  its  tail  is  black,  and  the  rest  of  its  plumage 
a  fine  purple ;  its  cry  is  exceedingly  loud  and  mournful,  not  the  song  of  a  bird, 
but  a  sort  of  deep,  prolonged  sigh,  resembling  the  plaintive  tones  of  a  man  under 
suffering.1568 


656  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

8.  And  it  says  that,  two  hundred  li  to  the  east,  T'AI  *  (Im 
mense)  Mountain  is  found.     Upon  it  there  are  many  precious 
stones  and  much  gold,  and  there  are  also  many  wax-trees.    [These 
wax-trees  do  not  shed  their  leaves  in  winter.]     Here  there  are 
wild  animals  which  look  like  cattle,  but  which  have  a  white  head, 
one  eye,  and  a  serpent's  tail.    They  are  called  FEI.     When  they  go 
upon  the  water  they  dry  it  up,  and  when  they  go  upon  the  grass 
they  kill  it.     When  these  are  seen,  then  heaven  sends  down  a 
great  pestilence.     [It  says  that  its  body  is  full  of  a»  poisonous 
principle.     The  book  called  "  K'I-KIN  "  says  that  it  is  a  locust 
or  cricket  called  K'IUNG.     Its  body  looks  harmless,  but  it  causes 
the  veins  to  wither  and  dry  up,  being  more  poisonous  than  the 
CHAN.|    All  creatures  fear  it,  and  wish  to  keep  at  a  great  dis 
tance  from  it.]     The  KEU  River  is  found  here,  a  stream  flowing 
northerly  into  the  LAO  J  River.     In  this  are  many  fish. 

9.  The  fourth  section  of  the  "Eastern  Classic"  thus  gives  the 
entire  distance  along  the  eight  mountains,  from  HAO  Mountain 
to  T'AI  Mountain,  as  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty  li. 

10.  The  above  record  of  the  "  Classic  of  the  Eastern  Mount 
ains"  thus  gives  the  distance  along  these  forty-six  mountains  as 
eighteen  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty  li. 

THE  NINTH  BOOK  OF  THE  CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS. 
THE  CLASSIC  OF  THE  KEGIONS  BEYOND  THE  EASTEKN  SEA. 

In  regard  to  the  Regions  beyond  the  Sea,  from  its  Southeast 
Corner  to  its  Northeast  Corner. 

1.  The  CHA  Hill.  [Pronounced  CHA  or  perhaps  FAH.]  It  is 
said  that  this  country  produces  i  gems,  green  horses,  SHI-JUH, 
common  willows,  delicious  cherries,  sweet  flowers,  and  excellent 
fruits.  It  is  in  the  Eastern  Sea,  between  two  mountains.  Upon 
the  hill  there  are  lofty  trees.  One  authority  says  that  its  name  is 

*  This  is  not  the  same  character  as  that  used  for  the  name  of  the  T'AI  Mountain 
formerly  mentioned. 

f  The  Chinese  describe  the  CHAN  as  a  bird  like  the  secretary-falcon,  with  a  long 
black  neck  and  red  bill ;  it  eats  snakes,  and  is  supposed  to  be  so  noxious  that 
fish  die  where  it  drinks,  the  grass  around  its  nest  withers,  and  its  feathers  steeped 
in  spirits  make  a  virulent  poison.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  18.) 

\  The  term  LAO  appears  in  the  twelfth  paragraph  of  the  ninth  book  as  the 
name  of  the  "  Distressed  "  People's  Country. 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC   OF   MOUNTAINS   AND  SEAS."    657 

CHA-KIU,  and  one  says  that  the  Country  of  a  Hundred  Fruits  lies 
east  of  YAO'S*  burial-place. 

2.  The  Great  Men's  Country  is  north  of  this.     Because  the 
nien  are  great  they  sit  and  seize  passing  boats.     One  authority 
says  that  this  country  is  north  of  CHA-KIU. 

3.  SHE-PI'S  Body  is  north  of  this.     [This  is  the  name  of  a 
god.]     He  has  a  wild  animal's  body  and  a  man's  face.     He  has 
large  ears,  and  for  ear-ornaments  has  two  green  serpents  [i.  e., 
he  has  ear-ornaments  like  serpents  strung  in  his  ears].      One 
authority  says  that  KAN-YU'S  Body  lies  north  of  the  Great  Men's 
Country. 

4.  The   Country   of  Refined  Gentlemen   lies   north  of  this. 
They  have  clothing,  caps,  sashes,  and  swords.     They  eat  wild 
beasts,  and  have  two  great  tigers,  one  on  each  side.     They  are 
very  gentle,  and  do  not  quarrel.     They  have  fragrant  plants. 
[Perhaps  "  clay  "  should  be  read  instead  of  "  fragrant  plants."] 
They  have  a  flowering-plant  which  produces  blossoms  in  the 
morning  which  die  in  the  evening.     One  authority  says  that  it 
is  north  of  KAN-YU'S  Body. 

5.  HUXG-HUNG  lies  north  of  this.     They  all  have  two  heads. 
[The  name  is  pronounced  the  same  as  that  of  the  character  HUNG, 
which  means  the  rainbow.]     One  authority  says  that  it  is  north 
of  the  Country  of  Refined  Gentlemen. 

6.  The  god  of  the  Valley  of  the  Manifestation  of  the  Dawn 
(CHAO-YAXG)  f  is  called  TIEN-WU.     He  is  the  god  of  the  water. 
He  dwells  north  of  HUXG-HUXG,  between  two  bodies  of  water. 
When  he   appears  as  a  wild  animal  he  has  eight   heads  with 
human  faces,  eight  legs,  and  eight  tails,  and  is  all  green  and  yel 
low.     [The  "  Classic  of  the  Great  Eastern  Waste  "  says  he  has 
ten  tails.] 

7.  The  Green  Hills  Country  is  situated  north  of  this.     [The 
people  eat  all  kinds  of  grain,  and  have  silken  clothing.]     Here 
there  are  foxes  with  four  legs  and  eight  tails.     One  authority 
says  that  it  is  situated  north  of  the  "  Manifestation  of  the  Dawn." 
[KIH-KIUN'S  "  Bamboo  Book  "  says  that  PCOH-SHU-TSZ'  went  on  a 
military  expedition  in  the  Eastern  Sea  for  fully  three  years,  and 

*  YAO  was  a  celebrated  sovereign,  who  is  said  to  have  reigned  one  hundred  and 
three  years,  from  B.  c.  2357  to  B.  c.  2255. 

f  CHAO-SIEN  (the  Brightness  of  the  Dawn)  is  the  Chinese  official  name  of  Corea. 
("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  3.) 
42 


658  AX  INGLOKIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

found  a  fox  with  nine  tails,  which,  perhaps,  was  a  species  of  the 
fox  above  described.] 

8.  The  sovereign  ordered  SHU-HAI  to  walk  from  the  farthest 
limit  of  the  East  to  the  farthest  limit  of  the  West,  five  hundred 
thousand  and  ten   times  ten  thousand  paces    [SHU-HAI  was   a 
dauntless  traveler]  and  nine  thousand  eight  hundred  paces.    SHU- 
HAT  grasped  an  abacus  in  his  right  hand  and  with  his  left  hand 
he  pointed  to  the  north  of  the  Beautiful   Green  Hills.     One 
authority  says  that  it  was  the  emperor  Yii  *  who  commanded 
SHU-HAI  ;  one  says  that  the  distance  was  five  hundred  thousand, 
ten  times  ten  thousand,  nine  thousand  and  eight  hundred  paces. 
[The  poem  TS'ANG-SHAN-WU  says  that  heaven  and  earth,  from  east 
to  west,  are  three  hundred  and  thirty- three  thousand  li,  and  from 
south  to  north,  two  hundred  and  one  thousand  five  hundred  li. 
To  inspect  heaven  and  earth,  go  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
U.] 

9.  The  Black-Teeth  Country  lies  north  of  this.     [The  "His 
tory  of  the  Eastern  Barbarians  "  f  says  that  forty  li  J  and  more 
east  of  Japan  there  is  a  country  called  the  Naked  People's  Coun 
try,  and  that  southeast  of  this  lies  the  Black-Teeth  Country.     A 
ship  can  reach  it  by  sailing  for  one  year.  The  "  Account  of  Strange 
Things "  says  that  the  Western  Butchers  dye  their  teeth  and 
are  like  these  people.]    The  people  are  black,  and  eat  rice.    They 
also  eat  serpents,  some  red  and  some  green.    [One  authority  men- , 
tions  only  the  green  serpents.]     It  is  very  great.    One  authority 
says  that  it  is  north  of  (the  country  of)  SHU-HAI,  and  has  peo 
ple  with  black  hands,  who  eat  rice,  and  who  use  serpents,  one  ser 
pent  being  red.     Below  it  is  the  Warm  Springs  (T'ANG)  *  Ravine. 
[In  the  ravine  there  is  hot  water.]     Above  Warm  Springs  Ra 
vine  is  FU-SAXG  [i.  e.,  the  FU-SANG  tree,  or  the  useful  mulberry- 

*  The  Great  Yu  reigned  about  twenty-two  hundred  years  before  the  Christian 
era.     (See  Summer's  "Handbook  of  the  Chin.  Lang.,"  part  i,  p.  205.) 

f  By  the  "  Eastern  Barbarians  "  the  Chinese  mean  either  the  Coreans *532  or 
else  the  uncivilized  races  of  Eastern  Japan.1675 

\  Here  the  character  "thousand"  has  probably  been  changed  to  "ten"  bqtween 
"  four  "  and  "  ft."  The  account  that  is  given  can  not  be  applied  to  a  country  only 
forty  li  (some  thirteen  miles)  from  Japan.  Ma  Twan-lin  states  that  the  distance 
is  four  thousand  li  and  that  the  direction  is  to  the  south.  (See  d'Hervey's  "  Eth 
nography,"  p.  410.) 

*  There  is  a  river  named  T'ANG  in  the  southwest  of  CHIH-LI.     (Williams's 
Diet.,  p.  860.) 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    659 

tree].  The  place  where  the  ten  suns  bathe  lies  north  of  the 
Black-Teeth  (Country).  In  the  water  there  is  a  large  tree  having 
nine  suns  in  its  lower  branches  and  one  sun  in  its  upper  branches. 
[CHWANG-CHEU  *  says  that  formerly  these  ten  suns  rose  all  to 
gether,  and  the  grass  and  trees  were  burned  and  withered.  HWAI- 
NAN-TZ'  says  that  (the  emperor)  YAOJ  then  commanded  (the 
prince)  I  to  shoot  nine  of  the  ten  suns,  and  the  bird  in  the  suns, 
until  dead.  The  "  Dissipation  of  Sorrows  "  says  in  reference  to  it 
that  1 1  brought  the  sun-bird  *  to  an  end,  and  that  it  dropped  some 
of  its  feathers,  and  that  I  took  them  home  and  kept  them.  The 
CHING-MU  Classic  says  that  formerly  this  I  shot  skillfully,  and 
brought  these  ten  suns  to  an  end.  KIH-KIUN'S  "  Bamboo  Book  " 
says  that  when  YIX-KIAH  ascended  the  throne  and  dwelt  at  SI-HO 
there  were  strange  prodigies.  Ten  suns  rose  and  shone  together. 
This  is  a  wonder  of  nature,  but  there  is  proof  of  it.  Tradition 
says  that  there  were  ten  suns  in  the  sky,  the  number  of  suns  being 
ten.  This  account  says  that  nine  suns  dwell  in  the  lower  branches 
and  one  sun  in  the  upper  branches.  The  "  Classic  of  the  Great 
Waste  "  says  that  when  one  sun  sets,  another  sun  rises  and  lights 
heaven  and  earth,  and,  although  there  are  ten  suns,  they  rise  alter 
nately,  and  so  revolve  and  shine  ;  but  at  the  time  referred  to  they 
all  rose  together,  and  so  heaven  sent  down  supernatural  calami 
ties.  Therefore  I,  having  asked  for  YAO'S  instructions,  and  thor 
oughly  understanding  his  heart's  desire,  looked  up  to  heaven,  and 
pulled  the  bow-string,  and  nine  suns  retired  and  concealed  them 
selves.  ...  If  we  examine  into  this  in  a  common-sense  way  we  find 
that  it  is  not  reasonable,  but  if  we  investigate  the  principles  of  des 
tiny  we  find  that  nothing  is  impossible.  You,  who  stand  by  and 
see  ought  to  try  to  comprehend  this  mystery.  Those  things  which 
relate  to  the  mysterious  and  obscure  are  hard  to  understand,  but 
nevertheless  they  go  on  their  course  without  obstruction.]  Yu- 

*  CHTVANG-CHEC  may  possibly  be  CBHVANG-TSZ',  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the 
Chinese  writers  of  antiquity;  he  flourished  about  B.  c.   368.     (Summer's  "Hand 
book,"  part  ii,  p.  7.) 

f  YAO  was  a  celebrated  sovereign,  said  to  have  reigned  B.  c.  2357  to  2255. 
(Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1076.) 

\  I,  the  prince  of  KIUNG,  was  a  famous  rebel  in  the  Hi  A  dynasty,  a  mighty 
archer,  who  drove  T'AI-K'ANG  beyond  the  Yellow  River,  about  B.  c.  2169,  and  kept 
the  power  till  his  death.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  283.) 

*  Wild  geese  are  sometimes  called  "  sun-birds."    (See  Legge's  "  Sacred  Books 
of  China,"  part  i,  p.  67.) 


660  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

SHI'S  Concubine  dwells  north  of  this.  [Yu-sm  is  the  same  as 
PCING-I,  the  God  of  Rain.]  He,  as  a  man,  is  black,  and  in  each 
of  his  hands  he  holds  a  serpent.  In  his  left  ear  there  is  a  green 
serpent,  and  in  his  right  ear  a  red  serpent.  One  authority  says 
that  he  dwells  north  of  (the  country  of)  the  Ten  Suns,  that  as  a 
man  he  has  a  black  body  and  a  human  face,  and  that  each  (hand) 
holds  a  tortoise. 

10.  The  Black-Hip  Country  lies  north  of  this.     [So  called  be 
cause  the  people  are  all  black  below  the  waist.]     These  people 
make  clothing  from  fish  or  water-animals — [i.  e.,  they  make  cloth 
ing  from  the  skins  of  fish — or  water-animals].     They  eat  gulls. 
[Gulls  are  water-birds.     Their  name  is  pronounced  YIU.]   They 
use  two  birds,  carrying  them  in  their  arms.     One  authority  says 
that  this  lies  north  of  Yu-sm's  Concubine. 

11.  The  Hairy  People's  Country  lies  north  of  this,  and  has 
people  upon  whose  bodies  hair  grows.     [At  the  present  time,  by 
leaving  the  region  of  the  LIN  Sea,  and  going  two  thousand  li  to 
the  southeast,  the  place  of  residence  of  the  Hairy  People  is  found 
upon  the  Great  LOH  Island.]     Upon  this  island  there  are  people 
with  short,  small  faces,  and  with  their  bodies  entirely  covered 
with  hair,  like  a  hog  or  a  moose.     They  live  in  caves,  and  have 
no  clothing  or  garments.     [In  the  reign  of  the  Ts'in  dynasty  in 
the  fourth  year  of  the  period  distinguished  by  the  appellation 
YUNG-KIA  (or  "Perpetual  Excellence" — i.  e.,  in   the  year   310, 
A.D.)  an  officer  named  TAI,  having  charge  of  the  salt  at  Wu- 
KIEN,  found  upon   the  sea-shore  a  boat   containing   men   and 
women,  four  people  in  all.     These  all  looked  alike  and  spoke  a 
language  which  was  not  intelligible.     They  were  sent   to   the 
prime-minister's  palace,  but  before  they  had   reached  it  they 
all  died  on  the  way,  except  only  one.     The  ruler  gave  him  a 
wife,  who  bore  children  to  him.     Going  to   and   coming  from 
the  market  and  wells,  he  advanced  slowly  in  acquiring  the  lan 
guage.     His  native  place  was  the  Hairy  People's  Country.     The 
"  Classic  of  the  Great  Waste  "  says  that  the  Hairy  Tribe  eat  a 
species  of  millet  for  food.]     One  authority  says  that  this  country 
is  north  of  the  Black-Hip  Country. 

12.  The  Distressed  (LAO  *)  People's  Country  lies  north  of  this. 
It  has  people  who  are  black  [and  who  for  food  eat  the  fruits  of 

*  See  the  reference  to  the  River  LAO  in  the  eighth  paragraph  of  the  fourth  sec 
tion  of  the  fourth  book. 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS,"    661 

trees  and  plants  ;  they  have  a  bird  with  two  heads].  Perhaps 
the  name  should  be  read  "  the  KIAO  *  People,"  instead  of  the  Dis 
tressed  (or  LAO)  People.  One  authority  says  that  it  lies  north 
of  the  Hairy  People,  and  has  people  having  their  face,  eyes, 
hands,  and  feet  entirely  black. 

13.  The  KCEU-WANG  of  the  Eastern  Regions  has  a  bird's 
body,f  and  a  human  face,  and  he  rides  upon  two  dragons.  [He 
is  the  God  of  Wood,  and  has  a  square  face,  and  wears  plain  ap 
parel.  MOH-TSZ'  says  that  formerly,  in  the  TS'IN  dynasty,  MUH- 
KUNG  was  of  illustrious  virtue.  The  Supreme  Ruler  caused 
K'EU-WANG  to  lengthen  his  life  by  nineteen  years.] 

THE  CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS. 

FOURTEENTH   BOOK. 

The  Classic  of  the  Great  Eastern  Waste. 

1.  The  Great  Canon  beyond  the  Eastern  SeaJ  [the   poem 
called  TS'ANG-SHAN-WU  says  that  in  the  east  there  is  a  stream  flow 
ing  in  a  bottomless  ravine.     It  is  supposed  to  be  this  caiion.     The 
"  Dissipation  of  Sorrows  "  calls  it  KIANG-SHANG'S  Great  Canon] 
is    SHAO-HAO'S   Country.      [The   emperor  SHAO-HAO,  *    of    the 
"  Golden  Heaven "   family,   gave    it  this  designation.]     SHAO- 
HAO'S  Descendant,  the  emperor  CHWEN-SUH  ||  [of  whom  no  fur 
ther  description  is  given],  left  there  his  lute  and  lyre.     [It  says 
that  his  lute  and  lyre  are  in  this  canon.]     It  has  a  beautiful 
mountain,  from  which  there  flows  a  delightful  spring,  producing 
a  charming  gulf.     [The  water  accumulates  and  so  forms  a  gulf.] 

2.  In  the   southeastern  corner  of  the  Great  Eastern  Waste 
there  is  a  mountain  called  the  PI-MIT-TI  Hill. 

3.  In  the  Great  Waste  beyond  the  Eastern  Sea  there  is  a 
mountain  which  by  hyperbole  is  called  "  the  Place  where  the  Sun 
and  Moon  Rise."     It  has  rolling  valleys  and  mountains.    This  is 

*  The  term  KIAO  sect  is  applied  to  the  Mohammedans.  ("  Vocab.  of  Chin. 
Prop.  Names,"  p.  20.) 

f  The  account  of  a  being  or  beings  with  a  bird's  body  and  a  human  face  may 
have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  Aleutian  islanders  im  dressed  in  the  skins 
of  birds.1118 

|  The  "  Eastern  Sea  "  is  the  term  applied  to  the  sea  off  the  southeast  coast  of 
China.  ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  58.) 

*  Who  reigned  about  2500  B.  c.     (Summer's  "  Handbook,"  p.  205.) 
I  The  successor  of  SHAO-HAO.     (Williams' s  Diet.,  p.  117.) 


662  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  Great  Men's  Country.  [In  the  reign  of  the  Ts'ix  dynasty,  in 
the  second  year  of  the  period  distinguished  by  the  designation 
YUNG-KIA  ("Perpetual  Excellence,"  i.  e.,  in  308  A.  D.),  there  were 
ducks  collected  in  NGAO-PO,  twenty  li  south  of  the  district  of 
SHI-NGAN.  A  man  by  the  name  of  CHEU-FU-CHANG  picked  up  a 
wooden  arrow  with  an  iron  point,  which  was  six  feet  *  and  a  half 
long.  Reckoning  from  the  length  of  the  arrow,  the  shooter 
must  have  been  a  rod  f  and  five  or  six  feet  tall.  The  Coreans 
say  that  formerly  some  people  from  the  kingdom  of  Japan, 
who  encountered  bad  weather  upon  a  voyage,  were  blown  across 
the  "Great  Sea,"J  and  beyond  it  they  discovered  a  country 
where  the  people  were  all  a  rod  tall,  and  moreover,  in  their 
form  and  appearance,  they  looked  like  Mongols.  They  were  tall 
savages  of  a  foreign  tribe.  The  arrow  came  from  this  coun 
try.  The  WAI-CHWEN  says  that  the  shortest  of  the  Scorched 
Pigmy  *  People  were  only  three  feet  high,  and  the  tallest  of 
these  did  not  exceed  ten  rods.  In  HO-TU'S  "Album  of  Gems" 
it  is  said  that  ninety  thousand  li  north  of  the  KWUN-LUN  (Range 
of  Mountains)  the  LUNG-POH  Country  is  found,  where  the  peo 
ple  are  thirty  rods  tall,  and  live  for  eighteen  thousand  years, 
but  they  then  die.  East  of  the  KWUN-LUN  (Mountains)  ||  TA- 
TSIN  A  is  found.  The  people  are  ten  rods  tall,  and  all  wear  plain 
garments.  Ten  times  «ten  thousand  li  to  the  east  the  country  of 
the  T'IAO  People  is  found.  They  are  thirty  rods  and  five  feet 
tall.  East  of  this,  ten  times  ten  thousand  li,  is  the  Central  TSIN 
Country,  whose  people  are  one  rod  tall.  The  KUH-LIANG  His 
tory  says  that  the  body  of  a  tall  savage,  measured  crosswise, 
covered  nine  Chinese  acres.  When  riding,  his  head  and  shoul 
ders  reached  above  the  cross-bar  of  the  chariot.  This  man  must 
therefore  have  been  several  rods  tall.  In  the  time  of  the  Ts'm 

*  The  Chinese  "  foot "  is  equal  to  about  fourteen  of  our  inches, 
f  Of  ten  Chinese  "  feet." 

t  The  term  "  Great  Sea  "  is  loosely  applied  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  China 
Sea.     ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  50.) 

*  The  character  YAO,  here  translated  "  Pigmy,"  is  applied  to  a  nation  of  Pig 
mies  said  to  be  three  feet  in  height,  called  YAO-TAO,  found  southwest  of  China  ;  the 
Negritos  or  Papuans  of  New  Guinea  may  be  intended.      (Williams's  Diet.,   p. 
1076.) 

||  For  an  account  of  these  Mountains,  see  Chapter  XV  of  this  book. 
A  The  Roman  Empire,   or  some  portion  of  it.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.   991 ; 
"  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  61.) 


CHINESE   "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    663 

dynasty  a  giant  was  seen  in  LIN-T'AO  *  who  was  five  rods  tall, 
and  his  foot-prints  were  six  feet  long.  If  the  above  accounts 
can  be  considered  to  be  true,  then  there  is  no  limit  to  the  height 
of  these  tall  men.]  It  has  the  Great  Men's  Market,  which  is 
called  "  the  Great  Men's  Mansion."  [This  is  a  mountain  which 
is  so  named  because  of  its  resemblance  to  a  large  mansion. 
The  Great  Men  collect  near  it  at  market-times,  and  hold  a 
market  upon  and  about  it.]  It  has  a  great  man  crouching  upon 
both  of  its  sides.  [Perhaps  the  character  translated  "crouch 
ing  "  formerly  meant  "  sitting  erect."  CHWANG-TSZ'  f  says  that 
he  sat  in  HWUI-K'IAI.]  It  has  a  country  of  "  Little  People  " 
who  are  called  the  TSING  People.  [The  poem  called  TS'ANG- 
SHAN-WU  says  that  the  farthest  region  to  the  northeast  is  in 
habited  by  people  who  are  only  nine  inches  high.]  Its  god  has 
a  human  face  and  a  wild  beast's  body,  and  he  is  called  LI-LING'S 
Body. 

4.  There  is  also  a  mountain  named  KUEH,  from  which  the 
Aspen  River  flows. 

5.  There  is  also  a  Country  of  Plants,  where  millet  is  used  for 
food.     [It  says  that  millet  grows  in  this  country.     The  name  of 
the  country  is  pronounced  WEI.]     They  employ  (or  have)  four 
(species  of)-  birds  (i.  e.,  they  have  numerous  varieties  of  birds)  ; 
also  tigers,  panthers,  .brown  bears,  and  grizzly  bears. 

6.  In  the  Great  Waste  there  is  a  mountain  called  HOII-HU. 
It  is  the  place  where  the  sun  and  moon  rise.     It  has  CHUNG- 
YUNG'S  Country.     TI-TSUN  (or  the  emperor  TSUN)  begat  CHUNG- 
YUNG.     The  people  of  CHUNG-YUNG  eat  wild  beasts  and  the  fruits 
of  trees.     [In  this  country  there  are  red  trees  with  dark  wood, 
which  have  delicious  flowers  and  fruit.     See  Lu-sm's  edition  of 
the  work  of  Confucius  called  "  Spring  and  Autumn."]     They 
use  four  birds  (i.  e.,  they  have  numerous  species  of  birds),  and 
also  panthers,  tigers,  brown  bears,  and  grizzly  bears. 

7.  There  is  also  the  Mountain  of  the  Eastern  Pass,  and  here 
is  the  "Country  of  Refined  Gentlemen."     These  people  have 
clothing,  caps,  sashes,  and  swords.     [They  have  tigers  and  pan 
thers,  which  are  gentle  and  give  way.]     Here  is  the  Country  of 
the  Presiding  Spirits.     TI-TSUN  begat  YEN-LUNG,  who  begat  the 

*  A  former  name  of  MIN-CHEU,  in  the  north  of  SZ'-CH'UEN,  where  a  great  goat 
nearly  as  large  as  a  donkey  is  produced.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  869.) 

f  A  famous  philosopher  of  the  CHEU  dynasty.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  112.) 


664:  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

Presiding  Spirits.  The  Presiding  Spirits  have  offspring,  but  the 
pure-minded  male  has  no  wife,  and  the  pure-minded  female  has  no 
husband.  [It  says  that  these  people  are  pure  in  their  thoughts, 
and  are  not  affected  by  passion,  and  do  not  mate,  but  that 
they  conceive  children  with  -all  purity,  like  white  doves  looking 
steadfastly  into  each  other's  eyes,  each  being  affected  by  the 
purity  of  the  other.]  They  eat  millet  and  wild  beasts,  and  have 
numerous  varieties  of  birds.  Here  is  TA-O  Mountain  (or  the 
Mountain  of  the  Great  Ridge). 

8.  In  the  Great  Waste  there  is  a  mountain  named  MING-SING 
(or  the  Bright  Star).     It  is  the  place  where  the  sun  and  moon 
rise. 

9.  There  is  also  the  White  People's  Country.     TI-TSUN  begat 
TI-HUNG,  who  begat  the  White  People.     The  White  People  have 
no  surnames.     They  eat  millet,  and  have  numerous  varieties  of 
birds,  as  well  as  tigers,  panthers,  brown  bears,  and  grizzly  bears. 
[And  they  have  teams  of  yellow  wild  beasts,  which  they  drive, 
using  them  in  order  to  reach  a  great  age.] 

10.  There  is  also  the  Green  Hills  Country.     Here  there  are 
foxes  with  nine  tails.     [When  they  are  very  little  disturbed  they 
come  out  (of  their  holes),  and  this  is  considered  a  good  omen.] 
It  has  the  JEU-PUH  *  (or  Courteous  Vassal)  Country.     They  live 
in  a  country  of  luxuriant  land.     [It  is  luxuriant  as  if  irrigated. 
The  name  is  pronounced  YiNG.f]     It  has  the  country  of  Black 
Teeth.     [Their  teeth  are  like  lacquer.]    TI-TSUN  begat  the  Black 
Teeth.     [As  the  teachings  and  example  of  the  sage  do  not  reach 
all  regions,  therefore  in  after  ages  his  descendants  differ  in  their 
pursuits  and  outward  appearance.      Every  one  says  that  those 
who  are  now  living  are  his  descendants  ;  but  they  surely  can  not 
be  posterity  which  he  himself  begat.]     The  KIANG  J  tribe  eat 
millet  for  food,  and  have  numerous  varieties  of  birds.     Here  is 
also  the  HIA-CHEU  *  (Summer  Island)  Country.     Here  is  also  the 

*  JEU  Country  was  an  ancient  principality  on  the  coast  of  SHAN-TUNG.     It  is 
said  in  the  annals  of  the  Eastern  HAN  to  have  belonged  to  LANG-TA  ZIUN,  the 
present  NI-CHAU  FU. 

f  YINQ  was  the  family  surname  of  TSIN  CHI  HWANG-TI,  derived  from  SHAO- 
HAO,  B.  c.  2597.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  1107.) 

\  KIANG  was  the  surname  of  SHIN-NUNG.  (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  362.)  SHIN- 
NTTNG  was  an  emperor  who  reigned  about  2700  B.  c.,  just  before  the  Yellow  Em 
peror.  (Summer's  "  Hand-book,"  i,  p.  205.) 

*  The  term  Hi  A  is  the  name  of  the  dynasty  which  reigned  from  B.  c.  2205  to 


CHINESE  "CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    665 

KAI-YU  *  Country.  It  has  a  god  with  eight  heads,  with  human 
faces,  a  tiger's  body,  and  ten  tails.  He  is  called  TIEN-WIT.  [He 
is  the  God  of  the  Water.] 

11.  In  the  Great  Waste  there  is  a  mountain  called  KUH-LING- 
YU-T'IEN.     It  is  at  the  farthest  limit  of  the  east  with  Li  and 
MEU.     [These  are  the  names  of  three  mountains.]     At  the  place 
where  the  sun  and  moon  rise    [there  is   a  god]  called  CHEH- 
TAN.     In  the  Eastern  Region  he  is  called  CHEH.     The  "  coming 
wind"   is  called  CHAN.     [It  is   not  fully  described   where  the 
Place  of  the   Coming  Wind   is   situated.]     He  dwells   at  the 
farthest  limit  of  the  east,  and  produces  the  eight  winds.     [It 
says  that  this  man  is  able  to  regulate  the  proper  times  for  the 
winds  to  come  forth  and  return.] 

12.  In  an  island  of  the  Eastern  Sea  there  is  a  god  with  a  hu 
man  face  and  a  bird's  body,  having  two  yellow  serpents  for  ear-or 
naments.    [These  serpents  are  passed  through  his  ears.]  He  treads 
upon  two  yellow  serpents,  and  is  called  YU-KWOH.     HWANG-TI  be 
gat  Yii-KWOH,  and  YU-KWOH  begat  YU-KING.     [Y IT-KING  is  the 
same  as  YU-KIANG.]     YU-KING  dwells  in  the  North  Sea,  and  Yu- 
KWOH  dwells  in  the  Eastern  Sea.     They  are  sea-gods.     [They 
are  each  called  the  god  of  that  particular  sea  over  which  they 
rule.     One  original  authority  reads  HAO  instead  of  KWOH.] 

13.  There  is  also  the  CHAO-YAO  (Quaking)  Mountain,  where 
the  YUNG  (Melting)  River  flows.     Here  there  is  a  country  called 
the  Black-Hip  Country.    [From  the  hips  down  they  are  black  like 
lacquer.]    They  have  millet  for  food,  and  have  numerous  varieties 
of  birds.     Here  is  also  the  country  of  the  KW'UN  (Needy)  Peo 
ple,  whose  surname  is  KBIT,  who  eat  (these  birds).     Some  say  that 
King  HAI  held  a  bird  in  his  two  hands,  and,  when  he  had  eaten  its 
head,  King  HAI  sent  it  to  YIU-I,  HO-POH,  and  PUH-NIU  [Ho-POH 
and  PUH-NIU  are   both  names  and  surnames— see   KIH-KIUN'S 
"  Bamboo  Book  "].     YIU-I  slew  King  HAI,  and  captured  PUH-NIU. 
[The  "  Bamboo  Book  "  says  that  HAI,  the  son  of  the  emperor  YIN, 
went  as  a  visitor  to  the  house  of  YIU-I,  and  committed  adultery 
there.     Therefore  YIU-I'S  sovereign,  MIN-CH'AN,  slew  him,  and 

1706.  The  term  "  Cultivated  Hi  A  "  is  still  used  for  China,  denoting  the  country,  not 
its  government ;  while  Cnu-IIiA  (all  the  HIAS)  for  the  same  has  become  obsolete. 
(Williams's  Diet.,  p.  184.) 

*  The  character  KAI  is  used  in  the  name  of  KAI-P'ING  HIEN,  in  SHIN-KING,  a 
district  town  in  FUNG-TIEN  FU.     ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop.  Names,"  p.  16.) 


666  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

thus  made  an  example  of  him.  Therefore  the  Emperor  YIN 
KIEH-CHING  borrowed  troops  of  HO-POH,  with  which  to  punish 
YIU-I,  overthrow  his  country,  and  slay  his  sovereign  MIN-CH'AN.] 
Ho  pitied  YIU-I,  and  allowed  him  to  leave  the  country  secretly, 
and  go  to  a  region  of  wild  beasts  ;  and  because  he  ate  the  wild 
beasts,  he  was  called  a  YAO  man.  [Yiu-i  was  originally  a  friend  of 
HO-POH,  and  a  good  scholar  ;  but  because  KIEH-CHING,  who  was 
then  the  emperor  of  the  YING  Country,  had  a  good  and  rightful 
reason  for  borrowing  troops  to  punish  crime,  HO-POH  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  help  to  overthrow  his  country.  It  was  be 
cause  he  pitied  Y^IU-I  that  he  allowed  him  to  leave  the  country 
secretly.  After  he  had  left  he  became  a  YAO  man.]  The  sover 
eign  SHUN  *  begat  Hi,  and  Hi  begat  the  YAO  (Quaking)  People. 
In  the  sea  there  are  two  people.  [These  are  the  people  to  whom 
YIU-I  went.]  They  are  called  NU-CHEU.  [They  are  the  same  as 
NU-CHEU'S  Body.  There  is  no  certainty  as  to  the  time  when,  or 
the  kind  of  being  into  which,  she  (Nii-CHEu's  Body)  may  be 
metamorphosed  ;  for  at  one  time  she  walks  on  water,  and  at 
another  time  she  vanishes  into  earth.  There  is  no  place  which 
she  could  not  reach  if  she  desired  to  reach  it.  We  hear  also 
that  the  ways  of  the  class  of  FAN-LIS  are  similar  to  those  of 
NU-CHEU'S  Body.]  NU-CHEU  has  great  crabs.  The  breadth  is 
ten  li. 

14.  In  the  Great  Waste  there  is  a  mountain  called  YEH-YAO- 
KIUN-TI.  Upon  it  is  the  Fu-tree,  having  a  trunk  of  three  hun 
dred  li.  Its  leaves  are  like  mustard.  [It  resembles  a  pillar  rising 
to  a  great  height,  and  its  leaves  are  like  mustard-greens,  f  ]  It 
has  a  valley  called  the  Warm  Springs  Valley.  Above  the  Warm 
Springs  Valley  is  the  Fu-tree  [i.  e.,  FU-SANG  lies  above].  When 
one  sun  sets  another  sun  rises.  [It  says  that  they  alternate  with 
each  other.]  They  all  contain  a  bird.  [In  them  there  is  a  two- 
footed  bird.]  Here  there  is  a  god  with  a  human  face,  dogs'  ears, 
and  a  wild  beast's  body.  For  ear-ornaments  he  has  two  green 
serpents.  He  is  called  SHE-PI'S  Body.  They  have  birds  varie 
gated  with  all  colours.  TI-TSUN  condescended  to  be  their  friend. 
Ti  descended  two  high  terraces  (for  worship)  which  were  ruled 
by  the  variegated  birds.  £  [It  says  that  below  the  mountain  were 

*  A  monarch  who  reigned  B.  c.  2255  to  2205.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  784.) 

\  Sinapis.     (See  Williaras's  Diet.,  p.  360.) 

%  It  is  a  custom  in  some  Chinese  monasteries  to  feed  a  bird  with  a  few  grains 


CHINESE    "CLASSIC   OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."    667 

SHUN'S  two  high  terraces  for  worship,  and  that  the  variegated 
birds  ruled  over  them.] 

15.  And  in  the  Great  Waste  there  is  a  mountain  called  I-T'IEN- 
SU-MAN.*     It  is  the  place  where  the  sun  and  moon  were  born,  and 
here  is  the  HUEN  (a  pipe,  a  musical  instrument)  People's  Coun 
try.     Here  is  also   the  K'I   (Dark   Gray)   Mountain,  the  YAO 
(Quaking)  Mountain,   the   TSANG  Mountain,  the   MAN-HIT  (or 
Household)  Mountain,  the  SHING  (Fertile)   Mountain,  and  the 
TAI  Mountain.     Here  there  are  variegated  birds. 

16.  In  the  Eastern  Waste  there  is  a  mountain  called  HOH- 
MiNG-TsttN-TsiH.     This  is  the  place  where  the  sun  and  moon  rise. 
There  is  also  the  KIH-YUNG  Country,  northeast  beyond  the  sea. 
They  had  three  blue  (or  green)   horses,  and  three  horses  that 
were  black  with  white  spots,  sweet  flowers,  YUEN-YIU,  i  gems, 
three  green  (or  blue)  horses,  and  three  black  horses  with  white 
spots  like  eyes  on  their  flesh,  sweet  flowers,  delicious  cherries, 
and  numerous  varieties  of  grain  in  this  place.     [It  says  that  these 
are  produced  spontaneously.] 

17.  There  is  also  the  country  of  NU-HWO-YUEH-MU,  having 
a  man  called  YUEN.     In  the  northern  regions  they  say  that  YUEN, 
who  brings  them  the  wind,  is  called  YEN.     [It  is  said  that  he  has 
these  two  names.]     He  dwelt  at  the  extreme  eastern  corner,  for  the 
sun  and  moon  dwelt  there.     They  did  not  have  a  uniform  time 
for  rising  and  setting,  and  he  controlled  them  as  to  whether  the 
time  should  be  short  or  long.     [It  says  that  YUEN  had  the  man 
agement  of  the  observations  of  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun 
and  moon.     He  did  not  let  them  run  out  of  order,  and  he  knew 
the  length  of  the  days.] 

18.  In  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Great  Waste  there  is  a 
mountain  called  HIUNG-LI-TI  Hill.     The  YING  Dragon  dwells  at 
its  extreme  southern  limit.     [The  YING  Dragon  is  a  dragon  hav 
ing  wings.]     He  killed  CH'I-YIU,!  together  with  KWCA-FU  [Cn'i- 
YIU  was  a  soldier].     He    could  not  ascend  again.     [The  YING 
Dragon  therefore  dwells  below  the  earth.]     Formerly,  when  be 
low,  he  was  the   occasion  of  dry  weather  [then  it  did  not  rain 

of  rice  just  before  the  morning  meal  has  commenced.1262  Some  such  custom  may 
have  given  rise  to  this  story. 

*  SU-MIN-TAH-LAH  Txu  is  the  island  of  Sumatra.  ("  Vocab.  of  Chin.  Prop. 
Names,"  p.  49.) 

f  CH'I-YIU  lived  B.  c.  2637.     (Williams's  Diet.,  p.  63.) 


668  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

above],  but  when  the  YING  Dragon  made  his  appearance  there 
was  a  very  great  rain.  [The  dragon  that  is  in  heaven  now  was 
produced  by  the  vapour  ascending  from  the  YING  Dragon.  This 
is  the  work  of  the  mysterious  and  obscure,  and  man  is  not  capa 
ble  of  accomplishing  it.] 

19.  In  the  Eastern  Sea  is  the  Mountain  (or  Island)  of  the 
Flowing  Stream,  seven  thousand  li  distant  in  the  sea.  Upon 
this  there  are  wild  beasts  which  look  like  cattle,  with  green  (blue  or 
hoary)  bodies,  but  they  have  no  horns,  and  only  one  foot.  When 
they  come  out  of  or  go  into  the  water,  then  there  is  wind  and 
rain.  They  are  bright  like  the  sun  and  moon,  and  their  voice  is 
like  thunder.  They  are  called  KW'EI.  The  Yellow  Emperor  * 
obtained  them  and  made  drums  of  their  skins,  beating  them 
with  drum-sticks  made  from  the  bones  of  wild  beasts.  [The 
Thunder-beast  is  the  God  of  Thunder.  He  has  a  man's  face  and 
a  dragon's  body.  He  drums  his  abdomen,  beating  it  with  drum 
sticks.]  The  sound  might  be  heard  for  five  hundred  li,  terri 
fying  all  beneath  heaven. 

*  The  Yellow  Emperor  is  said  to  have  ruled  2597  B.  c.    (Summer's  "  Hand 
book,"  i,  p.  205.) 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

COMMENTS   UPON   THE    "CLASSIC    OF   MOUNTAINS   AND   SEAS." 

The  oldest  geography  of  the  world — Article  by  M.  Bazin,  Sr. — Its  divisions — 
Groups  of  mountains — Taoists  of  the  fourth  century — The  spirits  governing 
the  earth — Extravagancies  of  the  work — First  mention  of  the  book — The 
Familiar  Discourses  of  Confucius — Thought  to  be  apocryphal  or  corrupted — 
Tseu-hia  —  Sse-ma-ts'ien — Sse-raa-ching — Chao-shi — Wang-chong — Tso-sse — 
The  "  Book  of  Waters  " — Chang-hoa — Consideration  of  the  western  and  south 
ern  kingdoms — Summaries  of  the  geography  of  Tu-yu — Lo-pi — Kia-ching-shi 
— Chen-pang — Tsu-tse-yu — The  Encyclopaedia  of  Tu-yeu — Conclusion  of  M. 
Bazin — The  imperial  academy  of  the  Han-lin — The  Shan  Hai  King  read  as  a 
romance  or  pastime — Particularly  by  young  men — Opinions  of  commenta 
tors — Notes — Gaps  or  omissions — The  "  Bamboo  Books  " — Length  of  the  work 
— No  translation  heretofore  made — M.  Burnouf's  intention  to  translate  it — 
Change  of  opinion  among  scholars  as  to  its  value — Monsters  mentioned  by 
other  writers — Tacitus — Men  clothed  in  skins — A  river  with  eight  mouths — 
The  compass — The  T'ien  Wu  :  Lord  of  the  Water — Seals,  sea-lions,  and  sea- 
otters — The  Islands  of  the  Flowing  Stream — Cuttle-fish — Birds  with  hairy 
legs — Serpents  as  ear-ornaments — The  Shan  Hai  King  a  compilation  of  a 
number  of  distinct  accounts — Regions  mentioned  twice  or  more — Description 
of  Japan — The  genii  who  once  ruled  the  earth — The  state  of  civilization — 
Tigers  and  bears — A  poisonous  insect — The  Ravine  of  the  Manifestation  of 
the  Dawn — The  Hairy  People — Fu-sang  and  the  Black-Teeth  Country — The 
Malay  custom  of  blackening  the  teeth — The  Philippine  or  Luzon  Islands — 
The  banana  or  plantain  (pisang) — The  "ten  suns." 

THE  SHAN  HAI  KING,  or  Chinese  "Classic  of  Mountains  and 
Seas,"  extracts  from  which  are  translated  in  the  last  chapter,  is 
not  only  claimed  to  be  the  most  ancient  geographical  work  which 
the  Chinese  possess,  but  is  also  thought  by  some  to  be  the  oldest 
geography  of  the  world.2155  It  originally  contained  thirty-two 
books  or  divisions,  but  in  the  fifth  century  A.  D.  they  were  re 
duced  to  eighteen.2024 

M.  Bazin,  Sr.,  in  1839,  contributed  an  article  to  the  "Journal 
Asiatique  "  which  contained  translations  of  some  fragments  of 


670  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  work,  and  also  gave  an  account  of  its  history,  and  of  the 
views  regarding  it  held  by  Chinese  scholars.651  This  article, 
somewhat  condensed,  is  copied  below  : 

"  The  Shan  Hal  King,  ( The  Book  of  Mountains  and  Seas,' 
contains  a  fabulous  description  of  the  world  which  is,  by  some 
historians  of  the  sect  of  the  Taoists,  attributed  to  the  great  Yu 
and  to  Pe-y,  ministers  of  the  emperor  Shun  (2255  B.  c.). 

"  This  cosmography,  founded  upon  a  system  peculiar  to  China, 
and  which  has  its  origin  in  the  religious  traditions  of  the  em 
pire,  is  divided  into  eighteen  books,  which  treat  respectively  of 
the  mountains  to  the  south,  to  the  west,  to  the  north,  to  the 
east,  and  of  the  central  mountains  ;  of  the  regions  beyond  the 
sea  to  the  south,  to  the  west,  to  the  north,  and  to  the  east ;  of 
the  regions  on  the  nearer  side  of  the  sea  to  the  south,  to  the 
west,  to  the  north,  and  to  the  east  ;  of  the  eastern,  southern, 
western,  and  northern  portions  of  the  great  deserts  ;  and  of  the 
islands  of  the  sea. 

"  The  authors  of  the  cosmography  hold  that  there  are  five 
principal  groups  of  mountains  upon  the  earth,  being  the  groups 
of  the  south,  west,  north,  east,  and  centre,  respectively.  From 
each  of  these  groups,  as  a  common  point,  great  ranges  of  mount 
ains  proceed  toward  the  south,  the  west,  the  north,  and  the 
east.  All  the  rivers  of  the  earth  have  their  sources  in  these 
mountain  ranges,  which,  for  the  greater  part,  are  covered  with 
the  products  of  an  extraordinary  vegetation.  Quadrupeds,  birds, 
reptiles,  and  fabulous  monsters  with  a  tiger's  claws  and  a  leop 
ard's  tail,  appertaining  to  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  varieties 
of  the  Ifi-lin,  to  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  varieties  of  the 
Fong-hoang>  of  the  dragon,  or  of  the  turtle,  have  their  abode 
upon  these  gigantic  mountains. 

"  The  probable  origin  of  this  systematic  division  is  as  fol 
lows  :  In  the  fourth  century  of  our  era,  the  writers  of  the  mod 
ern  sect  of  the  Taoists,  wishing  to  strike  the  imagination  of  the 
multitude,  or  to  impose  upon  the  credulity  of  the  simple,  in  or 
der  to  obtain  credence  for  the  cosmography  which  they  pub 
lished,  borrowed  the  great  names  of  Yu  and  Pe-y.  These  writers 
had  neither  any  idea  of  the  structure  of  the  earth,  nor  any 
knowledge  of  foreign  lands  ;  but,  as  among  all  the  mountains  of 
the  Celestial  Empire  there  are  five  which  the  Chinese  geogra- 


"CLASSIC   OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  671 

phers  since  the  days  of  the  Cheu  dynasty  have  placed  in  the 
first  rank,  and  have  designated  by  distinct  titles,  the  authors  of 
the  Shan  Hai  King,  in  order  to  find  a  base  or  point  of  depart 
ure,  imagined  five  principal  groups,  or  five  great  ranges  of 
mountains,  to  take  the  place  of  these  five  mountains  which  had 
been  consecrated  by  tradition,  by  religious  ceremonies,  and  by 
history. 

"  Whether  this  conjecture  is  accepted  or  rejected,  it  is  none 
the  less  true  that  the  Shan  Hai  King  does  not  present  a  positive 
and  credible  cosmography,  and  that  it  should  not  be  imagined 
that  it  is  possible  to  determine  the  situation  of  the  places  which 
the  authors,  whoever  they  may  have  been,  announce  as  existing. 
The  truth  of  this  assertion  can  easily  be  seen  by  reading  a  few 
extracts  from  it. 

"  The  last  thirteen  chapters  of  the  Shan  Hai  King  contain  a 
description  of  foreign  countries — that  is  to  say,  of  the  countries 
inhabited  by  spirits  and  by  some  of  the  three  hundred  and  sixty 
varieties  of  the  human  race. 

"  The  spirits  which  governed  or  dwelt  upon  the  surface  of 
the  earth  in  the  days  when  the  great  Yu  and  Pe-y,  ministers  of 
the  emperor  Shun,  both  laboured  for  the  draining  off  of  the 
waters  of  the  deluge  (about  the  year  2255  B.  c.,  according  to  the 
chronology  of  the  Tseu-chit'ong-kienoi  Sse-ma-kuang),  differed 
from  the  spirits  which  lived  under  the  reigns  of  Fu-hi,  Hoang- 
ti,  Chao-hao,  Chuen-hio,  and  Ti-ko.  The  spirits  of  the  sun,  the 
moon,  and  the  five  planets,  which  are  mentioned  in  the  twelfth 
book  of  the  Shin-yi-tien  (History  of  the  Gods  and  of  Prodigies), 
are  not  referred  to  in  the  Shan  Hai  King,  and  its  authors  have 
turned  the  spirits  of  the  earth  (ling-Jci)  into  monsters  or  fantas 
tic  animals,  and  on  this  account  there  is  some  temptation  to 
regard  the  description  which  they  have  transmitted  to  us  as  a 
malicious  parody,  invented  by  a  writer  of  but  medium  capacity, 
to  bring  derision  upon  the  beliefs  of  the  Taoists. 

"  As  extracts  from  the  work  will  sufficiently  demonstrate  the 
fact  that  the  Shan  Hai  King  does  not  present  a  true  cosmogra 
phy  from  which  modern  science  could  derive  information,  but 
that  it  is  instead  merely  a  document  which  contributes  to  the 
history  of  the  errors  and  extravagancies  of  the  human  mind,  I 
will  pass  to  the  second  part  of  my  essay  (which  seems  to  me 
more  worthy  of  interest),  and  show  what  were  the  opinions  of 


672  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

the  principal  Chinese  writers  concerning  the  origin  of  this  strange 
book,  its  contestable  authority,  its  presumed  authors,  and  its 
pretended  antiquity. 

"  It  is  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  the  Kia-yu  (Familiar 
Discourses)  of  Confucius.  This  book  is  thought  to  be  authentic 
by  the  Taoist  authors.  If  the  testimony  of  a  chronicler  is  to  be 
believed,  it  was  found  on  the  demolition  of  the  house  of  Confu 
cius,  together  with  the  Lun-yu  (the  Book  of  Exhortations),  the 
Hiao  King  (the  Book  of  Filial  Piety),  a  part  of  the  dictionary 
'Rh-ya,  etc.,  and  offered  to  the  emperor  Hiao-wu-ti  by  Kong 
Ngan-kue,  who  was  a  descendant  of  the  great  philosopher.  The 
writers  of  the  orthodox  school  rank  the  Kia-yu  among  the  an 
cient  books  which  were  interpolated,  altered,  or  corrected  by  the 
writers  of  the  Han  dynasty.  Others,  in  greater  number,  regard 
the  Kia-yu  as  an  apocryphal  book.  However  it  may  be,  the  work 
merits  our  attention,  and,  if  it  is  admitted  that  it  was  composed 
during  the  Han  dynasty,  or  about  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  era,  it  is  still  the  most  ancient  work  that  mentions  the 
Shan  Hai  King. 

"  Tseu-hia,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  whose  family  name  was 
Po-yang,  who  wrote  a  commentary  upon  the  Y  King,  expresses 
himself  in  these  terms  in  the  Kia-yu  : 

" '  During  the  reign  of  the  Shang  dynasty  (1783  to  1134  B.  c.) 
mention  was  made  of  a  Book  of  the  Mountains  (Shan  King)? 

"  Tseu-hia  says  again  : 

" '  In  this  book  the  east  and  the  west  are  designated  by  the 
term  icei  ;  the  south  and  the  north  by  the  term  king? 

"  We  can  not  fail  to  recognize  the  Shan  Hai  King  in  the 
Shan  King  of  which  Tseu-hia  speaks.  The  words  wei  (woof) 
and  king  (warp)  are  terms  of  nomenclature,  or  of  classification, 
of  which  the  real  meaning  is  lost.  They  are  found  now  among 
the  astronomical  terms  of  the  Chinese,  the  five  planets  being 
called  wei,  and  the  twenty-eight  constellations  king. 

"  Ss6-ma-ts'ien,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  Chinese  historians, 
expresses  himself  thus  in  the  Ss'e-ki: 

"'The  Book  of  the  Mountains  (Shan  King]  is  attributed  to 
the  great  Yu  ;  but  such  extraordinary  things  are  contained  in 
this  book  that  I  do  not  dare  to  speak  of  them.' 

"  I  do  not  approve  the  position  taken  here  by  Sse-ma-ts'ien, 
and  I  believe  that  the  renown  which  he  acquired  as  the  founder 


"CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  673 

of  historical  criticism  in  his  country  has  caused  his  silence  on 
this  subject  to  be  the  means  of  exciting  indecision  on  the  part 
of  later  writers.  Nevertheless,  I  hasten  to  say  that  his  skepti 
cism  can  hardly  be  considered  as  a  fault,  as  the  biographers  of 
this  great  man  attest  that  he  did  not  exhibit  it  until  after  long 
and  painful  researches. 

"  In  the  seventh  century  of  our  era  a  Chinese  historian  called 
Sse-ma-ching  undertook  to  trace  the  history  of  the  primitive 
times,  which  was  lacking  in  the  Ss'e-ki  of  Sse-ma-ts'ien  ;  and,  in 
a  general  explanation  of  the  book  entitled  Kuo-yen-nien-sse,  the 
following  is  found  : 

"  *  The  great  historian  did  not  dare  to  speak  of  the  Shan  Hal 
King,  either  good  or  evil.  It  is  assuredly  a  book  composed  dur 
ing  the  Ts'in  dynasty.  The  facts  that  are  reported  are  in  part 
credible  and  in  part  doubtful.' 

"  After  Sse-ma-ts'ien  comes  Chao-shi  (Chao-hoa),  who  lived 
during  the  reign  of  the  Han  dynasty.  In  his  commentary  upon 
the  Chronicle  of  the  Kingdoms  of  Wu  and  Yue,  a  work  of 
which  the  authority  is  very  doubtful,  he  states  that  Yu,  after 
consulting  the  spirits  of  the  mountains  and  the  lakes,  and  ob 
taining  information  from  them  as  to  the  mountains  and  rivers 
which  contained  gold  and  jade  ;  as  to  the  birds,  quadrupeds, 
reptiles,  and  living  creatures  which  were  to  be  found  there ;  as 
to  the  customs  of  the  peoples  of  the  eight  divisions  of  the  world  ; 
and,  finally,  as  to  the  extent  of  the  foreign  kingdoms  and  coun 
tries — ordered  Y  to  note  all  these  details,  to  add  a  commentary, 
and  to  compose  the  book  entitled  the  Shan  Hai  King. 

"  The  complete  account  of  Chao-shi  abounds  in  errors.  With 
out  speaking  of  its  fabulous  details,  it  contains  anachronisms  of 
a  kind  which  are  never  found  in  the  better  class  of  Chinese  works. 

"  Wang-chong,  who  lived  during  the  reign  of  Hiao-ho-ti,  of 
the  Han  dynasty,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  the  year  89  A.  D., 
in  the  work  which  contains  his  astronomical  dissertations,  makes 
the  following  statement  : 

"  *  The  great  Yu  received  the  order  to  labour  for  the  drainage 
of  the  waters  ;  Y  was  charged  to  write  the  history  of  extraordi 
nary  events.  These  two  men  visited  all  the  provinces,  ascended 
the  highest  mountains,  and  visited  the  countries  situated  beyond 
the  seas,  and,  from  all  that  they  had  seen  and  heard,  they  com 
posed  the  Shan  Hai  King? 
43 


674  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

"  A  poet,  who  lived  during  the  epoch  of  the  San  Km  (221- 
265  A.D.),  and  who  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  ablest  man 
of  his  times  known  to  historians,  a  man  named  Tso-sse,  mentions 
the  Shan  Hai  King  in  a  piece  of  verse  entitled  Wu-tu-fu  (Verse 
on  the  Five  Capitals). 

"Mention  is  made  of  it  in  the  preface  of  a  commentary  on 
the  Shui  King  (Book  of  the  Waters),  a  work  composed  during 
the  epoch  of  the  San  Kue.  The  author  says  : 

"  '  Formerly  the  great  Yu  composed  the  Shan  Hai  King. 
He  collected  the  material  for  this  book  in  his  long  voyages.1 

"  Another  commentary  of  the  Shui  King  says  : 

"  'The  Shan  Hai  King  is  a  mutilated  history  ( Choang-  Chi)', 
but,  nevertheless,  the  great  Yu  gave  a  description  of  foreign 
countries.' 

"Chang-hoa,  who  lived  during  the  reign  of  the  Ts'in  dynasty 
(265-420  A.  D.  ),  in  the  preface  to  the  Po-we-chi  (Fabulous  En 
cyclopaedia),  says  : 

" '  Two  of  the  most  ancient  books  still  exist ;  these  are  the 
Herbal  of  Chin-nong  (the  Pen-ts'ao),  and  the  Shan  Hai  King, 
which  several  writers  attribute  to  the  great  Yu.' 

"  In  the  ( Consideration  (Lari)  of  the  Western  and  Southern 
Kingdoms,'  a  book  published  during  the  dynasty  of  the  Later 
Han  (947-951  A.  D.),  the  following  passage  occurs : 

" '  The  Book  of  Mountains  contains  a  description  of  the  world, 
from  the  country  where  the  sun  rises  to  the  place  where  it 
sets.' 

"  Finally,  in  the  summaries  of  the  Geography  of  Tu-yu  we 
read  : 

" '  The  twenty-eight  constellations  of  heaven  have  long  been 
designated  by  special  titles  ;  the  mountains  and  the  streams  of 
the  earth  long  ago  received  special  names.  All  these  titles  and 
names  are  found  abridged  in  the  Yu  Kong  and  the  Shan  Hai 
King,  monuments  bequeathed  by  the  men  of  ancient  times  to 
the  following  generations  ;  but  if  it  is  desired  to  go  deeper  into 
the  matter,  and  learn  the  names  of  the  kingdoms  and  cities  more 
in  detail,  the  Chun-tsieu  of  Confucius  should  be  read.' 

"  Without  stopping  to  discuss  a  multitude  of  assertions,  which 
hardly  seem  worthy  of  the  trouble,  I  come  to  the  opinion  of  Lo- 
pi,  who  in  1190  A.  D.  published  a  book  called  the  IM-SSC,  in  which 
he  states  that  Y  established  a  classification  of  living  beings,  dis- 


"CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  675 

tinguishing  those  which  were  harmful  from  those  which  were  of 
use  to  mankind,  and  composed  the  Shan  Hai  King. 

"  Among  more  modern  works  we  read  in  the  Ku-yany-tsa-tsu 
of  Kia-ching-shi  : 

" '  All  the  operations  of  heaven  and  earth  are  mysterious  and 
incomprehensible,  and  withdraw  themselves  from  the  investiga 
tion  of  men.  This  is  why  the  Shan  Hai  King  and  the  diction 
ary  'JRh-ya  are  books  which  can  not  be  comprehended.' 

"  In  the  collection  of  poems  of  Cheu-pang-yen,  it  is  said  : 

"  '  The  Book  of  the  Mountains  is  a  book  of  which  the  origin 
is  not  known  ;  the  kingdom  of  Tsi  is  a  kingdom  which  no  one 
has  ever  seen.' 

"  Finally,  the  book  entitled  Tsu-tse-yu  mentions  this  work  in 
the  following  terms  : 

"  *  Heaven  and  earth  are  great ;  what  do  they  not  contain  ? 
The  Shan  Hai  King  is  full  of  doubtful  statements,  but  who  can 
affirm  that  the  assertions  which  seem  doubtful  to  us  are  abso 
lutely  false  ? ' 

"  That  which  we  think  the  best  opinion  is  expressed  in  the 
book  entitled  Tu-yeu  T*ong-tien  (the  Encyclopedia  of  Tu-yeu),  a 
work  which  was  first  published  under  the  T'ang  dynasty.  Tu- 
yeu,  whose  opinion  is  universally  received  by  the  orthodox  school, 
expresses  himself  as  follows  : 

" '  As  to  the  Yu  Pen-Id  (the  History  of  Yu),  and  the  Shan 
Hai  King,  I  do  not  know  under  which  dynasty  they  were  com 
posed.  They  contain  statements  which  are  strange  and  whimsi 
cal,  and  directly  in  opposition  to  the  facts  reported  in  the  classical 
authorities  known  as  the  King.  I  suspect  that  these  two  works 
were  written,  after  Confucius  had  revised  the  Shi  King  and  the 
Shu  King,  by  some  man  who  loved  the  marvelous.  It  is  pos 
sible,  however,  that  the  Yu  Pen-Id  and  the  Shan  Hai  King  ex 
isted  before  the  days  of  Confucius,  and  that  the  fables  which 
they  contain  were  interpolated  by  writers  of  following  genera 
tions,  such  as  those  who  composed  the  Ku-cheu-shu,  the  Chron 
icle  of  the  Kingdoms  of  Wu  and  Yue,  the  Yue-tsiuei  and  the 
Chu-wei-shu* 

"  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  necessary  to  go  beyond  the  state 
ment  of  the  author  of  this  encyclopaedia,  to  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Shan  Hai  King  is  a  fabulous  book,  of  which  the  origin 
is  not  really  known,  and  for  my  part  I  declare  this  to  be  my 


5Y6  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

opinion.  When,  one  after  another,  I  have  questioned  the  Chi 
nese  writers  of  the  sect  of  the  Taoists,  whose  conjectures  are  so 
vague  and  whose  hypotheses  are  so  confused  ;  when  I  have  added 
new  testimony  to  that  which  I  have  reported — the  most  imposing 
authority  can  not  balance  that  of  the  imperial  academy  of  the 
Han-lin ;  and  the  editors  of  the  Ko-chang-tiao-li  (the  Code  of 
Competitive  Public  Examinations),  in  placing  the  Shan  Hai 
King  upon  the  index,  have  proved  that  they  are  of  the  same 
opinion  as  Tu-yeu.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  scholars  always 
read  this  book,  but  they  are  careful  not  to  seriously  quote  the 
traditions  which  it  contains.  They  read  it  rather  as  a  romance 
is  read,  as  an  agreeable  pastime,  and  because  it  is  best  to  be 
acquainted  with  all  that  has  been  written.  'The  Shan  Hal 
King  has  almost  always  been  studied,'  says  the  author  of  a 
work  entitled  Lieu-fong-tsa-tsu,  '  and  even  now  among  the  best 
scholars  there  are  many  who  read  and  study  it,  but  who  regard 
it  as  a  book  in  which  the  marvelous  dominates.' 

"  It  serves  to  stimulate  the  imagination  of  the  youthful  Chi 
nese,  who  read  this  fabulous  cosmography  with  avidity,  and 
hence  phrases  like  the  following  are  often  found  in  prefaces  : 

" '  In  my  youth,  I  read  the  Shan  Hai  King,  and  I  remember 
that  the  monstrous  animals  of  which  it  speaks  nearly  all  had 
whimsical  names.'  (Kuei-yeu-Jcuang-shi.) 

'  When  I  was  young,  I  loved  to  copy  books,  and  I  twice 
transcribed  the  dictionary  'Rh-ya,  the  Shan  Hai  King,  and  the 
JPen-ts'ao.'  (Preface  of  the  book  entitled  Nan-sse-wang-yun- 
chuen.) 

"  After  having  brought  together  all  that  I  could,  but  perhaps 
in  too  narrow  a  circle  of  Chinese  erudition,  as  to  the  opinions 
which  the  writers  of  the  Celestial  Empire  have  expressed  concern 
ing  the  Shan  Hai  King,  I  will  now  briefly  examine  the  opinions 
of  the  commentators. 

These,  Kuo-p'o,  Jin  Chin-ngan,  etc.,  generally  reproduce  the 
opinions  of  the  original  writers.  They  sometimes  add  notes  ;  but 
these  notes,  although  instructive  to  the  Chinese,  have  no  interest 
for  us.  The  famous  philosopher  Lie-tseu,  he  who  lived  forty 
years  in  a  desert,  attributes  the  editing  of  the  Shan  Hai  King 
to  Meng-kien.  He  says  :  <  The  great  Yu  discovered  (the  mount 
ains  and  the  seas)  in  his  voyages  ;  Pe-y  remembered  (that  which 
the  holy  man  had  described),  and  gave  them  their  names.  Meng- 


"CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  677 

kien  understood  (the  narration  of  the  voyages  from,  the  mouth 
of  Pe-y)  and  consigned  it  to  writing.'  Other  commentators  con 
fine  themselves  to  a  citation  of  the  extraordinary  facts  mentioned 
in  the  book.  Some  pass  in  review  the  foreign  nations  that  live 
beyond  the  seas.  They  insist  particularly  upon  the  divisions  of 
the  book  and  upon  the  terms  of  nomenclature.  They  almost  all 
differ  from  one  another  as  to  the  number  of  chapters  which  it  had 
during  such  or  such  a  dynasty.  Kuo-p'o  states  that  in  the  days 
of  the  Ts'in  dynasty  each  chapter  was  followed  by  a  summary  in 
which  everything  of  interest  contained  in  it  was  recapitulated. 
A  fact  worthy  of  notice  is  that  there  were  formerly  gaps  or 
omissions  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  book,  and  that  under 
the  Lesser  Tsi  dynasty  (479-502  A.  D.)  a  scholar  called  Kiang- 
yen  wished  to  add  a  supplement,  just  as  Li-shi,  under  the  Ts'in 
dynasty,  added  a  supplement  to  the  Po-we-chi.  The  commenta 
tors  have  not  submitted  the  geographical  names  of  foreign  coun 
tries  to  judicious  criticism,  but  they  endeavour  to  prove  that  such 
a  mountain  of  the  Shan  Hai  King  corresponds  to  such  another 
of  the  Yu  Kong.  Finally,  two  commentators  place  this  book 
among  the  Chu-shu,  or  the  *  Books  written  upon  Bamboo  Tab 
lets,'  and  found  in  the  tombs  the  first  year  Tai-shi  of  the  reign 
of  Wu-ti  of  the  Ts'in  dynasty  (265  A.  D.).  The  Chu-shu  are  evi 
dently  apocryphal  books,  and  nothing  could  more  enfeeble  the 
authority  of  the  Shan  Hai  King  than  this  assertion  of  the  two 
commentators. 

"  The  book  contains  over  thirty  thousand  characters  in  the 
text,  and  over  twenty  thousand  are  found  in  the  commentaries, 
which  is  a  great  number  for  a  book  containing  such  extrava 
gancies,  and  which  does  not  merit  deep  study  in  a  country  like 
China,  in  which  the  amount  of  true  geographical  knowledge  is 
far  from  despicable." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  remarks  of  M.  Bazin  that 
he  considers  the  work  to  be  unworthy  of  serious  attention  ;  and 
founds  this  belief  largely  upon  its  stories  of  the  existence  of 
fantastic  monsters.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that 
the  accounts  of  these  monsters  are  partly  interpolations  by  the 
Taoists,  who  have  attempted  to  bolster  up  their  belief  in  the 
existence  of  innumerable  spirits,  which  animate  the  works  of 
Nature,  by  incorporating  descriptions  of  these  "  supernatural  be- 


678  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

ings  "  with  the  accounts  of  foreign  lands,  and  are  partly  crude 
and  unscientific  or  poetical  descriptions  of  existing  beings. 

For  some  reason  (perhaps  because  of  M.  Bazin's  belief  that 
the  work  was  unworthy  of  serious  study)  no  translation  of  it 
into  any  European  language  has  been  made.  M.  fimile  Burnouf 
has  recently  published  a  few  short  extracts  from  it,  however, 
and  has  announced  his  intention  of  translating  the  entire  work. 
The  editor  of  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of 
French  Orientalists  "  makes  the  following  comments  upon  this 
announcement  ; 

"This  book  has  been  treated  with  too  little  attention  by 
Orientalists  ;  but  their  opinions  in  regard  to  it  are  now  daily 
being  changed.  Bazin  saw  nothing  in  it  but  a  tissue  of  absurd 
legends-;  but  the  opinion  of  this  Sinologue  was  based  merely 
upon  the  grotesque  pictures  which  ornament  the  popular  editions 
of  this  book.  A  more  careful  examination  of  the  original  text 
of  the  Shan  Hai  King  demonstrates,  beyond  question,  that  this 
'  Sacred  Book  of  Geography  '  contains  not  only  fabulous  tales, 
such  as  might  be  expected  in  a  work  of  such  great  antiquity,  but 
also  precise  scientific  statements  from  which  the  scholarly  world 
can  obtain  much  knowledge  of  the  archaic  period  of  the  Chinese 
monarchy." 

The  strange  monsters  of  the  Shan  Hai  King  are  not  more 
absurd  and  grotesque  than  many  that  are  mentioned  in  other 
early  histories.  Tacitus,  for  instance,  concludes  his  "Germa- 
nia "  with  a  reference  to  the  story  that  the  Oxiones  have  the 
head  and  face  of  a  man,  and  the  body  and  limbs  of  a  beast. 
Zeus  has  ingeniously  explained  that  these  animals  with  human 
faces  could  have  been  nothing  else  than  men  clothed  in 
skins.2452 

In  the  Japanese  traditions,  mention  is  made  of  a  terrible  ser 
pent  having  eight  heads  and  eight  tails,  called  "  the  eight-headed 
serpent."  The  same  monster  is  described  in  the  Shan  Hai  King, 
and  we  should  be  at  a  loss  to  know  what  was  meant  if  the  Ja 
panese  commentators  did  not  explain  that  this  is  the  name  of  a 
rapid  river  having  eight  mouths.1669 

It  is  stated  that  a  Japanese  army  was  guided  in  its  march  by 
a  "  crow  with  eight  feet."  The  Chinese  divide  their  compass 
by  eight  points— the  four  cardinal  points  and  the  intermediate 
points  ;  and  it  is  therefore  probable  that  the  "  crow  with  eight 


"CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  679 

feet "  was  the  name  given  to  the  compass  by  which  Zin  mu 
was  guided  in  his  expedition.1670 

It  does  not  seem  impossible  that  the  same  explanation  may 
account  for  the  story  of  the  TIEX  wu,  the  "  Lord  of  the  Water," 
having  eight  heads,  eight  tails,  and  eight  legs. 

The  animals,  which  are  variously  described  as  resembling 
striped  cattle  ;  cattle  with  blue  bodies,  no  horns,  and  one  foot ; 
dogs  with  six  legs  ;  foxes  with  fishes'  fins,  and  swine  with  men's 
faces,  are  probably  seals,  sea-lions,  sea-otters,  and  other  phoca- 
ceans.  The  Chinese  describe  their  voices  as  resembling  the  grunt 
of  a  hog  ;  that  of  a  person  stretching  and  yawning,  or  rather 
moaning;  that  of  an  infant;  the  cry  of  a  wild  goose,  or  an  expira 
tion  of  the  breath.  Pinart  says  that  the  otter,  when  attacked, 
utters  heart-rending  cries,  which  almost  resemble  the  groans  of 
a  human  being  ; 2047  and  the  4£  History  of  Kamtchatka  "  says  that 
the  cry  of  the  old  sea-calves  resembles  that  of  a  person  endeavour 
ing  to  vomit,  and  the  young  ones  cry  like  a  person  in  pain.1639 

Seals  may  be  said  to  look  like  a  dog  with  six  legs,  for  the 
fore-flippers  may  be  counted  as  two  legs,  and  the  hind-flippers, 
held  out  straight  behind,  look  as  the  legs  of  a  dog  would  look 
who  dragged  an  extra  pair  behind  those  with  which  his  race  are 
furnished.  Other  describers  might  fancy  the  sea-lions  to  be  like 
cattle  with  one  foot.  In  this  case  the  fore-flippers  would  be  con 
sidered  as  "fins,"  and  the  hind-flippers,  fastened  together  and  ex 
tended  behind,  would  be  regarded  as  one  member. 

In  the  last  paragragh  of  our  extract  from  the  Shan  Hai  King 
mention  is  made  of  an  animal  found  in  the  "  Islands  of  the 
Flowing  Stream,"  situated  in  the  sea  at  a  distance  of  seven  thou 
sand  li.  The  "flowing  stream"  may  be  the  gulf -stream  of  the 
Pacific,  the  Kuro  Siwo  ;  and  the  islands  are  probably  either  the 
Kurile  or  the  Aleutian  Islands.  The  animals  found  upon  them 
are  said  to  look  like  cattle  with  blue  bodies,  but  no  horns,  hav 
ing  one  foot,  and  coming  out  of  and  going  into  the  water.  This 
description  should  be  compared  with  that  given  by  Klaproth  of 
the  sea-otters  :  166°  "  The  largest  are  about  ten  feet  long,  and  are 
of  a  purple  colour.  Although  the  Chinese  call  them  sea-cattle, 
they  have  no  horns." 

We  should  hardly  know  what  to  make  of  the  description  of 
the  fish  with  one  head  and  ten  bodies  if  it  were  not  stated  that 
the  cuttle-fish  is  meant ;  and  the  account  of  a  fish  that  looks 


680  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

like  a  lung,  but  which  has  eyes  and  six  feet,  is  probably  another 
attempt  to  describe  the  same  creature. 

The  animal  like  a  rabbit,  with  a  crow's  bill,  owl  eyes,  and 
serpent's  tail,  is  probably  some  species  of  large  lizard  ;  the  bird 
with  two  heads  may  be  the  horn-bill,  or  some  species  of  swan 
with  a  large  tubercle  at  the  base  of  the  bill ;  and  the  fox  with 
eight  or  nine  tails  may  have  been  the  beaver.  The  bird  with 
rats'  hair  or  rats'  legs  is  mentioned  by  Hue  as  follows  : 

"  We  remarked  in  Tartary  another  species  of  migratory  bird 
about  the  size  of  a  quail ;  its  legs,  instead  of  feathers,  are  covered 
with  a  sort  of  long,  rough  hair,  like  that  of  the  musk-deer."  1569 

The  wearing  of  serpents  in  the  ears,  as  ear-rings,  has  probably 
been  a  custom  of  more  than  one  savage  tribe.  Purchas  describes 
its  existence  in  America  in  these  words  :  "  In  each  eare  com 
monly  they  haue  three  great  holes,  whereat  they  hang  chaines, 
bracelets,  or  copper  ;  some  weare  in  those  holes  a  small  snake, 
coloured  greene  and  yellow,  neare  halfe  a  yard  long,  which, 
crawling  about  his  neck,  offereth  to  kisse  his  lippes."2107 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  Shan  Hai  King  seems  to  be  a 
compilation  of  a  number  of  distinct  accounts  of  the  countries 
which  are  described.  Thus  the  first,  second,  and  fourth  sections 
of  the  fourth  book  all  begin  with  a  description  of  the  country 
near  the  SHIH  River.  The  ninth  and  fourteenth  books  both  give 
accounts  of  the  Great  Men's  Country ;  of  the  Land  of  Refined 
Gentlemen ;  of  the  Land  of  People  with  Black  Hips  ;  of  the  Dis 
tressed  People's  Country,  and  the  Green  Hills  Country  ;  while 
the  description  in  the  ninth  book  of  the  CHA  Hill  is  in  the  four 
teenth  book  applied  to  a  country  called  KIN-YUNG. 

It  is  probable  that  a  scholar  thoroughly  versed  in  Chinese 
geography  could,  with  the  aid  of  a  native  student,  identify  most 
of  the  eastern  mountains  (or  islands)  and  countries  that  are 
described. 

The  statements  regarding  the  mountain  or  island  of  the 
"Eastern  Pass,"  the  Land  of  Refined  Gentlemen,  and  the  Coun 
try  of  the  Presiding  Spirits,  evidently  refer  to  Japan.  See  pp. 
663  and  664,  and  compare  the  statement  on  the  last-named  page 
with  the  traditions  current  in  Japan,  as  to  the  seven  successive 
genii  who  ruled  the  earth  before  men  were  placed  upon  it.  Of 
these  the  first  three  were  self -en  gendered,  and  were  masculine. 
The  fourth  celestial  spirit  had  a  female  companion,  and  since 


"CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  681 

that  time  there  have  been  males  and  females.  These  two,  how 
ever,  were  not  husband  and  wife,  in  the  gross,  earthly  sense,  and 
they  and  the  three  following  pairs  of  genii  followed  the  laws  of 
heaven  and  earth,1668  and  produced  offspring  in  all  purity,  con 
ception  taking  place  only  by  a  sort  of  contemplation  of  each 
other  on  the  part  of  each  couple,  by  supernatural  means  which 
the  degradation  of  mankind  prevents  them  from  comprehend 
ing.21"8  The  statement,  that  they  have  clothing,  caps,  sashes, 
and  swords,  shows  that  they  had  attained  a  state  of  civilization 
greater  than  that  of  the  nations  north  and  south  of  them,  and 
approximating  that  of  the  Chinese.  Even  to  this  day  the  Japan 
ese  are  noted  among  the  neighbouring  nations  for  their  custom 
of  wearing  swords  or  sabers.1371 

The  gentle  tigers  that  slink  away  at  the  sight  of  a  human 
being  may  be  now  exterminated,  but  tigers'  skins  are  among  the 
articles  which  were  formerly  exported  from  Jesso,1662  and  bears 
are  still  found  in  the  forests  of  the  country.1661  Tigers  and  leop 
ards  were  also  once  found  in  Corea.1655  The  poisonous  locust, 
mentioned  in  the  eighth  paragraph  of  the  fourth  section  of  the 
fourth  book  (see  page  656),  is  probably  the  insect  referred  to  in 
the  traditions  of  Japan,  which  assert  that,  when  the  land  was  first 
settled,  the  province  of  Fiouga,  near  that  of  Satsuma,  was  infested 
by  flying  insects,  two  inches  in  length,  named  tsu-su-ga,  of  which 
the  bite  was  mortal,  but  that  as  the  country  was  cleared  up  and 
cultivated  the  insects  disappeared.1665 

CHAO-YANG  (The  Ravine  of  the  Manifestation  of  the  Dawn) 
is  probably  Corea,  which  is  now  known  as  CHAO-SIEN  (The  Bright 
ness  of  the  Dawn).  The  "  Hairy  People  "  are  unquestionably 
the  Ainos  of  Jesso  and  Northern  Japan,  whose  hairiness  has 
attracted  the  attention  of  all  travelers  in  that  region. 

The  best  clew  to  the  location  of  the  land  of  Fu-sang,  or  of 
the  Fu-tree,  that  is  mentioned  in  the  Shan  Hai  King,  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  nearly  always  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  Black-Teeth  Country,  and  that  it  is  said  to  adjoin  that  land 
on  the  north.  This  Black-Teeth  Country  must  have  been  some 
region  inhabited  by  the  Malays,  whose  practice  it  is  to  file  and 
blacken  their  teeth.  The  custom,  as  it  exists  in  Sumatra,  is  thus 
described  by  Marsden  : 

"  Both  sexes  have  the  extraordinary  custom  of  filing  and 
otherwise  disfiguring  their  teeth,  which  are  naturally  very  white 


682  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

and  beautiful.  Many,  particularly  the  women  of  the  Lampong 
Country,  have  their  teeth  rubbed  down  quite  even  with  the 
gums  ;  others  have  them  formed  in  points  ;  and  some  file  off  no 
more  than  the  outer  coat  and  extremities,  in  order  that  they  may 
the  better  receive  and  retain  the  jetty  blackness  with  which  they 
almost  universally  adorn  them."  182° 

This  fashion  exists  throughout  the  Indian  Archipelago  and  as 
far  to  the  northeast  as  the  Philippine  or  Luzon  Islands.1823  It  is 
therefore  in  these  islands,  or  in  their  neighbourhood,  that  we 
must  look  for  the  Fu-sang  of  the  Chinese  "  Classic  of  Mountains 
and  Seas."  These  islands  were  probably  known  to  the  Chinese 
before  they  discovered  the  much  nearer  island  of  Formosa,  as 
they  lay  in  the  direct  course  of  the  monsoons,  and  afforded  some 
of  those  commodities  of  their  peculiar  luxury,  in  quest  of  which 
they  made  still  more  distant  voyages  to  the  islands  farther 
west.1144  The  banana  or  plantain  (Musa  paradisiaca,  L.)  1821  is 
known  to  the  Malays  by  the  name  pisang,™  and,  as  it  is  the 
most  valuable  and  remarkable  tree  or  plant  found  in  that  region, 
it  seems  that  this  must  have  been  the  plant  which  first  gave  to 
the  Chinese  the  name  Fu-sang.  The  description  of  its  fruit  that 
is  given  in  the  Shin  I  King  (see  Chapter  XV,  p.  250),  where  it 
is  said  to  be  three  feet  and  five  inches  long,  adds  to  the  likelihood 
that  this  is  the  plant  that  was  meant,  as  the  "hand,"  or  bunch,  is 
about  three  feet  in  length,  and  the  individual  fruits  about  five 
inches.  The  description  of  the  leaves,  as  being  ten  feet  long  and 
six  or  seven  broad,  is  also  in  fair  accordance  with  this  view. 

There  seems  a  possibility  that  the  apparently  absurd  story  of 
the  "ten  suns"  may  assist  in  determining  the  true  location  of  the 
land  ;  for  if  we  consider  that  the  word  "  branches  "  is  used  by 
the  Chinese  to  designate  divisions  of  time,  it  will  appear  that  the 
statement,  that  nine  suns  are  contained  in  the  lower  branches  and 
one  sun  in  the  upper  branches,  may  have  been  an  archaic  or 
poetical  way  of  saying  that  nine  tenths  of  the  time  the  sun,  when 
it  crossed  the  meridian,  was  south  of  the  zenith,  and  one  tenth 
of  the  time  it  crossed  to  the  north  ;  a  statement  which  would 
indicate  that  the  land  lay  in  about  20°  north  latitude. 

I  therefore  believe  that  the  Chinese  had,  before  the  Christian 
era,  some  knowledge  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  of  the  pisang 
or  banana  tree  found  upon  them,  and  that  this  was  the  source  of 
their  first  legends  regarding  Fu-sang,  and  the  fu-sang  tree. 


UNIVERSITY 
OF 


"CLASSIC  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  SEAS."  683 

When  Hwui  Shan  returned  from  Mexico,  the  name  "  MS-shi-co  " 
was  thought  to  sufficiently  resemble  the  appellation  Fu-sang- 
kwoh  (i.  e.,  Fu-sang  country)  to  indicate  that  the  land  was  the 
one  referred  to  in  their  old  legends ;  and  the  facts  that  both 
countries  lay  to  the  east,  or  to  the  south  of  east,  and  that  both 
derived  their  names  from  a  remarkable  plant  or  tree,  were  thought 
to  make  it  certain  that  the  country  which  he  had  visited  was  the 
one  mentioned  in  their  traditions.  After  his  days  the  two  coun 
tries  were  therefore  assumed  to  be  one  and  the  same,  and  Hwui 
Shan's  description  of  the  agave  was  mixed  and  confused  with  the 
earlier  accounts  of  the  plantain. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

[RECAPITULATION. 

Summary  of  reasons  for  thinking  that  Hwui  Shfin  visited  Mexico — The  command 
of  Buddha — The  ease  of  the  journey — The  "  silk  "  and  mirror  brought  back 
by  him — The  belief  of  his  contemporaries — Fu-sang  must  have  been  in  Japan 
or  America,  and  was  not  in  Japan — Hwui  Sh&n's  story  paralleled  with  ac 
counts  of  the  countries  by  other  authors — The  Country  of  Marked  Bodies — 
Great  Han — Fu-sang — The  Country  of  Women — Summary  of  facts  mentioned 
by  Hwui  Shan — The  transparent  mirror  could  not  have  been  obtained  else 
where  than  in  Mexico — The  Mexican  tradition  of  Hwui  ShSn's  visit — Coinci 
dences  between  Asiatic  and  American  civilizations — Pyramids — Architect 
ure — Arts — Religious  structures — Religious  customs  and  beliefs — Idols — 
Marriage  ceremonies — Dress — Food — Books — Games — The  working  of  metals 
— Suspension-bridges — The  calendar — Civilized  nations  of  America  all  upon 
the  Pacific  coast — Allowances  to  be  made — Errors  of  first  explorers — Hwui 
ShSn  not  a  Chinaman  —  Errors  of  manuscripts  —  Changes  in  language  — 
Changes  in  customs — Our  imperfect  knowledge  of  Mexican  civilization — The 
argument  stronger  than  its  weakest  parts — Conclusion. 

HAVING,  in  the  foregoing  pages,  given  in  extenso  the  reasons 
for  believing  that  Hwui  Shan  visited  Mexico,  this  work  will  be 
concluded  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  grounds  upon  which  this 
belief  is  based,  as  their  united  weight,  when  all  are  brought 
together,  will  be  found  much  more  convincing  than  any  argu 
ment  founded  upon  only  one  or  a  few  of  the  points  that  have 
been  presented. 

i. 

The  command  of  Buddha  to  his  disciples,  to  preach  his  doc 
trine  to  all  men  without  exception,  constituted  a  reasonable  mo 
tive  for  the  journey.  His  disciples  penetrated  all  parts  of  Asia, 
and  probably  reached  Europe  also,  and  in  their  wanderings  made 
many  journeys  nearly  or  quite  as  long,  difficult,  and  hazardous 
as  the  voyage  from  Asia  to  America.  If,  therefore,  there  was  a 
practicable  route  from  Asia  to  America,  it  is  not  improbable  per 
se  that  some  of  these  devotees  should  have  found  and  followed  it. 


RECAPITULATION.  685 


ii. 

The  route  via  China,  Corea,  Japan,  the  island  of  Saghalien, 
the  Kurile  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  Alaska,  and  thence  down 
the  American  coast,  is  a  practicable  route  for  one  man  or  a  small 
party  of  men  to  take  it*  an  open  row-boat  or  small  sail-boat. 
There  is  but  one  place  at  which  the  voyager  would  be  out  of 
sight  of  land,  and  then  only  for  a  few  hours.  Furthermore,  each 
step  of  the  journey  is  well  known  to  the  natives,  so  that  an  ar 
dent  missionary,  determined  to  carry  his  doctrines  to  the  utmost 
limits  of  the  earth,  would  merely  have  to  press  on  from  one 
island  to  another — being  told  in  each  of  another  island  lying 
farther  to  the  east — to  ultimately  find  himself  in  America. 

in. 

Hwui  Shan  had  evidently  visited  some  unknown  eastern 
land.  The  so-called  "  silk,"  which  differed  from  any  that  the 
Chinese  had  ever  seen,  and  the  wonderful  mirror  which  he 
brought  back  with  him,  sufficiently  prove  this  fact. 

IV. 

-  In  addition  to  this  tangible  proof,  the  fact  that  he  succeeded 
in  inspiring  all  whom  he  met  with  confidence  in  his  story  is  a 
reasonable  ground  for  the  belief  that  he  was  honest  in  his  ac 
count,  and  told  the  truth  in  regard  to  his  journey.  No  impostor 
who  pretended  that  he  came  from  an  unknown  foreign  land  has 
ever  escaped  detection,  and  even  most  explorers  who  are  now 
known  to  have  been  honest  in  their  statements  were  derided  by 
those  to  whom  their  tale  was  first  told.  Moreover,  the  nature  of 
his  story  is  such  that  no  one  can  read  it  carefully  without  a  con 
viction  of  its  truth.  When  properly  translated,  it  contains  noth 
ing  marvelous  or  unnatural,  and  the  internal  evidence  of  truth- ' 
fulness  is  such  that  very  few  have  ever  adopted  the  theory  that 
his  account  is  but  a  figment  of  the  imagination. 

v. 

The  only  eastern  countries  which  it  has  ever  been  thought 
possible  to  identify  with  Hwui  Shan's  land  of  Fu-sang  are  Japan 
and  America  ;  but  that  the  country  could  not  have  been  Japan 
is  shown  by  the  facts  presented  in  Chapter  XXXIV.  No  other 


686 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


hypothesis  is  therefore  left  to  us  than  that  Fu-sang  must  be 
sought  in  America. 

VI. 

Hwui  Shan's  story  gives  a  faithful  and  accurate  account  of 
the  Aleutian  Islands,  of  Alaska,  and  of  Mexico  ;  and  it  is  still 
possible  to  prove  that  nearly  every  one  of  his  statements  was 
true.  This  can  be  shown  most  succinctly  and  convincingly  by 
giving  his  account  in  one  column,  and  in  a  parallel  column  pre 
senting  statements  of  well-known  facts,  and  extracts  from  vari 
ous  authors  who  have  described  the  lands  in  question.  In  the 
following  columns,  quotations  are  distinguished  by  being  printed 
in  italics,  and  the  references  will,  as  in  other  cases,  be  found  in 
the  Appendix  : 


The  country  of  "  Marked 
Bodies  "  is  situated  seven  thou 
sand  li  (about  2,300  miles)  and 
more  to  the  northeast  of  the 
country  of  Japan. 

Its  people  have  marks  upon 
•their  bodies  like  wild  beasts. 


•   In  front  (or  upon  their  fore 
heads)  they  have  three  marks. 


If  the  marks  are  large  and 
straight,  they  indicate  that  those 
who  have  them  are  of  the  high 
er  classes  ;  but  if  they  are  small 


The  Aleutian  Islands  are  sit 
uated  about  two  thousand  miles 
northeasterly  from  Japan. 


Tattooing  was  very  custom 
ary  in  former  times  in  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands.1698 

Pigments  of  various  dye  are 
applied  (to  the  skin  of  the  peo 
ple),  both  painted  outwardly 
and  pricked  into  the  shin.m 

The  women  have  on  their 
chin  a  vertical  line  about  half 
an  inch  broad  in  the  center,  ex 
tending  from  the  lip,  with  a 
parallel  but  narrower  one  on 
either  side  of  it,  a  little  apart™ 
On  Behring's  Isle,  men  qs  well 
as  women  tattoo.  Many  men 
have  the  face  tattooed.™ 

At  Point  Barrow  some  of 
the  women  had  two  vertical 
lines  protruding  from  either 
angle  of  the  mouth,  which  is  a 


RECAPITULATION. 


687 


and  crooked,  then  their  possess 
ors  are  of  the  lower  classes. 

The  people  of  the  land  are 
of  a  nierry  nature,  and  they  re 
joice  when  they  have  an  abund 
ance,  even  of  articles  that  are 
of  little  value. 


Traveling  visitors  do  not 
prepare  food  for  their  journeys, 
and  they  have  the  shelter  of 
their  (the  inhabitants')  dwell 
ings. 


They  have  no  fortifications 
or  walled  cities. 

The  residence  of  the  king 
(or  kings)  of  the  country  is 
adorned  with  gold  and  silver, 
and  precious  and  beautiful  ob 
jects  about  the  dwelling. 


mark  of  their  high  position 
in  the  tribe.™ 

Originally  the  Aleutian 
tribes  were  active  and  sprightly, 
fond  of  dances  and  festivals™* 
Whole  villages  entertained  other 
villages,  receiving  the  guests  with 
songs  and  dances.  If  a  whale 
was  cast  ashore,  the  natives  as 
sembled  with  joyous  and  remark 
able  ceremonies.1151 

They  meet  every  stranger 
at  the  landing-place.  If  the 
stranger  has  a  relative  or  inti 
mate  friend,  he  goes  to  him. 
If  not,  no  one  will  invite  him, 
but  all  are  ready  to  receive  him. 
He  can  choose  his  quarters  him 
self.  There  he  is  entertained  in 
the  best  manner.  TJiey  never 
think  of  asking  their  guest  for 
anything,  but  let  him  stay  as 
long  as  he  may  ;  they  even  pro 
vide  him  with  food  of  every 
kind  when  he  departs.1151 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
the  Aleutians  have  no  fortifica 
tions  or  walled  cities. 

In  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
every  island,  and,  in  the  larger 
islands,  every  village,  has  its 
toy  on  or  chief. no ' 

Among  the  Haidah  Indi 
ans,  carved  posts  or  pillars  are 
raised  in  front  of  the  houses 
of  the  chiefs  or  principal  men. 
Some  of  the  best  ones  cost  sev 
eral  thousand  dollars  ;  conse 
quently  only  the  most  wealthy 
individuals  of  the  tribe  are  able 


688 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


They  make  a  ditch  of  a 
breadth  of  one  rod,  which  is 
filled  with  "water -silver." 
When  it  rains,  then  the  rain 
flows  upon  the  surface  of  the 
"water-silver." 


In  their  traffic  they  use  pre 
cious  gems  (or  valuables-,  as  the 
standard  of  value,  instead  of 
gold  or  silver). 


"  Great  Han "  is  situated 
five  thousand  li  (some  sixteen 
hundred  miles)  or  more  east  of 
the  country  of  "  Marked  Bod 
ies." 


to  purchase  the  best  specimens. 
Tfie  Sitka  tribes  have  this  style 
of  carved  posts.™' 

The  term  "  water-silver  "  is 
a  good  descriptive  term  for  ice. 
The  country  is  intolerably  rainy, 
and  the  rain,  which  accumulates 
in  ditches  or  hollo  w  places,  must 
often  be  frozen  into  thick  ice, 
having  the  transparency  of  wa 
ter  and  the  purity  and  glitter 
ing  hardness  of  silver. 

No  money  was  current  in 
the  country.  The  custom  of 
bartering  existing  among  the 
Aleuts  was  of  great  age.170?  Am 
ber  formed  an  important  article 
of  commerce  with  the  natives,106 
and  extraordinary  value  was  set 
upon  it,  a  single  bead  repre 
senting  in  value  a  good  many 
sea-otter  skins.1174 

Alaska  is  situated  some  fif 
teen  hundred  miles  easterly  of 
the  most  westerly  of  the  Aleu 
tian  Islands.  The  name  Alaska 
is  derived  from  a  root  meaning 
a  great  country  or  continent.1™ 
The  Chmese  character  Han  is 
composed  of  two  parts,  mean 
ing  respectively  "water"  and 
"  hardship."  It  is  applied  to  a 
river  noted  for  its  "swirling 
waters," 2533  and  also  applied  to 
the  Milky  Way,  thus  indicating 
that  its  original  meaning  was 
"foaming  or  dashing  water." 
If  :t  was  used  with  this  mean 
ing,  jx  is  particularly  applicable 
to  Alaska  or  the  Aleutian  Isl- 


EECAPITULATIOK 


689 


ands,  the  coasts  of  which  are 
rocky  and  surrounded  by  break- 


Its  people  have  no  military 
weapons  and  do  not  wage  war. 


The  rudeness  of  their  cus 
toms  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  people  of  the  country  of 
"Marked  Bodies,"  but  the 
words  of  their  language  are 
different. 

Fu-sang  is  situated  twice  ten 
thousand  li  (some  seven  thou 
sand  miles)  or  more  to  the  east 
of  the  country  of  Great  Han. 
That  land  is  also  situated  to 
the  east  of  the  Middle  King 
dom  (China). 


That  region  has  many  fu- 
sang  trees,  and  it  is  from  these 
trees  that  the  country  derives 
its  name.  The  leaves  of  the 
f  u-sang  resemble ? 


44 


ers. 


Alaska  is  inhabited  by  Es 
quimaux  ;  and  these  people  are 
noted,  wherever  they  are  found, 
for  their  peaceful  and  unwar- 
like  disposition,  differing  in  this 
respect  from  nearly  all  other 
tribes  of  Asia  and  America. 

The  people  are  undeniably 
of  the  same  race.  The  lan 
guage  is  different.  The  cus 
toms,  manners,  methods  of  liv 
ing,  means  of  sustenance  and 
the  clothing,  however,  are  al 
most  exactly  the  same.™ 

Mexico  is  situated  some  five 
thousand  miles  southeasterly 
from  Alaska,  and  is  also  direct 
ly  east  of  the  southern  portion 
of  China.  It  is  evident  that 
Hwui  Shan's  course  from  Great 
Han  to  Fu-sang  was  southeast 
erly  rather  than  easterly,  as  the 
first  part  of  his  journey  from 
Japan  lay  in  a  northeasterly 
direction,  and  he  must  there 
fore  have  worked  to  the  south 
in  order  to  come  to  a  country 
east  of  China. 

"Mexico"  means  "the  Land 
of  the  Century-plant,"  and  there 
is,  therefore,  the  same  connec 
tion  between  the  name  of  the 
country  and  this  plant  that 
there  was  between  Fu-sang  and 
the  remarkable  plant  or  tree 
found  in  it.  The  Chinese  would 
probably  apply  the  character 


690 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


The  first   sprouts  are   like 
those  of  the  bamboo. 


The  people  of  the  country 
eat  them. 


And  the  (or  a)  fruit,  which 
is  like  a  pear  (in  form)  but  of 
a  reddish  colour. 


They  spin  thread  from  their 
bark, 


from  which  they  make  cloth,  of 
which  they  make  clothing. 
They  also  manufacture  a  finer 
fabric  from  it. 

In  constructing  their  houses, 
they  use  planks  such  as  are  gen 
erally  used  when  building  adobe 
walls. 


which  we  translate  "tree"  to 
the  century-plant,  so  that  its 
use  is  no  proof  that  this  plant 
was  not  the  "  tree  "  referred  to 
by  Hwui  Shan. 

The  first  sprouts  of  the  cent 
ury-plant  or  agave  are  wonder 
fully  similar  to  those  of  the 
bamboo. 

They  not  only  eat  the  tender 
rooty  but  also  the  central  shoot, 
keeping  its  soft  and  fleshy  con- 
sistence.u™ 

Upon  this  plant  alone  the 
Indians  can  live.lm 

The  prickly-pear,  the  fruit 
of  a  species  of  cactus  native  to 
Mexico,  is  of  the  shape  of  a  pear. 
There  are  species  of  many  dif 
ferent  colours,1386  but  the  com 
mon  variety  is  red.  The  army 
of  Cortez  lived  for  a  long  time 
upon  it.1204 

Nequen  is  a  species  of  coarse 
hemp,  which  the  Mexicans  draw 
from  the  lark  of  the  aloe  or 
maguey  (i.  e.,  the  agave  or  cent 
ury -plant),  of  which  they  make 
cloth.659  From  the  maguey  they 
made  two  kinds  of  cloth,  one  of 
which  was  like  hempen  cloth, 
and  a,  finer  kind,  which  resem 
bled  linen.™* 

The  habitations  of  the  great 
er  part  of  the  people  were  of 
clay  hardened  in  the  sun,  and 
of  earth?™  The  walls  of  the 
so-called  "Casas  Grandes"  are 
laid  with  large  square  blocks  of 
mud,  prepared  for  the  purpose 


RECAPITULATION. 


691 


They  have  no  citadels  or 
walled  cities. 


They  have  literary  charac 


ters, 


and  make  paper  from  the  bark 
of  the  fu-sang. 

They  have  no  military 
weapons  or  armour,  and  they 
do  not  wage  war  in  that  king 
dom. 


According  to  their  rules  (of 
government  or  of  religion)  they 
have  a  southern  and  a  northern 
place  of  confinement.  An  of 
fender  who  has  transgressed 
but  slightly  enters  the  south- 


by  pressing  the  material  into 
large  boxes  about  two  feet  in 
height  and  four  feet  long. 
When  the  mud  became  suffi 
ciently  hardened,  the  case  was 
moved  along  and  again  filled, 
and  so  on,  until  the  whole  edi 
fice  was  completed.™* 

The  truth  is  that  there  can 
not  be  found  in  any  quarter 
the  least  trace  of  an  inclosure, 
of  an  adjoining  defense  of  any 
kind,  or  even  of  exterior  forti 
fications.1™ 

No  nation  ever  reduced  pic 
tography  more  to  a  system.  In 
these  records  we  discern  some 
thing  more  than  a  mere  sym 
bolic  notation.  They  contain 
the  germ  of  a  phonetic  alpha- 
bet.m  Their  paper  ica$  made 
for  the  most  part  of  maguey 
fiber.™ 

The  Toltecs  were  much 
milder  and  gentler  than  the 
Aztecs,  who  conquered  them 
and  wrested  their  country  from 
them.  It  is  reported  that  the 
nations  of  Yucatan  learned  the 
art  of  war  from  these  Aztecs, 
having  been  an  altogether  peace 
ful  people  before  the  Nahua  in 
fluence  was  brought  to  bear  on 
them.™ 

There  is  here  some  confu 
sion  between  the  criminal  laws 
of  the  Mexicans  and  their  re 
ligious  belief  as  to  punishments 
after  death. 

They  had  two   species  of 


692 


AN  INGLOEIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


ern  place  of  confinement,  but 
if  he  has  sinned  heavily  he  en 
ters  the  northern  place  of  con 
finement.  If  there  is  pardon 
for  him,  then  he  is  sent  away 
to  (or,  possibly,  from)  the  south 
ern  place  of  confinement,  but  if 
he  can  not  be  pardoned,  then 
he  is  sent  away  to  the  northern 
one.  / 


/VAX  C.f  , 

[ffltffJ 

Those  men  and  women 
dwelling  in  the  northern  place 
of  confinement  when  they  mate 
(or  have  mated)  and  bear  (or 
have  borne)  children,  the  boys 
are  made  slaves  at  the  age  of 
eight  years  and  the  girls  at  the 
age  of  nine  years.  The  crimi 
nal  (or  the  criminal's  body)  is 
not  allowed  to  go  out  up  to  (or 
at)  the  time  of  his  death. 


prisons — one  for  those  who  had 
not  merited  the  punishment  of 
death,  and  the  other  for  the 
prisoners  who  were  to  be  sacri 
ficed,  and  those  who  were  guilty 
of  capital  crimes.1016 

The  Aztec  hero  was  borne 
(after  death)  to  the  bright 
plains  of  the  8un-house.im 

After  four  years  of  this  life, 
the  souls  of  the  warriors  pass 
into  birds  of  beautiful  plum- 
age.™  Children  balked  of  their 
life  by  death  or  sacrifice  were 
allowed  to  essay  it  again.  Mic- 
tlan,  the  Mexican  hades,  signi 
fies  "northward"  or  "toward 
the  north"  It  was  a  dark  and 
gloomy  region,  a  place  of  pun 
ishment,™  from  which  there 
was  no  escape. 

The  children  referred  to 
were  probably  either  illegiti 
mate  children  or  orphans,  and 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
these  classes 1992  were  often  re 
duced  to  slavery.1692 

At  the  age  of  seven  years 
the  father  brings  his  son  to  the 
priest™ 

The  young  girls  are  also 
brought  to  the  temple  at  the  age 
of  eight  years.m 

Children  whom  the  Span 
iards  would  describe  as  seven 
and  eight  years  of  age  respect 
ively  would  be  said  by  the  Chi-  • 
nese  to  be  eight  and  nine  years. 
old.1681  Hence  the  ages  above 
seated  are  the  same  as  those 


RECAPITULATION. 


693 


When  a  nobleman  has  com 
mitted  a  crime,  the  people  of 
the  country  hold  a  great  assem 
blage  and  sit  in  judgment  on 
the  culprit,  in  an  excavated  tu 
mulus.  They  feast,  and  drink, 
and  bid  him  farewell  when 
parting  from  him,  as  if  taking 
leave  of  a  dying  man. 


mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan,  and 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
children  who  were  made  slaves 
would  be  obliged  to  commence 
their  work  at  the  same  age  that 
more  fortunate  children  were 
first  sent  to  school,  or  taken  to 
the  temples. 

Each  pueblo  contains  an 
estufa,  which  is  used  both  as  a 
council-chamber  and  a  place  of 
worship.  It  is  built  partly 
under  ground.  Here  they  hold 
all  their  deliberations  on  public 
affairs,  and  transact  the  neces 
sary  business  of  the  village.™ 
It  is  a  singular  fact,  resulting 
from  the  structure  of  Indian 
institutions,  that  nearly  every 
transaction,  whether  social  or 
political,  originated  or  termi 
nated  in  a  council™*  The 
"  Council  of  the  Kin  "  exercised 
power  over  life  and  death.™ 

A  difference  was  made  in 
the  punishment  of  criminals  ac 
cording  to  their  rank,  the  king 
saying  that  he  who  was  the 
most  elevated  in  rank  merited 
the  most  rigour ous  treatment.™ 

In  Darien,  if  a  noble  com 
mitted  a  crime  punishable  with 
death,  notice  was  given  to  all 
the  people,  so  that  they  should 
assemble  and  witness  the  execu 
tion.  The  chief  then,  in  the 
presence  of  the  multitude,  recit 
ed  the  offense  and  the  culprit 
acknowledged  the  justice  of  the 
sentence.™ 


694 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


Then  they  surrounded  him 
with  ashes  there. 


For  a  single  crime  (or  a 
crime  of  the  first  magnitude) 
only  one  person  (the  culprit) 
was  hidden  (or  sent)  away.  For 
two  crimes  (or  a  crime  of  the 
second  magnitude)  the  children 
and  grandchildren  were  includ 
ed  in  the  punishment. 

For  three  crimes  (or  a  crime 
of  the  third  magnitude)  seven 
generations  were  included  in 
the  punishment. 

The  title  of  the  king  of  the 
country  is  "the  chief  of  the 
multitude." 


The  noblemen  of  the  first 
rank  are  called  "  Tui-lu," 


those  of  the  second  rank,  "  Lit 
tle  Tui-lu," 


and  those  of  the  third  rank, 
"  Nah-to-sha." 


Criminals  of  a  certain  class 
were  bound  to  a  stake,  com 
pletely  covered  with  ashes,  and 
so  left  to  die.m 

The  robbery  of  sacred  things, 
profanation  of  the  temple,  in 
sult  to  the  ministers  of  religion, 
or  to  the  person  of  the  mon 
arch,  were  considered  as  high 
treason,  and  the  culprit  was 
punished  with  death,  his  goods 
icere  confiscated  to  the  public 
treasury,  and  his  family  de 
clared  infamous*^ 

The  children  and  relations 
of  the  traitor  were  enslaved  till 
the  fifth  generation.™ 

Montezuma's  title  was 
Tlaca-tecuhtli,™  meaning 
"  Chief  of  Men,"  50T  or  Tecatecle 
Tetuan  Intlacatl^  meaning 
"  the  Nation's  Lord  of  our  Peo 
ple." 

The  rank  of  Tecuhtli  was  the 
highest  honour  that  a  prince  or 
soldier  could  acquire.m  This 
title  is  spelled  by  others, 
Tecutli,1™  Teuchtli,™  Teuctli, 
1072  Tecle,™  Teutley™  Teuhtli? 
Teuli,™  and  Teule.™3 

The  words  tepito1™  or 
tontli,m*  meaning  little  or 
petty,  are  suffixed  to  the  title 
Tlatoca,  to  express  a  lower 
rank  of  nobility  than  is  indi 
cated  by  the  title  without  these 
suffixes.1921 

The  Mexican  title  Tlatoque 
or  Tlatoca  is  probably  the  one 
which  Hwui  Shan  attempts  to 


KECAPITULATION. 


695 


The  king  of  the  country, 
when  he  walks  abroad,  is  pre 
ceded  and  followed  with  drums 
and  horns. 


The  colour  of  his  garments 
is  changed  according  to  the 
mutations  of  the  years.  The 
first  and  second  years  (of  a  ten- 
year  cycle)  they  are  blue  (or 
green),  the  third  and  fourth 
years  they  are  red,  the  fifth 
and  sixth  years  yellow,  the 
seventh  and  eighth  years  white, 
and  the  ninth  and  tenth  years 
black. 


They  have  cattle-horns,  of 


transcribe  with  the  Chinese 
characters  pronounced  JVah-to- 
sha. 

The  pomp  and  circum 
stance  which  surrounded  the 
Aztec  monarch  was  most  im 
pressive.1*9  The  kings  did  not 
often  appear  among  their  peo 
ple.  Whenever  they  did  appear 
abroad,  however,  it  was  with  a 
parade  that  corresponded  icith 
their  other  observances™  The 
Mexicans  had  instruments  of 
music,  consisting  of  drums, 
horns,  and  large  sea-shells. *n 
Each  chief  of  a  city  or  village 
arrived  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
accompanied  by  the  sound  of  in 
struments.™  Tangaxoan,  king 
of  Michoacan,  was  preceded  by 
the  music  of  his  palace,  and 
accompanied  by  a  brilliant 
court.™5  The  king  of  Guatema 
la  icas  surrounded  by  a  cortege 
of  noblemen  and  musicians.™ 

The  names  of  the  Jive  main 
colours  are  constantly  recurring 
as  signs  and  metaphors.  They 
are  white,  black,  red,  green,  and 
yellow.™ 

Montezuma  was  dressed 
every  day  in  four  different 
suits™4  and  had  a  different 
dress  for  every  occasion.^  Sa- 
hagun,  who  mentions  numerous 
different  varieties  of  mantles 
worn  by  the  king,  says  that  the 
said  mantles  are  worn  because 
of  superstitious  ideas.™' 

Coronado  reported  that  in 


696 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


which  the  long  ones  are  used 
to  contain  (some  of  their)  pos 
sessions,  the  best  of  them  reach 
ing  (a  capacity  of)  twice  ten 
times  as  much  as  the  capacity 
of  a  common  horn. 


They  have  horse-carts,  cat 
tle-carts,  and  deer-carts. 


The  people  of  the  country 
raise  deer  as  cattle  are  raised 
in  the  Middle  Kingdom  (China). 


From  milk  they  make  kou 
miss. 


or  near  Cibola  he  found  certain 
sheep  as  big  as  a  horse,  with 
very  great  horns.™1  He  adds  : 
I  have  seen  their  horns  so  big 
that  it  is  a  wonder  to  behold 
their  greatness?™ 

They  have  long  horns,™3* 
and  they  say  that  every  horn 
of  theirs  iceigheth  fifty  pounds 
weight*™ 

Buffalo-horns  yield  them 
vessels.™1 

This  in  its  literal  sense  is 
untrue  of  any  and  every  coun 
try  in  the  world.  It  is  proba 
ble  that  Hwui  Shan  referred  to 
the  "  three  carts  "  or  "  three  ve 
hicles"  a  term  used  by  the 
Buddhists  to  indicate  three 
modes  of  crossing  Sansara  to 
Nirvana,  as  if  drawn  by  sheep, 
oxen,  or  deer,  which  shadow 
forth  the  three  degrees  of  saint-  l 
ship,  and  this  term  is  further 
used  for  three  developments  of 
Buddhist  doctrine?m 

The  Icings  and  nobles  of  the 
Chichimecas  kept  forests  of 
deer.196  Certain  natives  of  Gua 
temala  kept  deer  in  so  tame  a 
state  that  they  were  easily  kitted 
by  the  least  active  soldiers.m 

Milk  is,  in  the  Aztec  lan 
guage,  designated  by  the  word 
"  memeyallotl," 1906  which  means 
literally  "  agaves'  sap."  Their 
principal  and  national  drinJc 
is  pulque,  made  from  the  Agave 
Americana,  from  the  sap  of  the 
plant.  The  liquor  obtained  is 


KECAPITULATIO^. 


697 


They  have  the  red  pears 
kept  unspoiled  throughout  the 
year; 


and    they   also    have    TO-PU- 

TAOCS. 


The  ground  is  destitute  of 
iron, 

but  they  have  copper. 

Gold  and  silver  are  not 
valued.  In  their  markets  there 
are  no  taxes  or  fixed  prices. 


When  they  marry,  it  is  the 
custom  for  the  son-in-law  to 
go  and  erect  a  bouse  (or  cabin) 
outside  of  the  door  of  the 
dwelling  of  the  young  woman 
(whom  he  desires  to  marry). 
Morning  and  evening  he  sprink 
les  and  sweeps  (the  ground) 
for  a  year  :  and  if  the  young 


at  first  of  a  thick  white  colour, 
and  is  at  all  times  very  intoxi 
cating.™ 

They  make  many  preserves 
from  tunas  (i.  e., prickly-pears), 
the  juice  of  which  is  so  sweet 
that  it  preserves  them  perfectly 
without  adding  any  syrup.™ 

This  seems  to  be  intended 
for  a  transcription  of  the  Mexi 
can  word  tomatl,m*  from  which 
our  own  word  "  tomato  "  was 
derived.  The  plant  was  raised 
by  the  Mexicans,  and  its  fruit 
formed  a  part  of  many  of  their 
dishes. 

The  use  of  iron,  though  its 
ores  are  abundant  in  the  coun 
try,  was  unknown  to  the  na 
tives™  while  copper  could  be 
obtained  in  abundance.™ 

They  made  their  purchases 
and  sales  by  barter,  each  giving 
that  of  which  he  had  an  excess 
for  such  goods  as  he  might 
need™1*  A  very  large  square 
was  set  apart  in  all  the  princi 
pal  cities  of  the  kingdom  for 
the  exhibition  and  sale  of  the 
various  articles  of  merchandise 
brought  to  market™* 

Among  the  Apaches  the 
lover  stakes  his  horse  in  front 
cf  the  young  woman's  house, 
and  then  retires  and  awaits  the 
issue.  Should  the  girl  favour 
the  suitor,  his  horse  is  taken  by 
her,  fed,  and  secured  in  front 
of  his  lodge ;  but  should  she 
decline  the  proffered  honour,  she 


698 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


woman  is  not  pleased  with  him, 
she  then  sends  him  away  ;  but 
if  they  are  mutually  pleased, 
then  the  marriage  is  completed, 


the  marriage  ceremonies  being 
for  the  most  part  like  those  of 
the  Middle  Kingdom  (China). 


For  a  father,  mother,  wife, 
or  son,  they  mourn  for  seven 
days,  without  eating ;  for  a 
grandfather  or  grandmother 
they  mourn  for  five  days  with 
out  eating  ;  for  an  elder  broth 
er,  younger  brother,  father's 
elder  brother,  or  father's 
younger  brother,  or  for  the 
corresponding  female  relatives, 
or  for  an  elder  sister  or  young 
er  sister,  three  days  without 
eating. 

They   set  up  an  image   of 


will  pay  no  attention  to  the  suf 
fering  steed.1148  Among  the  Co- 
co-Maricopas,  the  lover  takes 
his  flute,  and,  seating  himself 
beneath  a  bush  near  her  dwell 
ing,  keeps  up  a  plaintive  noise 
for  hours  together. m  In  Yu 
catan  it  was  the  custom  of  new 
ly  married  pairs  to  live  in  cab 
ins  built  in  front  of  the  house 
of  their  father  or  father-in-law, 
during  the  first  few  years  after 
their  marriage™1  The  exist 
ence  in  Mexico  of  the  custom 
of  sweeping  the  path  of  one  to 
whom  it  was  the  desire  to  do 
homage,  is  shown  by  the  fre 
quent  mention  made  by  the 
Spanish  chroniclers  of  the 
sweeping  of  the  path  before 
the  king.2347 

For  a  full  statement  of  tire 
numerous  and  striking  resen> 
blances  between  the  marriage 
ceremonies  of  Mexico  and  Chi 
na,  see  Chapter  XXVI. 

When  they  have  lost  a  rela 
tive,  they  weep  for  four  days 
together***  They  observed  ab 
stinences  and  fasts  for  the  de 
ceased,  especially  in  the  case  of 
a  husband  who  mourned  the 
loss  of  his  wife.im  The  fifth 
day  a  priest  comes  to  say  that 
it  is  time  to  proceed  with  the 
funeral.™  In  Michoacan,  all 
remained  seated  for  five  days 
with  bowed  heads?™ 

In  case  of  the  death  of  a 


EECAPITULATION. 


699 


the  spirit  (of  the  deceased  per 
son),  and  reverence  it  and  offer 
libations  to  it  morning  and 
evening. 


In  their  mourning  usages 
they  do  not  wear  mourning- 
garments  or  mourning-badges. 


A  king  who  inherits  the 
throne  does  not  occupy  himself 
with  the  affairs  of  the  govern 
ment  for  the  first  three  years 
after  his  accession. 


Mexican  king,  his  ashes  were 
placed  in  an  urn  or  casket.  On 
the  top  of  this  was  placed  a 
statue  of  wood  or  stone,  attired 
in  the  royal  habiliments,  and 
bearing  the  mask  and  insignia, 
and  the  casket  was  deposited  at 
the  feet  of  the  patron  deity  in 
the  chapel.  For  four  days  the 
mourners  paid  constant  visits 
to  the  shrine,  to  manifest  their 
sorrow,  and  to  present  the  offer 
ings  of  food,  clothes,  or  jewels.™ 
In  Yucatan,  people  of  condition 
made  wooden  statues  of  their 
parents.  They  preserved  these 
statues,  icith  much  veneration, 
among  their  idols,  and  kept 
both  statues  and  idols  in  the 
oratories  of  their  houses.  Upon 
all  feast-days,  and  days  of  gen 
eral  rejoicing,  they  made  offer 
ings  of  food  to  them.H9i 

As  no  reference  to  the  use 
of  mourning-garments  in  Mexi 
co  is  made  by  any  of  the  his 
torians,  it  is  evident  that  the 
Mexicans  did  not  wear  them. 

.Before  the  coronation  of  a 
new  monarch  could  be  celebrat 
ed  with  fitting  solemnity,  vic 
tims  for  sacrifice  must  be  capt 
ured  in  large  numbers,™  and 
it  was  always  required  that  the 
king  should  obtain  some  victory 
over  his  enemies,  or  reduce  some 
neighbouring  or  rebellious  prov 
ince  to  subjection,  before  he 
could  be  crowned  or  ascend  the 
royal  throne.™ 


700 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


The  Country  of  Women  is 
situated  a  thousand  li  east  of 
Fu-sang. 


Its  people's  manner  of  ap 
pearance  is  straight  erect  (or  is 
very  correct),  and  their  colour 
is  (or  their  countenances  are)  a 
very  pure  white. 


Cihuatlan  (meaning  "  the 
Place  or  Land  of  Women ")  is 
the  name  from  which  the  south 
wind  takes  its  designation,  and 
is  applied  to  an  old  place  upon 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  somewhat 
southerly  from  Zacatollan. 
This  place  was  said  by  some  to 
lie  at  a  distance  of  ten  days' 
journey,1106  and  by  others  to  be 
only  three  days'  journey,  from 
the  city  of  Mexico.2222 

These  "  people "  are  the 
monkeys  of  Southern  Mexico. 

Where  monkeys  are  found, 
the  idea  seems  often  to  have  oc 
curred  to  men  to  account  for 
the  resemblance  of  the  monkey 
to  mankind  by  making  of  the 
first  a  fallen  or  changed  form 
of  the  latter.m  This  error  of 
considering  monkeys  as  be 
longing  to  the  human  race  gave 
rise  to  the  numerous  tales  of 
a  land  of  pygmies.  In  the  Ha- 
pale  (Edipus,  one  of  the  monk 
eys  of  Southern  Mexico,  the 
breast,  the  arms,  the  abdomen, 
the  forepart  of  the  legs,  and 
the  four  extremities  are  white.™ 
The  capuchin  monkey  varies 
as  to  colour.  The  white-throated 
species  has  a  flesh-coloured  face, 
and  hair  of  a  beautiful  white 
colour  over  the  cheeks,  the  fore 
arms,  and  the  breast.™  The 
largest,  when  they  stand  erect, 
as  they  sometimes  do,  upon  two 
feet,  almost  equal  a  man  in 
stature™™  Possibly  the  name 


RECAPITULATION. 


701 


Their  bodies  are  hairy,  and 
they  have  long  locks,  the  ends 
of  which  reach  to  the  ground. 

At  the  second  or  third 
month,  bickering,  they  enter 
the  water  (come  down  to  the 
low-lands,  or  to  the  streams, 
or  perhaps  "enter  upon  a  mi 
gration,"  the  character  SHUI 
meaning  not  only  "  water,"  but 
also  "  a  trip  from  one  place  to 
another"). 


They  then  become  preg 
nant. 

They  bear  their  young  at 
the  sixth  or  seventh  month 
(probably  of  gestation,  but  pos 
sibly  of  the  year). 

The  female-people  are  des- 


of  the  mountain,  Iztaccihuatl 
(i.e.,  "the  White  Woman"), 
gave  rise  to  the  story  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Land  of 
Women  were  of  a  very  pure 
white  colour. 

Their  "long  locks"  or 
queues  are  their  tails. 

They  go  in  troops  in  the 
trees,  and  it  is  particularly 
during  the  rainy  season  that 
they  are  found  thus  collected  to 
gether."11 

The  Mexican  year  probably 
commenced  some  time  during 
the  latter  part  of  February  (or 
about  the  time  that  the  Chinese 
year  commences),  and  the  sec 
ond  or  third  month  therefore 
nearly  coincides  with  our 
month  of  May.  In  Mexico  the 
rainy  season  begins,  as  a  rule, 
in  the  first  half  of  May. m 

Pliny  says  of  the  pygmies 
that  they  in  the  spring-time 
all  descend  together  in  an  army 
to  the  sea.™ 

The  "bickering"  or  chat 
tering  mentioned  by  Hwui 
Shan  is  characteristic  of  monk 
eys. 

Monkeys,  in  common  with 
most  other  animals,  have  a  rut- 
ting-season  in  the  spring. 

In  the  lower  Simiadce  ges 
tation  lasts  about  seven  months, 
but  in  the  Hapalinw  only  three 
months.™ 

In  the  female  quadrumana 


702 


AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 


titute  of  breasts  in  front  of 
their  chests,  but  behind,  at  the 
nape  of  the  neck  (or  back  of 
the  head),  they  have  hair-roots 
(short  hair,  or  a  bunch  of  hair, 
or  a  hairy  organ),  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  white  hair  it  is 
pleasing  to  the  taste  (or  there 
is  juice). 


They  nurse  their  young  for 
one  hundred  days,  and  they 
can  then  walk.  When  three  or 
four  years  old,  they  become 
fully  grown. 


there  is  no  protrusion  of  the 
breast,  as  in  the  human  being,  lzw 
and  Hwui  Shan  may  have  been 
led  to  make  this  curious  state 
ment  by  seeing  the  females 
leaping  among  the  trees  with 
their  young  clinging  to  their 
backs  and  holding  fast  about 
their  necks.  They  sJcip  from 
bough  to  bough  with  the  young 
ones  hanging  at  the  old  ones'' 


The  young  ones  are  carried 
about  on  the  backs  of  .their 
mothers,  round  whose  necks 
they  put  their  arms  like  in 
fants.1™ 

As  to  the  head,  long  hair  is 
found  thereon  in  Hapale  GEdi- 
pus,  and  long  hair  is  devel 
oped  from  the  shoulders  in  Ha- 
%>ale  Humeralifer.1™  The  top 
of  the  head  of  the  Hapale  (Edi- 
pus  is  ornamented  with  long 
white  hair,  which  forms  a  spe 
cies  of  plume  (falling  down  upon 
the  nape  of  the  neck  and  back 
of  the  head),  which  is  all  the 
more  remarkable  from  the  fact 
that  the  rest  of  the  head  is  bare.™ 

The  accounts  of  the  pyg 
mies  say  of  them  : 

Their  females  bear  young 
when  five  years  old,  and  they 
become  aged  at  the  age  of  eight 
years.1156 

They  are  married  when  they 
are  only  half  a  year  old,  and 
get  children;  and  they  live 
only  six  years,  or  seven  at  the 


RECAPITULATION". 


703 


When  they  see  a  human 
being,  they  are  afraid  and  flee 
to  one  side. 


They  venerate  (or  are  de 
voted  to)  their  husbands  (or 
mates). 

They  eat  the  "salt-plant." 
Its  leaves  resemble  (those  of 
the  plant  called  by  the  Chinese) 
the  SIE-HAO  (a  species  of  ab 
sinthe  or  wormwood),  but  its 
odour  is  more  fragrant  and  its 
taste  is  saltish. 


most,  and  he  that  liveth  eight 
years,  men  think  him  right 
passing  old.m* 

A  characteristic  description 
of  monkeys  that  "flee  to  one 
side  "  and  then  peep  out  to  see 
the  passer-by,  when  they  think 
that  they  have  attained  a  place 
of  safety. 

Monkeys  are  noted  for  their 
faithfulness  and  devotion  to 
their  mates. 

The  Mexican  dictionaries 
define  "  Iztauhyatl "  as  ab 
sinthe,1904  or  wormwood.861  This 
word  is  a  compound,  of  "  Iz- 
tatl,"  salt1905  (the  tl  being 
dropped  in  the  compound,  as  is 
the  rule  in  such  cases),  with  a 
form  of  the  verbal  root  "hue- 
ya,"  to  grow,619  with  the  termi 
nation  "  tl."  It  is  a  sweet-smell 
ing  herb.m  Bisons,1613  horses, 
and  cattle  feed  upon  species  of 
artemisia,  and  in  winter  they 
form  the  principal  food  of  the 
herds  of  the  Kalmucks  and  the 
Kirguis  of  Asia.2009 


In'  the  nineteenth  chapter,  fifteen  facts  were  enumerated 
which  were  mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan,  and  which  were  of  such 
a  nature  that  it  seemed  impossible  that  he  could  have  known 
anything  about  them  unless  he  had  actually  made  the  journey 
which  he  said  that  he  had  taken.  To  those  statements  we  may 
now  add  the  following  : 

16.  The  country  found  some  six  or  seven  thousand  miles 
southeasterly  from  the  land  of  Great  Han  (Alaska)  received  its 
name  from  a  remarkable  plant  or  tree  growing  there. 

17.  The  first  sprouts  of  this  plant  resembled  those  of  the 
bamboo. 


704  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

18.  They  were  edible. 

19.  Thread  was  spun  from  its  fiber. 

20.  Two  kinds  of  cloth,  one  coarse  and  one  finer,  were  made 
from  this  thread. 

21.  And  paper  was  also  made  from  the  fiber. 

22.  An  edible  fruit  was  also  found  in  this  land  which  was 
of  the  shape  of  a  pear,  but  which  was  red  in  colour. 

23.  It  was  of  such  a  nature  that  it  could  be  preserved  and 
kept  throughout  the  year. 

24.  In  constructing  their  houses,  they  used  boards  for  hold 
ing  the  mud  or  adobe  in  shape  until  it  was  dry,  similar  to  the 
boards  used  for  the  same  purpose  in  China. 

25.  They  had  no  citadels  or  walled  cities. 

26.  They  had  a  species  of  writing. 

27.  Either  in  their  laws  or  in  their  religious  beliefs,  or  in 
both,  they  had  two  places  of  confinement. 

,  28.  The  place  reserved  for  the  worst  criminals  was  in  the  north. 

29.  Children  commenced  the  active  duties  of  life,  the  boys 
at  the  age  of  eight  (as  the  Chinese  reckon  age)  and  the  girls  at 
nine  years. 

30.  The  people  had  the  custom  of  holding  great  assemblages 
at  which  serious  crimes  were  judged. 

31.  These  were  held  in  an  "  excavated  tumulus." 

32.  The  custom  existed  of  inflicting  capital  punishment  by 
suffocating  the  criminals  in  ashes. 

33.  The  relatives  were  punished,  as  well  as  the  criminal,  in 
cases  of  heinous  crimes. 

34.  The  highest  rank  of  noblemen  were  known  by  the  title 
of  "  Tui-lu "  (Teuli  or  Teule,  as  it  is  spelled  by  some  Spanish 
authors). 

35.  The  king  was  accompanied  by  musicians  when  he  walked 
abroad. 

36.  Whose  instruments  were  horns  and  drums. 

37.  He  had  the  custom  of  wearing  garments  of  different  col 
ours  at  different  times  "  because  of  superstitious  ideas." 

38.  Very  large  and  long  horns  were  found  in  the  country. 

39.  The  people  raised  deer. 

40.  They  made  a  drink  resembling  koumiss. 

41.  Either  from  milk  or  from  something  that  was  given  that 
name. 


RECAPITULATION.  705 

42.  They  had  no  iron. 

43.  But  had  copper. 

44.  They  did  not  value  gold  or  silver. 

45.  The  marriage  ceremonies  resembled  those  of  China. 

46.  They  kept  statues  of  deceased  relatives,  to  which  they 
offered  food,  etc. 

47.  They  did  not  wear  mourning-garments. 

48.  The  king  did  not  fully  succeed  to  the  throne  until  some 
length  of  time  after  the  death  of  his  predecessor. 

49.  Some  three  hundred  miles  southeasterly  from  this  land 
there  was  a  place  known  as  "  the  Country  of  Women." 

50.  Which  was  inhabited  by  peculiar  beings,  whose  bodies 
were  hairy,  and  who  had  long  locks,  queues,  or  tails  hanging  to 
the  ground. 

51.  They  had  a  rutting-season  in  the  spring. 

52.  The  period  of  gestation  was  six  or  seven  months  (or  pos 
sibly  only  three  or  four  months). 

53.  They  carried  their  young  upon  their  backs. 

54.  They  had  long  hair  at  the  back  of  the  head,  which  was 
whitish  at  the  roots. 

55.  They  were  able  to  walk  when  one  hundred  days  old. 

56.  They   became   fully   grown  when   three  or  four  years 
old. 

57.  They  were  faithful  and  affectionate  to  their  mates. 

58.  A  plant  called  the  "  salt-plant "  grew  in  the  country,  de 
riving  its  name  from  its  taste. 

59.  This  plant  resembled  a  species  of  absinthe, 

60.  But  its  odour  was  more  fragrant. 

It  passes  the  bounds  of  belief  that  Hwui  Shan  could  have  in 
vented  all  these  statements,  many  of  them  true  of  no  other  coun 
try  in  the  world  than  the  one  lying  at  the  distance  and  in  the 
direction  from  China  that  he  said  that  the  land  visited  by  him 
was  to  be  found  ;  and  his  story  can  not  be  explained  upon  any 
other  theory  than  that  he  had  actually  made  the  journey  which 
he  so  truthfully  and  soberly  described. 

VII. 

The  fiber  and  the  transparent  mirror,  which  he  brought  back 
with  him,  were  just  such  articles  as  a  traveler  would  be  likely 

45 


706  AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

to  take  from  Mexico,  and  the  latter,  at  least,  could  not  have 
been  obtained  from  any  other  country  in  the  world. 

VIII. 

There  exists  in  Mexico  a  tradition  of  Hwui  Shan's  visit.  This 
gives  his  name  and  title  of  Hwui  Shin,  bhikshu,  as  Wi-Shi-peco- 
cha  ;  tells  the  district  of  the  Pacific  coast  upon  which  he  landed  ; 
describes  his  complexion,  his  beard,  and  his  dress  ;  relates  the 
doctrines  that  he  preached  ;  mentions  the  success  that  he  met  in 
his  mission,  and  states  the  reason  for  his  return  to  Asia.  Tra 
ditions  also  exist  of  the  visit  of  the  party  of  Buddhist  priests 
mentioned  by  Hwui  Shan,  from  whom  he  seems  in  some  way 
to  have  become  separated. 

IX. 

The  religious  customs  and  beliefs  of1  the  nations  of  Mexico, 
Yucatan,  and  Central  America,  their  pyramids,  their  architect 
ure,  their  arts,  their  calendar,  and  almost  innumerable  little  prac 
tices  of  their  daily  life,  as  they  existed  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish 
conquest,  show  such  surprising  coincidences  with  the  details  of 
Asiatic  beliefs  and  Asiatic  civilization  that  many  independent 
observers,  who  have  either  known  nothing  of  the  story  of  Hwui 
Shan,  or  who  have  paid  no  attention  to  it,  have  become  con 
vinced,  from  these  coincidences  alone,  that  there  must  have  been 
communication  of  some  nature  between  the  two  regions  of  the 
world,  and  that  this  communication  had  probably  taken  place 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 

Among  these  coincidences  the  following  may  be  noted,  i.  e.  : 

1.  The  existence  of  monasteries  and  nunneries,  said  to  have 
been  founded  by  Quetzalcoatl,  the  "  Revered  Visitor." 

2.  The  vows  of  continence  taken  by  their  inmates. 

3.  The  fact  that  these  vows  were  not  necessarily  for  life. 

4.  The  daily  routine  of  life  of  these  ascetics,  consisting  of 
watching,  of  chanting  hymns  to  the  gods,  of  sweeping  the  tem 
ples  and  their  yards,  etc. 

5.  These  priests  were  the  educators  of  the  children. 

6.  They  were  divided  into  orders,  and  some  portion  of  their 
number  were  of  superior  rank,  and  governed  the  others. 

7.  They  lived  upon  alms. 

8.  They  occasionally  retired  alone  into  the  desert,  to  lead  a 
life  of  prayer  and  penance  in  solitude. 


KEOAPITULATIOK 

9.  They  were  known  by  the  title  Tlamacazque  or  Tlama,  cor-     / 
responding  to  the  title  of  Lama  given  to  the  Buddhist  priests  of    *    I V 
Asia. 

10.  It  was  thought  best  to  eat  but  once  a  day,  and  then  at 
noon. 

11.  They  celebrated  once  each  year  a  "feast  of  the  dead," 
at  which  they  supposed  that  the  hungry  spirits  of  their  deceased 
friends  returned  to  be  fed. 

12.  They  worshiped  upon  large  truncated  earthen  pyramids. 

13.  These  were  covered  with  a  layer  of  stone  or  brick,  and  ' 
the  whole  covered  with  plaster  or  stucco. 

14.  They  used  the  false  arch  of  overlapping  stones,  but  not 
the  true  arch. 

15.  The  inner  walls  of  their  temples  were  coated  with  stucco       - 
or  plaster,  which  was  ornamented  with  grotesque  paintings.' 

16.  A  seated  cross-legged  figure  was  found  in  one  of  their 
temples,  resembling  in  its  attitude,  in  the  lion-headed  couch      (3^ 
upon  which  it  was  seated,  in  the  niche  in  which  it  was  found, 

and  in  its  position  in  the  temple,  the  statues  of  Buddha  found  in 
Buddhist  temples. 

17.  The  tradition  of  the  conception  of  Huitzilopochtli  closely 
resembles  the  Asiatic  stories  of  the  conception  of  Buddha. 

18.  They  represented  one  of  their  gods  as  holding  a  mirror 
in  his  hand,  in  which  he  saw  all  the  actions  of  men. 

19.  They  believed  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  had  been 
four  times  destroyed — by  water,  by  winds,  by  earthquakes,  and 
by  fire — and  re-created  after  each  destruction. 

20.  They  had  the  custom  of  placing  the  walls  of  their  tem 
ples  facing  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  decorating  each  wall 
with  a  distinctive  colour. 

21.  They  buried  a  small  green  stone  with  the  corpses  of  the 
dead. 

22.  Their  idols  were  always  clothed,  and  were  never  offen 
sive  to  modesty. 

23.  The  custom  of  tying  the  corners  of  the  garments  of  the 
bride  and  groom  together  constituted  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  marriage  ceremonies. 

24.  Marriage  was  not  consummated  until  the  fourth  day  after 
the  ceremony. 

25.  They  placed  in  the  hands  of  young  children,  a  few  days 


708  AN  INGLORIOUS   COLUMBUS. 

after  their  birth,  toys  symbolical  of  the  instruments  of  craft  or 
of  household  labour  which  it  was  expected  that  they  would  use  in 
after  life. 

26.  The  long  band  of  cloth  worn  about  their  waist  was  pre 
cisely  like  that  worn  by  the  natives  of  India. 

27.  They  wore  quilted  cotton  armour  similar  to  that  worn  in 
Asia. 

28.  Their  cakes  of  meal  were  similar  to  those  made  in  India. 

29.  Their  books  were  folded  back  and  forth  like  those  of 
Siam. 

30.  They  played  a  game  called  patolli,  which  seems  to  have 
been  substantially  the  same  game  as  the  pachisi  of  the  Hindoos. 

31.  They  understood  the  arts  of  melting  and  casting  the 
precious  metals  and  of  working  jewels,  attributing  their  knowl 
edge  to  Quetzalcoatl. 

32.  But  they  knew  nothing  of  the  use  of  milk  or  of  any  food 
prepared  from  it. 

33.  Their  anchors  were  like  those  used  in  Asia,  with  four 
hooks  without  a  barb. 

34.  They  understood   the   art   of   constructing   suspension- 
bridges  ;  and 

35.  Their  calendar  showed  so  many  resemblances  to  that  used 
by  many  of  the  nations  of  Asia,  that  from  this  fact  alone  Hum- 
boldt  was  convinced  that  there  was  some  connection  between 
the  civilizations  of  the  two  regions  of  the  world. 

Almost  any  one  of  these  coincidences  might  be  fortuitous,  but 
it  se«bs  impossible  that  so  many  coincidences  could  have  existed 
unless  the  civilization  of  one  continent  was,  to  some  extent,  bor 
rowed  from  that  of  the  other. 


The  fact  that  the  civilized,  or  partly  civilized,  nations  of 
America  were  all  found  upon  or  near  the  Pacific  coast,  indicates 
that  their  civilization  was  derived  from  Asia. 


XI. 

For  any  difficulties  or  seeming  untruths  in  the  statements  of 
Hwui  Shan  the  following  allowances  should  be  made  : 

1.  The  first  explorers  of  any  newly  found  land  are  usually 
deceived  as  to  some  one  or  more  points,  being  misled  by  tales  of 


RECAPITULATION.  799 

the  natives,  often  but  imperfectly  understood,  and  having  no 
possibility  of  rectifying  their  errors  by  comparing  their  experi 
ence  with  that  of  any  other  person. 

2.  Hwui  Shan  was  probably  a  native  of  Cophene,  and  under 
stood  Chinese  but  imperfectly  at  the  time  that  he  tried  to  de 
scribe  to  Yu  Kie  the  countries  that  he  had  visited,  so  that  the 
latter  probably  failed  to  correctly  understand  some  of  the  state 
ments  that  he  attempted  to  make. 

3.  The  account  was  written  down  before  printing  was  in 
vented,  and  some  errors  have  crept  in  in  copying  it,  as  is  evident 
from  the  variations  in  different  texts. 

4.  Although  the  Chinese  language  changes  more  slowly  than 
almost  any  other,  it  is  probable  that  there  have  been  many  im 
portant  changes  in  the  last  fourteen  centuries,  and  that  many  of 
the  characters  do  not  now  express  precisely  the  meaning  which 
they  were  then  used  to  convey. 

5.  Many  changes  must  have  occurred  in  the  countries  visited 
by  Hwui  Shan  during  the  thousand  years  that  elapsed  after  his 
visit  before  America  was  rediscovered  by  Columbus  ;  and 

6.  The  indigenous  civilization  was  so  soon  replaced  by  that 
of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  only  chroniclers  who  had  an  opportun 
ity  of  seeing  it,  as  it  existed  when  the  country  was  first  explored, 
felt  so  little  interest  in  the  details  of  the  daily  life  of  the  people, 
and  of  their  knowledge,  their  arts,  and  their  religious  belief,  that 
the  accounts  which  we  possess  on  these  points  are,  at  the  best, 
exceedingly  imperfect,  and  many  proofs  which  then  e 

the  truth  of  Hwui  Shan's  story  may  now  have  been  long 

out  of  existence,  leaving  no  evidence  behind  that  they  were  ever 

to  have  been  found. 

Attention  may  be  called,  in  conclusion,  to  the  fact  that  the 
different  points  presented  in  support  of  the  credibility  of  Hwui 
Shan's  account  are  not  connected  together  like  thejjnks  of  a 
chain,  which  is  no  stronger  than  its  weakest  part,  and  the  rupt 
ure  of  one  of  which  severs  the  whole  chain.  They  are  rather 
like  the  ten  thousand  threads  with  which  Gulliver  was  fastened 
to  the  earth,  many  weak  in  themselves,  many  easily^broken  ;  but, 
after  breaking  numbers  of  them,  thousands  still  remained,  bind 
ing  him  to  the  earth  as  firmly  as  ever.  Doubtless,  errors  will  be 
found  in  the  arguments  that  have  been  urged,  and  many  of  them, 


AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 

when  considered  by  themselves  alone,  will  seem  but  weak  ;  and 
yet,  after  breaking  here  one  cord  of  connection  and  there  an 
other,  it  will  be  found  that  numerous  links  remain,  whose  united 
strength  binds  together  the  civilizations  of  Asia  and  America 
with  a  power  that  can  not  be  overcome. 

Nearly  fourteen  centuries  have  passed  since  Hwui  Shan — led 
by  his  religious  faith  to  carry  the  feeble  rush-light  that  shone 
upon  his  path  to  illuminate  the  lives  of  those  who  lay  in  darkness 
— pressed  on  from  one  unknown  land  to  another,  preaching  the 
faith  by  which  his  life  was  guided.  Of  the  toils  and  dangers  that 
he  underwent,  we  can  catch  but  a  glimpse,  through  the  mists  of 
these  fourteen  hundred  years,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that, 
of  the  company  of  five  that  started,  he  alone  returned  to  Asia  ; 
that  he  was  an  old  man  when  he  reached  China,  and  that  he 
probably  never  saw  his  native  land  again.  The  Chinese  believed 
his  story,  but  knew  nothing  more  of  the  land  which  was  visited 
by  him.  European  and  American  scholars  have  for  many  years 
known  something  in  regard  to  his  statements ;  but  for  lack  of 
sufficient  careful  investigation  many  have  been  inclined  to  dis 
credit  them. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  author  that  the  proof  herein  presented, 
that  Hwui  Shan  discovered  America  a  thousand  years  before  it 
was  known  to  Europeans,  will  })e  found  sufficient  to  induce  the 
world  to  give  to  this  faithful  missionary  of  the  Buddhist  faith 
the  honour  to  which  he  is  entitled,  so  that  he  may  no  longer 
remain 

AN  INGLORIOUS  COLUMBUS. 


APPENDIX. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  AND  REFERENCES. 

IN  the  following  table,  the  numerators  of  the  pseudo-fractions  (which, 
as  will  be  seen,  follow  one  another  in  regular  order,  with  the  exception  of 
some  omitted  numbers)  indicate  the  number  of  the  reference ;  while  the 
denominators  indicate  the  page  of  the  work,  below  the  title  of  which  the 
fraction  is  placed,  upon  which  the  quotation  may  be  found. 

Thus,  for  instance,  the  first  reference  in  Chapter  I  is  given  by  the 
number  1880.  Turning  to  the  Appendix,  and  looking  along  the  numera 
tors  of  the  fractions  until  that  number  is  found,  it  will  be  seen  that  its  de 
nominator  is  5,  and  that  the  fraction  in  question  is  found  below  "  Le 
Bouddhisme :  son  Histoire,"  etc.,  by  L.  de  Milloue ;  thus  indicating  that 
the  quotation  or  reference  may  be  found  on  the  fifth  page  of  that  work. 


The  Natural  &  Moral  History  of  the  Indies.  By  Father  Joseph  de 
Acosta.  Eeprinted  from  the  English  translated  edition  of  Edward 
Grimston.  8vo.  London,  1880.  Vol.  I. 

To~F'  ~21T2>  "21T3"' 

Histoire  Naturelle  et  Morale  des  Indes.  Par  Joseph  Acosta.  Traduite 
en  Franc,  ois  par  Robert  Regnault  Cauxois.  8vo.  Paris,  1600. 


Congress  International  des  Ame>icanistes  —  Compte-Rendu  de  la  Premiere 
Session.     Nancy,  1875.     Vol.  I.     8vo.    Paris,  1875. 
An  article  read  by  M.  Lucien  Adam  —  condensed  translation. 
Reference  No.  17. 

Congres  International  des  Ame>icanistes—  Compte-Rendu  de  la  Seconde 
Session.     Vol.  I.     8vo.    Luxembourg,  1877. 

Extract  from  an  article  entitled  "La  Tres-Ancienne  Amerique," 
by  Mr.  Francis  A.  Allen. 
Reference  No.  19. 

The  American  Bisons,  Living  and  Extinct.     By  J.  A.  Allen.    4to.     Cam 
bridge,  1876. 

¥>  ¥>  ¥,  W,  tt,  W,  f  i  tt»  M, 


712  APPENDIX. 

The  New  American  Cyclopaedia.    Published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     16 
vols.,  8vo.    New  York,  1872. 
Keference  No.  41. 

American  Philological  Magazine.     August,  1869. 


An  Account  of  the  Importation  of  American  Cochineal  Insects  into  Hin- 
dostan.     By  James  Anderson,  M.  D.     Madras,  1795. 
Reference  No.  53. 

Yocabulario  Manuel  de  las  Lenguas  Castellana  y  Mexicana.     Por  Pedro 
de  Arenas.     16mo.     Pueblo,  Mexico,  1831. 

tt- 

Atlas  zur  Entdeckungsgeschichte  Americas.  Aus  Handscriften  der  K. 
Hof-  und  Staats-Bibliothek  der  K.  Universitaet  und  des  Hauptsconser- 
vatoriums  der  K.  B.  Armee.  Herausgegeben  von  Friedrich  Kunst- 
mann,  Karl  von  Spruner  und  Georg  M.  Thomas.  Atlas  folio. 
Mtinchen,  1859. 
(The  references  indicate  the  number  of  the  map,  not  the  page.} 

v>  ¥>«>«- 

Histoire  Naturelle  des  Singes  et  des  Makis.    Par  J.  B.  Audebert.    Folio. 
Paris.     8th  year. 
The  Sai  (Simia  Capucina). 

Reference  No.  71. 

The  Pinche — Simia  (Edipus  (Hapale  (Edipus). 
Reference  No.  72. 

Description  G6ne"rale  de  l'Ame>ique.    ParM.  d'Avity.   Folio.    Paris,  1637. 
Reference  No.  76. 

Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  for  the  year  1798. 
Letter  from  Mr.  Stephen  Badger. 

» 

Prehistoric  Nations.    By  John  D.  Baldwin,  A.  M.    8vo.    New  York,  1873. 

~ST$>  "3"^  5,  TDT' 

The  Works  of  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft : 

The  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America.     5  vols., 
8vo.    New  York,  1878. 

Vol.  L,  W-,  iff,  VA  W>  W>  W,  W,  W,  W,  iH, 

m  m,  i-H,  m  ifi,  iff,  m  iff,  w-  Yo1-  n.,  w, 

W,  tti,  -HI,  m  W,  ill,  «i,  iff,  «f,  iU,  Ht,  itt, 

S  0  0 ,    203,  ~Z  0  1 ,     2  08,    209,    209,    212,     213,  "21  T»    218,    220,    ~2~S  1 , 

itt,  Hf ,  Hi,  m,  W,  Mi,  «i,  iff,  ttti  Hi,  «i»  Ml, 

m,  «*,  «*,  i H,  IH,  in,  Hi,  fw,  m, 


APPENDIX. 

m,  HI,  Hf  ,  H4,  HI,  Hi  HI,  HI,  HI,  Hi,  HI,  HI. 

Hi  Iff,  Hi,  I**,  Hi,  Ml,  Iff,  HI,  H4,  IH,  fit,  m, 

iff,  MI,  til,  HI,  -m,  m,  m,  HI,  if  i,  m,  in,  HI, 

HI,  HI,  fit,  HI,  m,  fit,  «t,  «i,  HI,  Hi,  «t,  Hf, 

HI.  voi.  m.,  %s  %  w>  m  m  lit>  M>  m  ltt> 

ttl,  fit,  tH,  fU,  Hi,  HI,  Hi,  Hi,  Iff,  -IH,  M,  lit, 

HI,  HI,  HI,  iff,  HI,  m,  *H,  HI,  Hi,  in,  iff,  m, 

M,  itt,  i«,  141,  HI,  Mf,  Hi,  IM,  IH,  «t,  m  Mf 
Vol.  iv.,  w,  M,  HI,  W,  HI,  IS,  Hi,  Hi,  HI,  Hi, 
*H»  fll,  HI,  HI,  Iff,  IW,  Iff,  Hi,  Ifi  HI,  Hi,  HI- 
Vol.  V.,  ^,  w,  W,  W,  W,  W,  W,  W,  Hi  4if, 
,  tifc  iff,  «i,  HI,  «4i  tt*i  ill,  Hi.  m  iff,  HI. 


The  Works  of  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft  : 

History  of  Mexico.     2  vols.,  8vo.     San  Francisco,  1883. 
Vol.  I.,  4^,  f||,  f  f|, 

f*  m,  « 


History  of  Central  America.     2  vols.,  8vo.     San  Francisco,  1883. 
Vol.  L,  m-    Vol.  II,  «f  ttf 

History  of  the  North  Mexican  States.  8vo.  San  Francisco,  1884. 
(Quotation  from  advance  sheets,  by  the  kindness  of  the  author,  and  his 
assistant,  Mr.  Henry  L.  Oak.) 

Vol.  I,  4&L. 

The  Early  American  Chroniclers.  By  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft.  8vo. 
San  Francisco,  1883. 

w- 

Papers  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America.     American  Series.    II. 
Report  of  an  Archaeological  Tour  in  Mexico  in  1881.     By  A.  F. 
Bandelier.     8vo.     Boston,  1884. 

Hi>  "HI,  fit,  far- 

Reports  of  the  Peabody  Museum  of  American  Archeology  and  Ethnol 
ogy.     Vol.  II.     8vo.     Cambridge,  1880. 

Article  entitled  "  On  the  Art  of  War  and  Mode  of  Warfare  of  the 
Ancient  Mexicans,"  by  Ad.  F.  Bandelier. 

m,  m,  m,  M,  w,  m,  m- 

Article  entitled  "  On  the  Distribution  and  Tenure  of  Lands,  and  the 
Customs  with  Respect  to  Inheritance,  among  the  Ancient  Mexicans," 
by  Ad.  F.  Bandelier. 

",  "38  F, 


714  APPENDIX. 

Reports  of  the  Peabody  Museum  of  American  Archaeology  and  Ethnol 
ogy.     Vol.  II.    8vo.     Cambridge,  1880. 

Article  entitled  "  On  the  Social  Organization  and  Mode  of  Govern 
ment  of  the  Ancient  Mexicans,"  by  Ad.  F.  Bandelier. 

*H»  tti  ttfc  «f»  Wfi  Hf 

The  American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Journal.    Yol.  V.,  No.  2.    April, 
1883. 

Article    entitled  "  The    Native    Races    of   Colombia,"  by  E.   G. 
Barney. 


Personal  Narrative  of  Explorations  and  Incidents  in  Texas,  New  Mexico, 
California,  Sonora,  and  Chihuahua.  By  John  Russell  Bartlett.  2  vols. 
8vo.  New  York,  1854. 

Vol.  L,  ffi,  Iff,  flu,  f  if  .     Vol.  II,  ftfc 

,  f  «> 


Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  etc.     By  William  Bartram. 
8vo.     London,  1792. 

Reference  No.  550  —  Introduction,  p.  xix. 

Journal  Asiatique.     Third  Series,  Vol.  VIII.:   number  for  November, 
1839. 

Article  entitled  "  An  Account  of  the  Shan  Hai  King,  a  Fabulous 
Cosmography  attributed  to  the  Great  Yu,"  by  M.  Bazin,  Sr. 

m,  m- 

The  Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king  :  a  Life  of  Buddha.     Translated  from  Chinese 
into  English  by  Samuel  Beal.     8vo.     Oxford,  1883. 

AjA,  4JJL,  W,  JL5JL. 

Abstract  of  Four  Lectures  on  Buddhist  Literature  in  China,   Delivered  at 
University  College,  London,  by  Samuel  Beal.     8vo.    London,  1882. 
Reference  No.  561,  p.  xii.    Reference  N"o.  562,  p.  xv. 


A  Trip  to  Mexico.    By  H.  0.  R.  Becher.    8vo.     Toronto,  1880. 
S  f}f  , 


New  Tracks  in  North  America.     By  William  A.  Bell,  M.  A.     8vo. 
ond  edition.     London,  1870. 

i  wt,  m  m  M,  m- 


The  Kansas  City  Review  of  Science  and  Industry.     Vol.  V.,  No.  7.     No 
vember,  1881. 

Article  entitled  "  The  American  Horse,"  by  E.  L.  Berthoud. 
Reference  No.  596. 


APPENDIX. 

The  Kansas  City  Review  of  Science  and  Industry.     Vol.  V.,  No.  10. 
February,  1882. 

Article  entitled  "Explorations  in  Idaho  and  Montana,"  by  E.  L. 
Berthoud. 

Reference  No.  598. 

Glossarium  Azteco-Latinum  et  Latiuo-Aztecum.    Cura  et  Studio  Bernar- 
dini  Biondelli  Collectura  ac  Digestum.     Quarto.    Milan,  1869. 

w>  w,  w.  w,  w>  w,  w,  w*  w,  w>  w,  w. 

"VsS  Trf>  TITS  >   AS  ~TO~>  "V^>  "%°"' 

Histoire  des  Nations  Civilisees  du  Mexique  et  de  TAinerique-Centrale. 
Par  M.  l'Abb6  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg.     4  vols.,  8vo.    Paris,  1857. 

voi.  L,  w,  w,  w>  m,  m,  m,  m,  i«.  m,  m- 

Vol.  II.,  4£L,  w,  w,  w,  ^,  w,  W,  W,  W,  f«- 

w,  m,  m,  HI  in,  w.  m  w,  w,  m  itt,  -HI, 
m,  w,  wj-  voi.  in.,  Afj-,  w,  w,  w,  w,  w,  w, 
,  m  w,  M,  m,  HI,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m, 
,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m,  wt,  *H>  m,  m,  m,  m, 
m,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m-  VOL  iv.,  ^,  m,  w,  w, 
w,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m,  ttf,  m,  m,  m,  -m,  m 


Monuments  Anciens  du  Mexique.  Texte  redige  par  M.  TAbbe"  Brasseur 
de  Bourbourg.  Atlas  folio.  Paris,  1866. 

Introduction,  3f£-,  *f£.  'Reference  No.  Y63  ;  Avant  Propos,  p. 
xix.  References  Nos.  Y66  and  767;  Explication  des  Planches, 
par  M.  de  Waldeck,  pp.  iv.  et  v. 

Lettre  a  M.  Leon  de  Rosny  sur  la  Decouverte  de  Documents  Relatifs  d  la 
Haute  Antiquite  Americaine.  Par  M.  FAbb6  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg. 
8vo.  Paris,  1869. 

iji. 

The  Chinese  Recorder  and  Missionary  Journal.  Vol.  III.,  No.  5.  Foo- 
chow,  October,  1870. 

Article  entitled   "Fu-sang,   or  Who  Discovered  America,"  by  E. 
Bretschneider,  M.  D. 
Reference  No.  774. 

On  the  Knowledge  Possessed  by  the  Ancient  Chinese,  of  the  Arabs,  etc. 
By  E.  Bretschneider,  M.  D.  8vo.  London,  1871. 

Hf- 

Notes  on  Chinese  Medieval  Travelers  to  the  West.    By  E.  Bretschneider, 
M.  D.     8vo.     Shanghai,  1875. 
Reference  No.  781,  p.  ii, 


716  APPENDIX. 

The  Myths  of  the  New  World.     By  Daniel  G.  ferinton,  M.  D.    8vo.    New 
York,  1876. 


The  Names  of  the  Gods  in  the  Kiche  Myths.    By  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  M.  D. 
8vo.     Philadelphia,  1881. 

w> 

The  Books  of  Chilan  Balam.     By  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  M.  D.     8vo.    Phila 
delphia  [1882]. 

H*. 

The  Maya  Chronicles.     Edited  by  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  M.  D.    8vo.    Phila 
delphia,  1882. 

82_t     82.2.     8.23 
~~8~3  >    11  8>    11TT' 

American  Hero-Myths.     By  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  M.  D.     8vo.    Philadel 
phia,  1882. 

w,  m  m,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m,  m- 

Contributions  to  American  Ethnology.     Vol.  V.     Quarto.     Washington, 
1882. 

Article  entitled  "  A  Study  of  the  Manuscript  Troano,"  by  Cyrus 
Thomas  ;  introduction  by  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  M.  D. 
Reference  No.  841,  p.  xxxii. 

La  Croix  Pai'enne  et  Chretienne.     Traduction  faite  sur  la  Deuxieme  Edi 
tion,  par  Mourant  Brock,  M.  A.     16mo.    Paris,  1881. 


The  American  Philological  Magazine.    No.  for  August,  1869. 

Article    entitled   "  Where    was    Fusang?"   by   the    Rev.   Nathan 
Brown,  D.  D. 


Essai  sur  le  Pali.     Par  E.  Burnouf  et  Chr.  Lassen.     8vo.     Paris,  1826. 


Introduction  a  1'Histoire  du  Buddhisme  Indien.     Par  E.  Burnouf.     Sec 
ond  ed.     Large  8vo.     Paris,  1876. 


Congres  Provincial  des  Orientalistes  Francais.     Compte-Rendu  de  la  Ses 
sion  Inaugurale.    Levallois,  1874.     8vo.     Paris,  1875. 

Article  entitled  "Le  Chan-hai-king  (Livre  des  Montagnes  et  des 
Mers)."    Traduction  du  Chinois,  par  Emile  Burnouf 

Hi- 


APPENDIX. 

Ueber  die  Aztekiscben  Ortsnamen.    Von  Hrn.  Buschrnann.    Read  before 
the  German  Academy  of  Sciences,  Nov.  11  and  Dec.  9,  1852.    Quarto. 

861  862  8  6  3  864  8  6  8  869  870  811  872  873  874  877  878 
612  '  6  la  >  61 T  '  6195  6  31'  635'  63  5 '  635"'  637'  63  IT'  639'  663'  6  6  If' 

m.88 -0-  -8-81  882  883  884  8  8  5  8  86  887  890  89  2  894 
>  1f$¥>  TOO '  TOT'  T  <>2'  TO  2 '  TOT'  T 15'  T29"'  TTT'  T8  0'  T9T' 

Die  Spuren  der  Aztekiscben  Sprache.    Von  Job.  Carl  Ed.  Buschmann. 
Quarto.     Berlin,  1859. 

JLPI     .9  04      905      906      908      909 
6  1  ~>     7  8  »     S3  '  ~~9  7  '    1  0  7»  TTo* 

C.  Julii  Csesaris,  Commentarii  de  Bello  Gallico. 

References  Nos.  916  to  919,  inclusive.     Bk.  V.,  cb.  12;  Bk.  V., 
ch.  14;  Bk.  VI.,  ch.  26;  and  Bk.  VI.,  ch.  27. 

Compendio  del  Arte  de  la  Lengua  Mexicana  del  P.  Horacio  Carochi.   Por 
el  P.  Ignacio  de  Parades.     Small  quarto.    Mexico,  1759. 


(Euvres  de  Don  Barth61emi  de  las  Casas,  Ev6que  de  Cbiapa.    Accom- 
pagn6es  de  Notes  par  J.  A.  Llorente.    2  vols.,  8vo.    Paris,  1822. 
Vol.  L,  W,  W- 


Des  Affinites  de  la  Langue  Basque  avec  les  Idiomcs  du  Nouveau-Monde. 
Par  M.  H.  de  Cbarencey.     8vo.     Paris,  1867. 


Des  Couleurs  consider^es  comme  Symboles  des  Points  de  1'Horizon  chez  les 
Peuples  du  Nouveau-Monde.  Par  H.  de  Cbarencey.   8vo.   Paris,  1877. 

*¥-,  W,  W,  W- 

Cbronologie  des  Ages  ou  Soleils,  d'apres  la  Mythologie  Mexicaine.    Par 
M.  de  Charencey.     8vo.     Caen,  1878. 

w- 

The  History  of  Paraguay.    "Written  originally  in  Frencb,  by  tbe  celebrated 
Father  Cbarlevoix.     2  vols.,  8vo.    Dublin,  1769. 

voi.  L,  w,  w.  m,  m,  m- 

The  Chinese  Recorder  and  Missionary  Journal.    8vo.     Shanghae. 

Vol.  V.,  JftL.     Vol.  VI.,  -aftS  W- 
The  Chinese  Repository.     8vo.     Canton. 

,  in,  m  m  m-  Vo1- 
m  w>  Hf  Vo1-  IV- 

.    Vol.  V.,  W.  Vol.  VI.,  W,  ^W-   Vo1-  VIL, 

.  vol.  ix.,  HF>  H^»  H^,  HF,  W> 
,  Wf,  W^-    Vol.  x,  HF, 

Vol.  XL,  1^.    Vol.  XII., 


APPENDIX. 

Storia  Antica  del  Messico.     Opera  dell'  Abate  D.  Francisco  Saverio  Clavi- 
gero.     4  vols.,  quarto.     Cesena,  1780. 

Vol.   I.,  JJfcti,  ijff*,  HJi,  ijf>,  ijf  A,  H 

-.    Vol.  II.,  14^  Jjp*,  JJiM,  jjjgL,  JLJJJL,  10 


Narrative  of  a  Pedestrian  Journey  through  Russian  and  Siberian  Tartary. 
By  Captain  John  Dundas  Cochrane,  R.  N.  2  vols.,  8vo.  Second 
edition.  London,  1824. 

Vol.  L,  W,  W 

Colmeiro  —  Diccionario  de  los  Di  versos  Nombres  Vnlgares  de  Much  as 
Plantas  Usuales  6  Notabiles  del  Antiguo  y  Nuevo  Mundo. 
Reference  No.  1089. 

Congres  International  des  Ara^ricanistes.  Corapte-Rendu  de  la  Premiere 
Session.  2  vols.,  8vo.  Nancy,  1875. 

See  Lucien  Adam,  Leon  de  Rosny,  and  M.  Godron. 

Congres  International  des  Ame"ricanistes.  Compte-Rendu  de  la  Seconde 
Session.  2  vols.,  8vo.  Luxembourg,  1877. 

Vol.  L,  J^ftL  ,  *£££.      See  also  Francis  A.  Allen  and  V.  A. 
Malte-Brun. 

The  Despatches  of  Hernando  Cortes.  Translated  by  George  Folsom. 
8vo.  New  York,  1843. 


The  Pre-Columbian  Discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen.     By  B.  F. 
de  Costa.     8vo.     Albany,  1868. 
Reference  No.  1110,  p.  vii. 


The  Northmen  in  Maine.    By  the  Rev.  B.  F.  de  Costa.    8vo.    Albany, 
1870. 


Account  of  the  Russian  Discoveries  between  Asia  and  America.    By  Will 
iam  Coxe,  A.  M.,  F.  R.  S.     8vo.     Third  edition.     London,  1787. 

W,  HF, 


History  of  the  Indian  Archipelago.    By  John  Crawfurd,  F.  R.  S.    3  vols., 
8vo.     Edinburgh,  1820. 

Vol.  L,  Vr3f  ,  \W,  W/,  WoS  ^3^,  %¥•  Vol.  II.,  W/> 
W/,  Wf  ,  WA  %¥,  Wr4-     Vol.  Ill,  \V¥- 

Life  among  the  Apaches.     By  John  C.  Cremony.     8vo.     San  Francisco, 
1868. 

1148 
247  * 


APPENDIX. 


719 


Annual  Report  of  Brigadier-General  George  Crook,  U.  S.  A.,  Command 
ing  Department  of  Arizona.     12mo.     1883 


Alaska  and  its  Resources.    By  William  II.  Ball.     8vo.    Boston,  1870 

HIS  W,  W»  W,  W>  W,  W,  W,  W,  W, 
VAS  W,  W,  W,  W,  W- 

Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge.     318. 

On  the  Remains  of  Later  Pre-Historic  Man  obtained  from  Caves  in 
the  Catherine  Archipelago,  Alaska  Territory,  and  especially  from  the 
Caves  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  By  W.  H.  Dall.  Quarto.  Washing 
ton,  1878. 

JJjJLL,  ^UL,  ill  3/JLJ2A 

Nouveau  Voyage  Autour  du  Monde.     Par  Guillaume  Dampier.    5  vols., 
18mo.     Pvouen,  1715. 
Vol.  III.,  W 

Proceedings  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences.    Yols.  II. 
and  III.     8vo.    Davenport,  Iowa,  1877-1880. 
Vol.  II,  -Vi^,  itff.     Vol.  Ill,  ifff.. 

El  Gringo  ;  or,  New  Mexico  and  her  People.    By  W.  W.  H.  Davis.     8vo. 
New  York,  1857. 


The  Folk-Lore  of  China,  and  its  Affinities  with  that  of  the  Aryan  and 
Semitic  Races.     By  N.  B.  Dennyss,  Ph.  D.     8vo.     Hong-Kong,  1876. 

HI1*  -ft9/- 

Le  Bouddhisme  et  1'Apologetique  Chre"tienne.    Par  1'Abbe  A.  Deschamps. 
8vo.    Paris,  1860. 

1  19  £> 

De  la  Discipline  Bouddhique.    Par  l'Abb6  A.  Deschamps.     8vo.    Paris, 
1862. 


on    Livre    des 

Merveilles  de  1'Inde.     Traduction  Francaise,  par  L.  Marcel  Devic. 
Quarto.    Leide,  1883. 

Die  Entdeckung  nnd  Eroberung  von  Mexico,  nach  des  Bernal  Diaz  del 
Castillo  gleichzeitiger  Erzahlung:  bearbeitet  von  der  Uebersetzerin 
des  Vasari.  12mo.  Hamburg,  1848. 


720  APPENDIX. 

An  Account  of  the  Abipones,  an  Equestrian  People  of  Paraguay.    From 
the  Latin  of  Martin  Dobrizhoffer.     3  vols.,  8vo.     London,  1822. 

Vol.  L,  HP,  -VW-    Vol.  ii.,  WA  W- 

Vocabulary  and  Hand-Book  of  the  Chinese  Language.     By  Eev.  Justus 
Doolittle.    2  vols.,  small  quarto.     Foochow,  1872. 
Vol.  I,  HF- 

Cit6s  et  Ruines  Ame>icaines.     Photographies  par  Desir6  Charnay,  avec 
un  Texte  par  M.  Viollet-le-Duc.    8vo.     Paris,  1863. 

AHJ»  iH^ 

Antiquites  Mexicaines.     Relation   des  Trois  Expeditions  du  Capitaine 
Dupaix.    Folio.     Paris,  1834. 

First  Expedition,  i^a,  J^i,  if  p,  HP,  HP-     Third  ExPe- 

dition,  i-2^-,  -Up,  HK  Hift  HP- 
Chinese  Buddhism.     By  Rev.  Joseph  Edkins,  D.  D.     8vo.    Boston,  1880. 

Reference  No.  1241,  p.  viii.     HfS  ^ffS  HP,  HP,  "H  P, 

H  I  ^  Ht  ^  HB  ^IF,  ^W4-,  ^IF,  iMJL, 


Etude  sur  les  Origines  Buddhiques  de  la  Civilisation  Ame>icain0i    Par  M. 
Gustave  d'Eichthal.    Premiere  Partie.    8vo.    Paris,  1865. 
Reference  No.  1277. 

A  Chinese  Dictionary  in  the  Cantonese  Dialect.     By  Ernest  John  Eitel. 
8vo.    Hong-Kong,  1877. 

Part  L,  ifff.- 
Thirtieth  Congress,  First  Session.    Ex.  Doc.  No.  41. 

Notes  of  a  Military  Reconnoissance  from  Fort  Leaven  worth,  in  Mis 
souri,  to  San  Diego,  in  California.  By  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  H. 
Emory.  8vo.  Washington,  1848. 

W,  H**,  HF,  HH  Vff->  Vff-- 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.    Ninth  edition  (American  reprint). 

Vol.  I,  W  Vol.  II.,  if^,  *f&,  ¥AS  J^1,  W  Vol. 

iv.,  Wf,  *m,  W-   Vol.  v.,  wf.,  Wf--   Vol.  VL, 

W-     Vol.  XII.,  W-     Vol.  XIII.,  ^f,  J^1-     Vol. 
XIV.,  iff}.    Vol.  XVI,  Jtfft  i/&,  ifffi. 

The  Kansas  City  Review  of  Science  and  Industry.     Vol.  V.,  No.  11. 
March,  1882. 

Article  entitled  "  The  Mound-Builders  and  the  Aztecs,"  by  Mr.  S.  B. 
Evans. 

Reference  No.  1323. 


APPENDIX. 


721 


The  Pilgrimage  of  Fa  Hian.  From  the  French  edition  of  the  Foe  Koue 
Ki  of  MM.  Remusat,  Klaproth,  and  Landresse,  with  Additional  Notes 
and  Illustrations.  8vo.  Calcutta,  1848. 


HF*  *m  W,  W,  W>  W, 


W, 

Lettres  .  .  .  sur  1'Archipel  Japonais,  et  la  Tartarie  Orientale.    Par  le  P. 
Furet.     18mo.    Paris,  1860. 


A  New  Survey  of  the  West  Indies.     By  Thomas  Gage.     Quarto.    Lon 
don,  1655. 


On  the  Indian  Tribes  and  Languages  of  Costa  Rica.  By  William  M.  Gabb. 
(Read  before  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  Aug.  20,  1875.) 
8vo.  Philadelphia,  1875. 


Silabario  de  Idioma  Mexicano.    Por  el  Lie.  D.  Faustino  Chimalpopocatl 
Galicia.     16mo.     Mexico,  1849. 


Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society.     Vol.  I.     8vo.    New- 
York,  1845. 

Article  entitled  "Notes  on  the  Semi-civilized  Nations  of  Mexico, 
Yucatan,  and  Central  America,"  by  Albert  Gallatin. 


Nouvelle  Journal  Asiatique.    Paris,  1832. 
Letter  from  P£re  Gaubil. 


Annales  des  Voyages  de  la  Geographic,  de  1'Histoire,  et  de  1'Archeologie. 
Tome  4.     8vo.    Paris,  1868. 

Article  entitled  "  Une  Mission  Buddhiste  en  Amerique  au  Ye  Siecle 
de  1'Ere  Chretienne,"  par  Dr.  A.  Godron. 

14JLL. 

Congres  International  des  Americanistes.     Compte-Rendu  de  la  Premiere 
Session.    Nancy,  1875.     Vol.  I.     8vo.     Nancy,  1875. 
Article  on  the  Maguey  (Agave  Americana),  by  Dr,  A.  Godron. 


722  APPENDIX. 

Memoires  de  Litterature,  tires  des  Registres  de  TAcad^mie  Royale  des 
Inscriptions  et  Belles-Lettres.    Tome  XXVIII.    Paris,  1761. 

Article  entitled  "Recherches  sur  lea  Navigations  des  Chinois  du 
Cote  de  l'Am6rique,  et  sur  quelques  Peuples  situes  &  1'Extremite 
Orientale  de  1'Asie,"  par  M.  de  Guignes. 


On  the  Present  State  of  Buddhism  in  China.     By  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  Gutz- 
laff.     8vo.    London  [no  date]. 


Colleccion  de  Documentos  para  la  Historia  de  Mexico.    Publicada  por 
Joaquin  Garcia  Icazbalceta.     2  vols.,  8vo.    Vol.  II.    Mexico,  1866. 

Primera  Relacion  Andnima  de  la  Jornada  que  hizo  Nufio  de  Guz 
man  a  la  Nueva  Galicia. 
Reference  No.  1422. 

Stranger  than  Fiction.     By  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Halcombe,  M.  A.     12mo. 
London,  1882. 


Les  Tolteques.    Par  M.  E.-T.  Hamy. 

Extrait  du  Bulletin  hebdomadaire  No.  118  de  1'Association  Scienti- 
fique  de  France.     Conference  du  25  Mars,  1882. 

HF,  -4F- 

Eastern  Monachism.    By  R.  Spence  Hardy.     8vo.    London,  1860. 


A  Manual  of  Buddhism,  in  its  Modern  Development.     By  R.  Spence 
Hardy.     Second  edition.     8vo.     London,  1880. 


Contributions  to  the  Ethnography  and  Philology  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
Missouri  Valley.    By  F.  V.  Hayden,  M.  D.    Quarto.    No  place  or  date. 


Preliminary  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  Wyoming. 
By  F.  V.  Hayden,  M.  D.     8vo.     Washington,  1871. 

-oi^  \W-     See  also  J.  S.  Newberry,  Thomas  C.  Porter,  and 
Dr.  C.  C.  Parry. 

Nouvelle  Decouverte  d'un  Tres  Grand  Pays.     Par  le  R.  P.  Louis  Ileune- 
pin.     16mo.     Utrecht,  1697. 


A  Japanese  and  English  Dictionary.    By  J.  C.  Hepburn.     8vo.    London, 
1867. 


APPENDIX.  723 

W,  W,  W>  W, 


Rerum  Medicarum  Novae  Hispaniao   Thesaurus  ...  ex  Francisci  Her 
nandez.     Small  folio.    Rome,  1651. 

,  HP,  HF, 


.     Supplement, 

Exploration  of  the  Valley  of  the  Amazon.     By  Lieutenant  William  Lewis 
Herndon.     8vo.     Washington,  1854. 


'HpoSdrou  rou  'A.\iKapvr)$eos   'IsTopiT],  '17  'isTopi&v  B//3\oi  0,  ' 
MoOrat. 

References  Nos.  1535,  1536,  1537,  1538,  and  1540.  Bk.  III.,  ch. 
102;  Bk.  HIM  ch.  107;  Bk.  IV.,  ch.  25;  Bk.  IV.,  ch.  31;  Bk. 
IV.,  ch.  191. 

Catalogo  de  las  Lenguas  de  las  Naciones  Conocidas.    Su  Autor  el  Abate 
Don  Lorenzo  Hervas.     6  vols.,  8vo.     Madrid,  1800. 

Vol.  I,  w,  W,  W- 


Me"moire  sur  le  Pays  connu  des  Anciens  Chinois  sous  le  Norn  de  Fou-sang. 
Par  M.  le  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys.  Extrait  des  Comptes- 
Rendus  des  Stances  de  I'Acad^mie  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles-Lettres. 
8vo.  Paris,  1876. 

Reference  No.  1544. 

Ethnographie  des  Peuples  etrangers  4  la  Chine.  Onvrage  compose  au 
XIIP  Si^cle  de  noire  Ere,  par  Ma-Touan-lin.  Traduit  pour  la  pre 
miere  fois  du  Chinois,  avec  un  Commentaire  Perp6tuel.  Orientaux.  Par 
le  Marquis  d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys.  Small  quarto.  Geneva,  1876. 

>  M  **> 


A  Japanese  Grammar.     By  J.  J.  Hoffmann.     8vo.    Leyden,  1868. 

1564t 

Traces  de  Buddhisme  en  Norv6ge.     Par  M.  C.  A.  Ilolmboe.    8vo.    Paris, 

1857. 


The  Six  Scripts.     A  translation  by  L.  C.  Hopkins.     8vo.     Amoy,  1881. 
Reference  No.  1558,  p.  xxi. 

Georgi  Horni.     De  Originibus  Americanis.    16mo.    Lugduni  Batavorum, 
1652. 


724  APPENDIX. 

Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet,  and  China.    By  M.  Hue.    Translated  from  the 
French  by  W.  Hazlitt.    2  vols.,  8vo.    London,  1851-'52. 

Vol.  I,  HfS  W,  W,  W>  W>  W>  W-  Vol.  II., 

HP,  HP*  HF>  W 

Vues  des  Cordilldres  et  Monumens  des  Peuples  indigenes  de  l'Ame*rique. 
Par  Al.  de  Hiimboldt.    Large  folio.     Paris,  1810. 

References  Nos.  1579  to  1584,  inclusive,  pp.  i.,  xi.,  xiii.,  xx.,  xxx., 
and  xxxi.      IfBJL,  iJ|JL,  16^  16|JL,  JLJ^  W,  1JL9JL, 


Political  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  New  Spain.  By  Alexander  de  Hum- 
boldt.  Translated  from  the  original  French  by  John  Black.  4  vols., 
8vo.  London,  1811. 

Vol.  II,  if^,  Jflfc  ifff* 

Ueber  die  Kawi-Sprache  auf  der  Insel  Java.  Von  Wilhelm  von  Hum- 
boldt.  3  vols.,  quarto.  Berlin,  1836. 

J  6  0  8     160  9      1610 
287~>  "T¥T">  ~2"8~J~* 

Joaquin  Garcia  Icazbalceta.     See  de  Guzman. 

Ancient  Faiths  embodied  in  Ancient  Names.     By  Thomas  Inman,  M.  D. 
Second  edition.     2  vols.,  8vo.    London,  1872. 
Vol.  L,  W- 

Account  of  an  Expedition  from  Pittsburgh  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  under 
the  Command  of  Major  Stephen  H.  Long.     Compiled  by  Edwin  James. 
2  vols.,  8vo.     Philadelphia,  1823. 
Vol.  I,  Jfltf.,  W. 

Thirtieth  Congress.     First  Session.    Ex.  Doc.  No.  41. 

Notes  of  a  Military  Reconnoissance  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  in  Mis 
souri,  to  San  Diego,  in  California.    Journal  of  Captain  A.  R.  Johnston. 


Memoires  sur  les  Gentries  Occidentales.  Traduit  du  Sanscrit  en  Chinois 
en  1'An  648  par  Hiouen-Thsang,  et  du  Chinois  en  Fran§ais  par  M. 
Stanislas  Julien.  2  vols,  large  8vo.  Paris,  1858. 


Me"thode  pour  D4chlffrer  et  Transcrireles  Noms  Sanscrit  que  se  Rencontient 
dans  les  Livres  Chinois.    Par  M.  Stanislas  Julien.     8vo.    Paris,  1861. 


Syntaxe  Nouvelle  de  la  Langu-e  Chinoise.    Par  M.  Stanislas  Julien.    2 
vols.,  8vo.     Paris,  1869. 
Vol.  Li*aJk 


APPENDIX. 

Histoire  de  Kamtschatka,  des  Isles  Kurilski,  et  des  Gentries  Voisines. 
Traduite  par  M.  E.     2  vols.,  18mo.    Lyons,  1767. 

Vol.  I.,  ifAA,  jyyyi.    Vol.  IL, 


Essays  :  Ethnological  and  Linguistic.    By  the  late  James  Kennedy.     8vo. 
London,  1881. 
Essay  on  the  Probable  Origin  of  the  American  Indians. 


Antiquities  of  Mexico.     By  Lord  Kingsborough.      9  vols.,  imp.  folio. 
1830-'48. 


Vol.  VI., 

Nouvelles  Annales  des  Voyages.     Tome  LI.     Paris,  1831. 

Article  entitled  "  Eecherches  sur  le  Pays  de  Fou  Sang,  mentionne 
dans  les  Li  vres  Chinois,  et  pris,  mal  a-propos,  pour  une  Partie  de  PAin6- 
rique,"  par  M.  J.  Klaproth. 

M*1- 

Fragmens  Bouddhiques.     Par  M.  J.  Klaproth.     8vo. 

Extrait  du  Nouveau  Journal  Asiatique,  Mars,  1831. 


San  Kokf  Tsou  Ran  To  Sets,  ou  Aperc.u  Ge"ne*ral  des  Trois  Royaumes. 
Traduit  de  1'original  Japonais-Chinois,  par  M.  J.  Klaproth.  8vo. 
Paris,  1832. 

J  JA, 


Nipon  O  Dai  Itsi  Ran,  ou  Annales  des  Empereurs  du  Japon.  Accom- 
pagn6  de  Notes,  et  pre"c6de  d'un  Apercu  de  1'Histoire  Mythologique  du 
Japon.  Par  M.  J.  Klaproth.  Quarto.  Paris,  1834. 

References  Nos.  1665  to  1670,  inclusive,  pp.  ii.,  iv.,  vi.,  xi.,  xix., 
and  xxviii.    ±^LL,  J^lA,  J^p,  ifiA  ifji,  ifjJL,  i^JL,  ±f  ^, 

i^>  HP,  HP,  HP,  Vjtf- 


Die  Beiden  Aeltesten  General-Karten  von  Amerika.  Ausgeffihrt  in  den 
Jahren  1527  und  1529.  Auf  Befehl  Kaiser  Karl's  V.  Erlautert  von 
J.  G.  Kohl.  Atlas  folio.  Weimar,  1860. 


Johannes  de  Laet.  Nota3  ad  Dissertationem  Hugonis  Grotii  De  Origine 
Gentium  Arnericanarum.     18mo.     Amstelodami,  1643. 


Relation  des  Choses  de  Yucatan,  de  Diego  de  Landa.    Traduction  Fran- 
c.aise  par  PAbb6  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg.    8vo.    Paris,  1864. 

169.1      j  6  92      1  6_9  3 

nn~>   loi  >   191  > 


726  APPENDIX. 

Bemerkung  auf  einer  Reise  um  die  Welt.    Yon  G.  H.  von  Langsdorff.    2 
vols.,  quarto.    Frankfurt  am  Mayn,  1812. 

Vol.  II.,  i«A,  -HF,  HP,  HP,  HP,  HP,  Hf1,  HP, 


The  Natural  History  of  the  Varieties  of  Man.   By  Robert  Gordon  Latham. 
8vo.    London,  1850. 


The  Sacred  Books  of  China.     The  Texts  of  Confucianism.'    Translated  by 
James  Legge.    Part  I.     8vo.    Oxford,  1879. 

HP- 

Preliminary  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  Wyoming, 
etc.    By  F.  V.  Hayden.    8vo.     Washington,  1871. 

Special  Report  by  Joseph  Leidy,  LL.  D.,  on  the  Vertebrate  Fossils 
of  the  Tertiary  Formations  of  the  West. 

w- 

Who  Discovered  America  ?    Evidence  that  the  New  World  was  known  to 
the  Chinese  Fourteen  Hundred  Years  Ago. 

(From  the  "  Chinese  Recorder  and  Missionary  Journal  "  for  May, 
1870,  Vol.  II.,  p.  344.     Copied  from  the   "Gentleman's  Magazine." 
Probably  by  Charles  G.  Leland.) 
Reference  No.  1711. 

Fusang,  or  the  Discovery  of  America  by  Chinese  Buddhist  Priests  in  the 
Fifth  Century.    By  Charles  G.  Leland.     12mo.    London,  1875. 

HP,  HfS  HP,  W,  W,  W,  W- 

Parallele  des  Anciens  Monuments  Mexicains  avec  ceux  de  1'figypte,  de 
1'Inde,  etc.   Par  M.  Alexandre  Lenoir.     Folio.    Paris,  1834. 
References  Nos.  1726,  1727,  1728,  1729,  1730,  and  1731. 

The  Hill  Tracts  of  Chittagong.     By  Captain  T.  H.  Lewin.     8vo.     Cal 
cutta,  1869. 


Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism.     By  Arthur  Lillie.     8vo.    London,  1881. 


Zachariaa  Lilii—  Orbis  Breviarum.     Small  quarto.    Florence,  1493. 

References  Nos.  1751  to  1757  inclusive,  pp.  b.  ii.,  c.  viii.,  f.  iii.,  g. 
iv.,  1.  ii.,  m.  i.,  and  m.  viii. 

Grammar  of  the  Chinese  Language.     By  the  Rev.  W.  Lobscheid.    In  two 
parts.     8vo.     HoDg-Kong,  1864. 
Part  I., 


APPENDIX.  727 

Voyages  and  Travels  of  an  Indian  Interpreter  and  Trader.    By  J.  Long. 
Quarto.    London,  1791. 


3t  JR  5§  %,  WAN-HIES  T'UXG-K'ATT,  or  "A  Thorough  Examination  into 
Antiquity,"  by  ,^  ^fifi  fiwi,  MA  TWAN-LIX. 

Keferences  Nos.  1764,  1765,  1766,  and  1767. 

Voyages  from  Montreal  .  .  .  through  the  Continent  of  North  America. 
By  Sir  Alexander  Mackenzie.     8vo.     Philadelphia,  1802. 

Keferences  Nos.  1771,  1772,  1773,  and  1774,  pp.  xci.,  xci.,  cxii., 
and  cxiv. 


The  Voyages  of  the  Venetian  Brothers  Nicolo  &  Antonio  Zeno.     By 
Richard  Henry  Major,  F.  S.  A.     8vo.     London,  1873. 
Reference  No.  1778,  p.  xxxiv. 

Congres  International  des  Americanistes.     Compte-Rendu  de  la  Seconde 
Session,  Luxembourg,  1877.     2  vols.,  8vo.    Luxembourg,  1877. 

Article  entitled  "Tableau  de  la  Distribution  Ethnographique  des 
Nations  et  des  Langues  au  Mexique,"  par  M.  V.  A.  Malte-Brun. 
Vol.  II.,  iJI*. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  for  1878.    8vo.   Wash 
ington,  1878. 

Appendix  NN.     Article  entitled  "  Notes  upon  the  First  Discoveries 
of  California,  and  the  Origin  of  its  Name,"  by  Professor  Jules  Marcou. 

uuut. 

Thirty  Years  of  Army  Life  on  the  Border.     By  Bvt.  Brig.-Gcn.  R.  B. 
Marcy,  U.  S.  A.     8vo.     New  York,  1874. 


The  Travels  of  Marco  Polo.    Translated  from  the  Italian,  with  Notes,  by 
William  Marsden,  F.  R.  S.,  etc.     Quarto.    London,  1818. 

References  Nos.  1788  and  1789,  pp.  xxiv.  and  xxxix. 

W,  W>  W,  -VW-, 


The  History  of  Sumatra.     By  William  Marsden,  F.  R.  S.     Third  edition. 
Quarto.     London,  1811. 


The  Chinese  :  their  Education,  Philosophy,  and  Letters.    By  W.  A.  P. 
Martin,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.     8vo.     New  York,  1881. 

w> 

The  Voiage  and  Travaile  of  Sir  John  Maundevile,  Kt.   8vo.   London,  1866. 

,  w, 


728  APPENDIX. 


Researches,  Philosophical  and  Antiquarian,  Concerning  the  Aboriginal 
History  of  America.     By  J.  H.  McCnlloh,  Jr.,  M.  D.    8vo.    Balti 


more,  1829. 


A  Dictionary  of  the  Hok-keen  Dialect  of  the  Chinese  Language.    By  W. 
H.  Medhurst.    Quarto.'   Macao,  China,  1832. 


, 


Second  Recueil  de  Pieces  SUP  le  Mexique.    Published  by  M.  Ternaux- 
Compans.     8vo.     Paris,  1840. 

Letter  of  Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza,  First  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  the 
King  of  Spain. 


Le  Bouddhisme  :  son  Histoire,  ses  Dogmes,  son  Extension,  et  son  Influence. 
Par  L.  de  MillouS.  8vo.  Lyon,  1882. 

J^UL,  JJUU).    i^^  rjjA^  I|f3)  1||A,  i||JL,  ij|JL. 

The  Indian  Saint  ;  or  Buddha  and  Buddhism.  By  Charles  D.  B.  Mills. 
8vo.  Northampton,  Mass.,  1876. 

HP>  HP-,  HF,  HP,  HF,  HF,  HfS  HF- 

Grammaire  Palie.  Par  J.  Miuayef.  Traduite  du  Russe  par  M.  Stanislas 
Guyard.  8vo.  Paris,  1874. 

HP- 

Vocabulario  de  la  Lengua  Mexicana.  Compuesto  por  el  P.  FT.  Alonso  de 
Molina.  Publicado  de  Nuevo  por  Julio  Platzmann.  Quarto.  Leip 
zig,  1880. 

HB  HF,  HF,  HP.  HB  HF,  HIA  ^W4,  HF,  HF, 
HP,  HF,  ^JF,  Hi1,  HP>  HF,  H*A,  HP,  H^,  HP, 


Travels  in  Central  America.  .  .  .    From  the  French  of  the  Chevalier 
Arthur  Morelet,  by  Mrs.  M.  F.  Squier.     8vo.     New  York,  1871. 


League  of  the  Hodenosaunee,  or  Iroquois.     By  Lewis  II.  Morgan.     8vo. 
Rochester,  1851. 

>  W, 


Systems  of  Consanguinity  and  Affinity  of  the  Human  Family.    By  Lewis 
H.  Morgan.     Quarto.     Washington,  1871. 


APPENDIX.  Y29 

The  Indian  Miscellany.    Edited  by  W.  W.  Beach.     8vo.     Albany,  1877. 
Article  entitled  "Indian  Migrations."     By  Lewis  H.  Morgan. 

w- 

Reports  of  the  Peabody  Museum.     Vol.  II.    8vo.     Cambridge,  1880. 

Article  entitled  "  On  the  Ruins  of  a  Stone  Pueblo  on  the  Animas, 
in  New  Mexico  ;  with  a  Ground  Plan."     By  lion.  Lewis  H.  Morgan. 


Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology.    Vol.  IV.    Quarto.    Wash 
ington,  1881. 

Houses  and  Rouse  Life  of  the  American  Aborigines,  by  Lewis  II. 
Morgan. 

IWL,  ^r,  *m,  w,  w,  w>  w.  Wi1- 

Buddhism  and  Buddhist  Pilgrims.    By  Max  Miiller,  M.  A.    8vo.    London, 
1857. 

**&  HP,  HfS  HP- 

Der  Mexikanische  Nationalgott  Huitzilopochtli.     Von  Professor  Dr.  J.  G. 
Muller.     Small  quarto.    Basel,  1847. 

1963      1964      1  965 
1  5    >       1  6    >       S5    * 

Zeitschrift  fur  Allgemeine  Erdkunde.    New  Series,  Vol.  XVI. 

Article  entitled  "  Ost-Asien  und  West-Amerika  nach  Chinesischen 
Quellen  ausdem  Funften,  Sechsten,  und  Siebenten  Jahrhundert."  Von 
Karl  Friedrich  Neumann. 

Reference  No.  1966,  p.  305. 

Prehistoric  America.     By  the  Marquis  de  Nadaillac.     Translated  by  N. 
D'Anvers.    Edited  by  W.  H.  Dall.     8vo.     Published  by  G.  P.  Put 
nam's  Sons,  New  York  and  London,  1884. 
Reference  No.  1967,  pp.  125  and  273. 

Preliminary  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  Wyoming. 
By  F.  V.  Hayden.     8vo.     Washington,  1871. 

Article  entitled  "  The  Ancient  Lakes  of  Western  America."  By  J.  S. 
Newberry,  LL.  D. 


History  of  South  America  and  Mexico.    By  lion.  John  M.  Niles.    2  vols., 
8vo.     Hartford,  1844. 

Vol.  I.,  ifff-. 
Rambles  in  Yucatan.    By  B.  M.  Norman.     8vo.     New  York,  1843. 


Indigenous  Races  of  the  Earth.     By  J.  C.  Nott,  M.  D.,  and  George  R. 
Glidden.     8vo.     Philadelphia,  1857. 
Reference  No.  1975,  p.  xxiii. 


730  APPENDIX. 

Grammaire  de  la  Langue  Nahuatl  on  Mexicaine.  Composed  en  1547  par 
le  Franciscain  Andre"  de  Olmos,  et  Publie"e  avec  Notes,  Eclaircissements, 
etc.,  par  E6mi  Simeon.  8vo.  Paris,  1875. 


A  Forbidden  Land  :  Voyages  to  the  Corea.     By  Ernest  Oppert.     8vo. 
New  York,  1880. 

HF>  -HI  A>  ^W»  W,  W- 

L'Honime  Ame"ricain.    Par  Alcide  d'Orbigny.    2  vols.,  8vo.    Paris,  1839. 

Vol.  L,  %°3°->  W,  *fft->  ¥A3--     Vol.  IL,  AJHJA. 
Geografia  de  las  Lenguas,  y  Carta  Etnografica  de  Mexico.    Por  el  Lie. 
Manuel  Orozco  y  Berra.     Quarto.     Mexico,  1864. 
ij}J&.     Reference  No.  2007,  map. 

On  the  Anatomy  of  Vertebrates.     By  Eichard  Owen,  F.  E.  S.     3  vols., 
8vo.     London,  1868. 
Vol.  III.,  *ff£.. 

Voyages  de  M.  P.  S.  Pallas,  en  DifFe"rentes  Provinces  de  1'Empire  de  Eus- 
sie,  et  dans  1'Asie  Septentrionale.    Traduits  de  1'Allemand,  par  M.  Gau- 
thier  de  la  Peyronie.     5  vols.,  quarto.    Paris,  1788. 
Vol.  I, 


Memoire  sur  1'Origine  Japonaise,  Arabe  et  Basque,  de  la  Civilization  des 
Peuples  du  Plateau  de  Bogota.    Par  M.  de  Paravey.    8vo.    Paris,  1835. 


Origine  Asiatique  d'un  Penple  de  1'Amerique  du  Sud.  Par  M.  de  Para 
vey.  (Extract  from  No.  15,  Vol.  III.,  of  the  Annales  de  Philosophie 
Chr6tienne.) 


Dissertation  sur  les  Amazones  dont  le  Souvenir  est  Conserve"  en  Chine. 
Par  M.  le  Cher  de  Paravey.     8vo.    Paris,  1840. 

2JLLJ1. 

L'Ame>ique  sous  le  Nom  de  Pays  de  Fou-sang.    Par  M.  de  Paravey.    8vo. 
Paris,  1844. 

Reference  No.  2015. 

Nouvelles  Preuves  que  le  Pays  du  Fou-sang  mentionne"  dans  les  Livres 
Chinois  est  1' Ame>ique.    Par  M.  de  Paravey.     8vo.    No  place  or  date. 
Reference  No.  2017. 

Preliminary  Eeport  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  Wyoming. 
By  F.  V.  Hayden.     8vo.    Washington,  1871. 

"  A  List  of  Plants  collected  by  C.  Thomas."    By  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry. 


APPENDIX. 


731 


Journal  Asiatique.     October  and  November,  1839. 

Article  entitled  "  A  Methodical  Examination  of  Facts  Concerning 
T'ien-chu,  or  India."    Translated  from  the  Chinese  by  M.  Pauthier. 


Catalogue  des  Livres  Chinois,  composant  la  Bibliotheque  de  feu  M.  G. 
Pauthier.     8vo.    Paris,  1873. 

W- 
Revue  Orientale  et  Americaine.    Vol.  VIII.     Paris,  1862. 

Article  entitled  "  Memoire  sur  les  Relations  des  Anciens  Americaines 
avec  les  Peuples  de  FEurope,  de  FAsie,  et  de  1'Afrique."  Par  M.  Jose 
Perez,  D.  M. 

Reference  No.  2026. 

Congres  International  des  Americanistes.     Compte-Rendu  de  la  Premiere 
Session,  Nancy,  1875.     2  vols.,  8vo.     Nancy,  1875. 
Article  entitled  "  The  Dene-Dindjies."    By  M.  Petitot.    Vol.  II. 
Iff*. 

Transactions  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Washington.    Vol.  I.   8vo. 
Washington,  1882. 

Summary  of  a  paper  entitled  "  Amphibious  Aborigines  of  Alaska." 
By  Ivan  Petroff. 

A||a. 

Premier  Voyage  autour  du  Monde.    Par  le  Chevr  Pigafetta.     8vo.     Paris. 
Year  IX. 


Cuadro  Descriptive  y  Comparative  de  las  Lenguas  Indigenas  de  Mexico. 
Por  D.  Francisco  Pimentel.     2  vols.,  8vo.     Mexico,  1862. 
Vol.  I,  *fff.,  *fff-. 

MSmoires  de  la  Societe   d'Ethnographie.     Session   de  1872.     No.  63. 

Tome  XI. 
Article  entitled  "  Les  Aleoutes  et  letir  Origine."  Par  Alphonse  Pinart. 


Esquimaux  et  Koloches:  Id6es  Religieuses  et  Traditions  des  Kaniagmiou- 
tes.     Par  M.  Alphonse  Pinart. 

(Extract  from  La  Revue  d'Anthropologie,  4e  numero  de  1873.) 

204  2  1 

Notes  sur  les  Koloches.    Par  M.  Alph.  Pinart.     8vo.    Paris,  1873. 

Reference  No.  2045. 
La  Chasse  aux  Animaux  Marins  et  les  Pecheries  chez  les  Indigenes  de  la 

Cote  Nord-Ouest  d'Ame>ique.     Par  M.  Alph.  Pinart.    8vo.    Bou- 

logne-sur-Mer,  1875. 


Y32  APPENDIX. 

Vestiges  of  the  Mayas.     By  Augustus  Le  Plongeon,  M.  D.     8vo.     New 
York,  1881. 


Preliminary  Eeport  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  Wyoming. 
By  F.  V.  Hayden.     8vo.     Washington,  1871. 
"A  Catalogue  of  Plants."    By  Professor  Thomas  0.  Porter. 

Wr4- 

Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology.    Vol.  III.    Quarto.    Wash 
ington,  1877. 

"  Tribes  of  California."    By  Stephen  Powers. 

*H*»  w,  m  m  w,  m  w- 

History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico.     By  William  H.  Prescott.     3  vols., 
8vo.    Philadelphia,  1871. 

vol.  L,  *m  AHA,  m  m  w,  m 

.   vol.  IL,  \0^,  -WA  W-   vol.  ni., 


Tibet,  Tartary,  and  Mongolia.     By  Henry  T.  Prinsep,  Esq.     8vo.    Lon 
don,  1852. 


Researches  into  the  Physical  History  of  Mankind.     By  James  Cowles 
Pritchard,  M.  D.    Fourth  edition.    5  vols.,  8vo.     London,  1841. 
Vol.  III.,  AH^. 

The  Natural  History  of  Man.     By  James  Cowles  Pritchard.    Fourth  edi 
tion.     2  vols.,  8vo.     London,  1855. 
Vol.  L, 


Purchas  :  his  Pilgrimage.    In  foure  Partes.    By  Samuel  Purchas.     Small 
folio.    London,  1613. 

Part   L,   Wft  W,  W»  W>  W,  Wf-  , 


Second  Eecueil  de  Pieces  sur  le  Mexique.    Published  by  M.  Ternaux- 
Compans.     8vo.     Paris,  1840. 

Letters  of  the  Auditor  Quiroga  to  the  Empress  of  Spain. 
See  "  Salmeron,"  Eeference  No.  2222. 

The  History  of  Java.     By  Thomas  Stamford  Baffles.     2  vols.,  quarto. 
London,  1817. 

Vol.  L,  -VfV3-.  Vol.  II.,  Eeference  No.  2125,  frontispiece. 
References  Nos.  2127,  2128,  and  2129,  pp.  c.,  clxvii.,  and 
ccxxxix. 


APPENDIX.  733 

Antiquitates  Americans.  Edidit  Societas  Regia  Antiqvariorum  Septen- 
trionaliura.  Studio  et  Opera  Carol!  Christian!  Rafn.  Quarto.  Copen 
hagen,  1845. 

References  Nos.  2131  to  2137,  inclusive,  pp.  xxx.,  xxxi.,  xxxii., 

xxxii.,  xxxii.,  xxxii.,  and  xxxiii. 

Second  Recueil  de  Pieces  sur  lo  Mexique.  Published  by  M.  Ternaux- 
Compans.  8vo.  Paris,  1840. 

Letter  of  Sebastian  Ramerez  de  Fuenleal,  Bishop  of  San  Domingo, 
to  the  Empress  of  Spain. 

w- 

Historical  Researches  on  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  Mexico,  etc.  By  John 
Ranking.  8vo.  London,  1827. 


Relation  des  Voyages  fait  par  les  Arabes  et  les  Persans,  dans  1'Inde  et  &  la 
Chine,  dans  le  IX  siecle  de  1'Ere  Chr6tienne.  Publie"  avec  des  Correc 
tions  .  .  .  et  d'Eclaircissements,  par  M.  Reinaud.  2  vols.,  18mo. 
Paris,  1845. 

Vol.  I.,  V#L. 

B  ?l  ^  ®,  'Rn-YA  Sff-TU.  The  'Rn-YA  (or  "Ready  Guide"),  ar 
ranged  in  Order,  and  Complete. 

References  Nos.  2145,  2146,  and  2147. 

Congrds  International  des  Am6ricanistes.  Compte-Rendu  de  la  Premiere 
Session,  Nancy,  1875.  2  vols.,  8vo.  Nancy,  1875. 

Vol.  I.,  p.  140.    Extracts  from  the  Remarks  of  M.  Le"on  de  Rosny 
on  a  Note  of  M.  Foucaux,  Regarding  the  Relations  which  the  Bud 
dhists  of  Asia  and  the  Inhabitants  of  America  may  have  had  with  each 
other  at  the  Commencement  of  our  Era. 
Reference  No.  2151. 

Les  Documents  Ecrits  de  1'Antiquite  Ame>icaine.    Par  Leon  de  Rosny. 
Quarto.     Paris,  1882. 
12.. 


La  Civilisation  Japonaise.     Par  Le"on  de  Rosny.     18mo.    Paris,  1883. 


Narrative  of  a  Second  Voyage  in  Search  of  a  North-  West  Passage.    By 
Sir  John  Ross.    Quarto.     London,  1835. 


Ueber  den  Doppelsinn  des  Wortes  Schamane,  und  ueber  den  Tungusischen 
Schamanen-Cultns  am  Hofe  der  Mandju-Kaiser.  Von  W.  Schott. 
Small  quarto.  1842. 


APPENDIX. 

Histoire  Generale  des  Choses  de  la  Nouvelle-Espagne.     Par  le  R.  P.  Fray 
Bernardino  de  Sahagun.    Traduite  et  annotee  par  D.  Jourdanet  et  par 
Remi  Simeon.     Quarto.    Paris,  1880. 
References  Nos.  2171  and  2172,  p.  Ivi. 


W,  W,  W  W,  W, 


,  W> 

Second  Recueil  de  Pieces  sur  le  Mexique.    Published  by  M.  Ternaux-Com- 
pans.     8vo.     Paris,  1840. 

Letters  of  the  Auditors  Salmeron,  Maldonado,  Ceynos,  and  Quiroga, 
to  the  Empress  of  Spain. 


Buddhism  in  Tibet.    By  Emil  Schlagintweit,  LL.  D.    8vo.    Leipzig,  1863. 


Uranographie  Chinoise.    Par  Gustave  Schlegel.     Quarto.     Leyde,  1875. 
Part  I,  A|fi. 

History,  Condition  and  Prospects  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United 
States.  By  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft.  6  vols.,  quarto.  Philadelphia, 
1851-'57. 

Vol.  VI,  *fff.. 

Oneota  ;  or,  Characteristics  of  the  Red  Race  of  America.  By  Henry  R. 
Schoolcraft.  8vo.  New  York,  1845. 


Die  Yolksnamen  der  Amerikanischen  Pflanzen.    Gesammelt  von  Berthold 
Seem  an.    8vo.     Hanover,  1851. 


2JLO, 

ill  f#  $£•  The  SHAN  HAI  KING,  or  "Classic  of  Mountains  and  Seas." 
References  Nos.  2245  to  2248,  inclusive  :  an  extract  from  the 
Preface,  and  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  and  Fourteenth  Books  in  full. 

Wa  Nen  Kei,  sive  Succincti  Annales  Japonici.     Curante  Ph.  Fr.  de  Sie- 
bold.     Quarto.    Lugduni  Batavorum,  1834. 


JLf  J5. 


B  ^IF,  ^M1,  ^M^,  Ml4,  MB  MB 


APPENDIX.  735 

Lui  Ho,  sive  Vocabularium  Sinense  in  Koraianum  Conversum.    By  Ph. 
Fr.  de  Siebold.     Quarto.     Lugduni  Batavorum,  1838. 
Reference  No.  2314,  character  No.  1065. 

Fusang ;  or,  the  Discovery  of  America  by  Chinese  Buddhist  Priests  in  the 
Fifth  Century.     12mo.     London,  1875. 
Letter  of  Theos.  Simpson. 


A  Vocabulary  of  Proper  Names  in  Chinese  and  English.    By  F.  Porter 
Smith.     8vo.     Shanghai,  1870. 


Historia  de  la  Conquista  de  Mexico.    Par  Don  Antonio  de  Solis  y  Riva- 
deneyra.     Small  quarto.    Madrid,  1790. 


Nicaragua  :  its  People,  Scenery,  Monuments,  etc.    By  E.  G.  Squier.    8vo. 
New  York,  1860. 


Tropical  Fibres  :  their  Production  and  Economic  Extraction.     By  E.  G. 
Squier.     8vo.     London,  1863. 


Chinese  Repository,  Vol.  II.     Quotation  from  Ta  Tsing  Leuh-le.     Trans 
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Incidents  of  Travel  in  Central  America,  Chiapas,  and  Yucatan.    By  John 
L.  Stephens.    2  vols.,  8vo.     New  York,  1843. 
Vol.  II,  W,  W,  W>  W- 

Summer  Saunterings  over  the  Lines  of  the  Oregou  Railway  and  Naviga 
tion  Co.     8vo.     Portland,  Oregon,  1882. 

*M*. 

Les  Religieuses  Bouddhistes.    Par  Mme.  Mary  Summer.     18mo.    Paris, 
1873. 


A  Handbook  of  the  Chinese  Language.     Parts  I.  and  II.    By  James  Sum 
mers.     8vo.     Oxford,  1863. 
Reference  No.  2390,  p.  xx. 
Part     I, 


II, 


736  APPENDIX. 

The  Rudiments  of  the  Chinese  Language.     By  the  Rev.  James  Summers. 
16mo.     London,  1864. 

HF- 

Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  No.  267. 

The  Haidah  Indians  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Islands.     By  James  G. 
Swan.     Quarto.     Washington,  1874. 


Vocabulary  of  the  English  and  Malay  Languages.     By  Frank  A.  Swetten- 
ham.     2  vols.,  12mo.     Singapore,  1881. 
Vol.  L,  *fp. 

Voyages,  Relations  et  M6moires  Originaux  pour  Servir  d  1'Histoire  de  la 
D6couverte  de  I'AmSrique.  Publies  par  H.  Ternaux-Compans.  Vol. 
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Relation  du  Voyage  de  Cibola,  Enterpris  en  1540. 

HF>  ****.  *«*»  W,  W,  W,  W 

Voyages,  Relations  et  Memoires  Originaux  pour  Servir  &  1'Histoire  de  la 
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ond  Recueil  de  Pieces  sur  le  Mexique.  8vo.  Paris,  1840. 

%3-gS  ^W"*     $ee  a^°  Zumarraga,  Salmeron,  Ramerez,  and  Men- 
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Voyages,  Relations  et  Me"moires  Originaux  pour  Servir  a  1'Histoire  de  la 
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*4f^ 

Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology.  Vol.  V.  Quarto.  "Wash 
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A  Study  of  the  Manuscript  Troano,  by  Cyrus  Thomas,  Ph.  D. 


Les  Migrations  des  Peuples,  et  Particulierement  celle  des  Touraniens.    Par 
Ch.  E.  de  Ujfalvy  de  Mezo-Kovesd.     8vo.     Paris,  1873. 

*H^ 

Mexican  Paper—  An  Article  of  Tribute.    By  Ph.  J.  J.  Valentini,  Ph.  D. 
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4tP- 

Venegas,  Miguel.  —  Histoire  Naturelle  et  Civile  de  la  Californie.    Traduite 
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M.  Viollet-le-Duc.    See  le  Due. 


APPENDIX.  737 

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Vivien  de  Saint-Martin. 


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pore,  1833. 

«i4*. 

A  New  Voyage  and  Description  of  the  Isthmus  of  America.  By  Lionel 
Wafer.  8vo.  London,  1699. 

W,  W,  fft,  W>  W- 

Report  upon  United  States  Geographical  Surveys  West  of  the  100th  Me 
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Archaeology.  Quarto.  Washington,  1879. 

w- 


Reports  of  Explorations  and  Surveys  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean.     12  vols.,  quarto.     Washington,  1856. 

Vol.  III.  Article  entitled  "  Report  upon  the  Indian  Tribes."  By 
Lieut.  A.  W.  Whipple,  Thomas  Ewbank,  Esq.,  and  Professor  William 
W.  Turner. 


Magazine  of  American  History.     Vol.  IX.,  No.  4,  April,  1883. 

Article  entitled  "Concerning  Fusang";  containing  a  letter  from  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Channing  M.  Williams. 
Reference  No.  2483. 

The  Middle  Kingdom.     By  S.  Wells  Williams.     Fourth  edition.     2  vols., 
8vo.     New  York,  1861. 

Vol.  L,  vto  m  W.  W,  m  W 

Vol.  II.,  *¥*,  ^V*.  *ir>  ^iF,  ZH--  ^I 

¥?¥, 


A  Syllabic  Dictionary  of  the  Chinese  Language.     By  S.  Wells  Williams, 
LL.  D.     Quarto.     Shanghai,  1874. 


,  W,  W, 


4T 


738  APPENDIX. 

Notices  of  Fu-sang,  and  Other  Countries  Lying  East  of  China.  By  Profes 
sor  S.  Wells  Williams.  Presented  to  the  American  Oriental  Society, 
October  25,  1880. 

Reference  No.  2581. 

Las  Historias  del  Origin  de  los  Indios  de  Esta  Provincia  de  Guatemala. 
Traducidas  por  el  R.  P.  F.  Francisco  Ximenez.  8vo.  Vienna,  1857. 


Tres  Relaciones  de  Antiguedades  Peruanas.     Publfcalas  el  Ministerio  de 
Fomento.     8vo.     Madrid,  1879. 

Article  entitled  "Relacion  de  Antiguedades  deste  Reyno  del  Piru."" 
Por  Don  Joan  de  Santacruz  Pachacuti  Yamqni. 


Historia  de  Mejico.     Por  D.  Niceto  de  Zamacois.     11  vols.,  8vo.    Barce 
lona  and  Mexico,  1877-'80. 

vol.  IL, 


Second  Recueil  de  Pieces  sur  le  Mexique.     Published  by  H.  Ternaux- 
Compans.     8vo.     Paris,  1840. 

Letters  to  the  King  of  Spain  ;  written  by  Juan  de  Zumarraga,  Bishop 
of  Mexico. 


•  Quotations  made  by  other  writers,  from  the  works  of  the 
authors  named  below,  are  repeated  in  this  bookj  i.  e.  : 

Abeel,  Rev.  David,  243.  Biedma,  Luis  Hernandez  de,  169. 

Acosta,  Joseph  de,  32,  33,  101, 112,  Boturini  Bernaducci,  Cavaliere  Lo- 

500,  577.  renzo,  145,  393. 

Allen,  Francis  A.,  200.  Bradford,  Alex.  W.,  168. 

Aratus,  145.  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  Abb6,  111, 

Armstrong,  Alex.,  245,  346,  347.  128. 

Audubon,  J.,  429.  Bretschneider,  Dr.  E.,  242. 

Baer,  K.  E.  von,  81.  Brickell,  John,  429. 

Bailly,  Jean  Sylvain,  146,  147,  158.  Buchanan-Hamilton,  Francis,  545. 

Bancroft,  H.  H.,  199,  231,  241,  245.  Buffon,     Georges    Louis     Leclerc, 

Bartolli,  P.  Dan.,  163.  Comte  de,  49. 

Beechey,  Capt.  F.  W.,  102.  Burgoa,  Francisco  de,  538, 539,  606. 

Bell,  John,  112.  Burnouf,  Eugene,  71,  72,  124,  126. 

Berlandier,  Dr.  428.  Bustamante,  Carlos  Maria  de,  169. 


APPENDIX. 


739 


Cabrera  de  Cordove,  L.,  116. 

Cabrillo,  Juan  Rodriguez,  427. 

Carbajal  Espinosa,  Francisco,  500. 

Carriedo,  Juan  B.,  538. 

Oasas,  B.  de  las,  542,  579. 

Castaneda  de  Nagera,  Pedro  de,  74, 
115,  116,  169,  170. 

Castaneda,  Luciano,  132. 

Catherwood,  F.,  129,  134. 

Catlin,  George,  123,  199. 

Charlevoix,  Fr.  Xav.  de,  35,  427. 

Chateaubriand,  Viscount  de,  75. 

Chezy,  A.  L.  de,  152. 

Choris,  Louis,  346. 

Ciec a  de  Leon,  Pedro  de,  170. 

Clavigero,  Francesco  Saverio,  96, 
97,  145,  500,  614. 

Cogolludo,  Diego  Lopez,  551. 

Coleman,  C.,  134. 

Coronado,  Francisco  Vasquez  de, 
31,  430. 

Coxe,  Wm.,  346. 

Crawfurd,  John,  72,  127,  128,  135. 

Cronise,  Titus  Fey,  489. 

Davis,  W.  W.  H.,  436. 

Diaz  del  Castillo,  Bernal,  99. 

Drake,  Francis,  370. 

Dupaix,  Capt.  Guillermo,  72,  199. 

Duran,  F.  Diego,  467,  500. 

Edrisi,  Abu  Abdallah  M.  Ben,  94. 

d'Eichtal,  Gustave,  199. 

Forster,  John  Reinhold,  83. 

Fuentes  y  Guzman,  588. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  500. 

Garcia,  Gregorio,  112. 

Gaubil,  Pere,  20,  82,  147. 

Gemelli  Carreri,  Giovanni  Francis 
co,  500,  615,  616. 

Geminus,  45. 

Gentil,  M.  le,  147. 

Gobineau,  Count  de,  179. 

Gomara,  Francisco  Lopez  de,  115, 
145,  154,  167,  169,  430,  493,  508. 

Gondra,  Don  Isidro  R.,  538. 


Greaves,  John,  499. 

Grotius,  H.,  112. 

Guignes,  Jos.  de,  425. 

Hamy,  M.  E-T.,  543. 

Hanlay,  J.,  171,  172. 

Heckewelder,  Rev.  John,  349. 

Hennepin,  Louis,  427. 

Herrera,  Antonio  de,  98,  420,  427, 

454,  493,  523,  557,  572,  617. 
Hesiod,  158. 

Hieronimus  d'Angelis,  102. 
Higgins,  Godfrey,  552. 
Hodgson,  B.  H.,  124. 
Hoffman,  J.,  176. 
Home,  George,  31,  34. 
Hugo,  J.,  112. 
Humboldt,  Alex,  von,  14,  69,  100, 

112, 158,  167,  168,  210,  500,  546. 
Humboldt,  Wm.  von,  545. 
Hyde,  Thos.,  619. 
Icazbalceta,  Joaquin  Garcia,  398. 
Ixtlilxochitl,  F.  de  Alva,  365. 
James,  Edwin,  428. 
Jarves,  J.  J.,  102. 
Jaubert,  Chevalier,  71. 
Juarros,  Domingo,  588. 
Kaempfer,  Engelbrecht,  29. 
Kalm,  Peter,  426. 
Keane,  A.  II.,  621. 
Keating,  Wm.  H.,  427. 
Kennon,  Col.  Barclay,  8,  171. 
Kingsborough,  Lord,  132,  136,  365. 
Klemm,  Gustave.  500. 
Koeppen,  C.  F.,  141. 
Laet,  Joannes  de,  427,  500. 
Landa,  Diego  de,  167,  168,  420. 
Langsdorff,  G.  H.  von,  122. 
Latrobe,  Chnrles  Joseph,  608. 
Lawrence,  William,  426. 
Lay,  G.  T.,  338. 
Led  yard,  John,  345. 
Leidy,  Dr.  J.,  429. 
Leland,  C.  G.,  200,  231,  247. 
Lenoir,  Alex.,  127,  136,  199. 


' 


740 


APPENDIX. 


Leon,  Martin  de,  500. 
Leon  y  Gama,  A.  de,  500,  501. 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  Capts.,  75,  349, 
Long,  Maj.  S.  H.,  428. 
Lopez,  Geronimo,  493. 
Lorenzana,  Arzobispo  F.  A.,  501. 
Loureiro,  J.  de,  94,  195. 
Low,  Capt.  Jas.,  133,  554. 
Lubbock,  Sir  J.,  118. 
Maldonado,  Juan  Alvarez,  496. 
Martin,  Pere,  427. 
Martyr,  Peter,  98,  472. 
Maundevile,  Sir  John,  159. 
Maury,  Lieut.  M.  F.,  121,  122,  131. 
Mendieta,  Geronimo  de,  398. 
Miles,  Colonel  W.,  82. 
Mofras,  Duflot  de,  68,  75. 
Molina,  Alonso  de,  65. 
Morrison,  M.  C.,  243. 
Motolinia  (Toribio  de  Benavente), 

197,  398,  500. 
Mueller,  J.  W.  von,  500. 
Niza,  Fra  Marcos  de,  170. 
Oviedo  y  Valdes,  G.  F.  de,  493. 
Pauthier,  G.,  74. 
Piedrahita,  Don  Lucas  F.,  560. 
Pinto,  F.  Mendez,  243. 
Plan-Carpin,  J.  du,  570. 
Polo,  Marco,  159. 
Pratz,  Le  Page  du,  426. 
Prescott,  William   H.,  96-99,  158, 

172,  210. 

Rafn,  C.  Christian,  116. 
Rennell,  J.,  445. 
Richardson,  John,  346. 
Rio,  Antonio  del,  133. 
Riviero,  Mariano  Eduardo,  162. 
Rosny,  L6on  de,  174. 
Rubruquis,  G.  de,  570. 
Sabin,  M.  de,  126,  188. 
Sahagun,  Bernardino  de,  169,  237, 

365,  500,  615. 


Saint  Pierre,  Bernardin  de,  68. 

Schmidt,  I.  J.,  545. 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  453. 

Siebold,  P.  F.  de,  86. 

Simpson,  James  H.,  436. 

Smith,  Capt.  John,  349. 

Soto,  Fernando  de,  169,  431. 

Squier,  E.  G.,  133. 

Stephens,  John  L.,  127,  134,  199. 

Stevenson,  Dr.  J.,  545. 

Stolberg,  Count,  546. 

Swift,  Dean  J.,  243,  709. 

Taylor,  Isaac,  570. 

Ternaux-Compans,    Henri,   62,  74, 

115,  169,  617. 
Titsingh,  I.,  85. 
Tonti,  Chevalier  de,  31. 
Torquemada,   Juan    de,   101,    145, 

369,  430,  500,  542,  579. 
Trigault,  P.,  499. 

Tschudi,  John  James  von,  544,  602. 
Turner,  Capt.  S.,  570. 
Tylor,  Edward  B.,  522,  620,  621. 
Valades,  P.  F.,  145. 
Valmont  de  Bomare,  59. 
Vasquez,  Antonio,  588. 
Vater,  Johann  Severin,  143,  158. 
Venegas,  Miguel,  427. 
Veniaminoff,  Ivan,  6,  121,  350,  356. 
Vetancnrt,  Augustin  de,  500. 
Veytia,    Don    Mariano,    365,    500, 

538. 
Villagutierre  Soto-Mayor,  Juan  de, 

551. 

Viollet-le-Duc,  M. ,  199,  546. 

Waldeck,    Frederic    de,    134,    199, 

200. 

Whipple,  A.  W.,  123. 
Wrarigell,  Admiral  F.  von,  121. 
Yule,  Col.  H.,  111. 
Zuago,  Alonzo,  475. 
Zurita,  Alonzo  de,  99. 


INDEX. 


Transcriptions  of  Chinese  words,  in  SMALL  CAPITALS  ;  English,  in  Roman ;  and 
other  languages,  in  Italics. 


Abancay,  pyramids  in,  565. 

Abara,  a  name  of  Tuma,  563. 

Abbassides,  an  Arabic  dynasty,  37. 

Abhayagiri,  a  pyramid  in  Ceylon,  602. 

Abhyavakdshika,  definition  of.  443. 

Abode  of  the  dead,  Aztec  road  to,  590. 

Absinthe,  a  plant  resembling,  30  ; 
Mexican,  508 ;  sage-brush  so  called, 
509 ;  eaten  by  animals,  511.  See, 
also,  Artemisia. 

Abuya,  an  Amazon  town,  493. 

Abyssinia,  idols  in,  71. 

Acalan,  tame  deer  kept  in,  431. 

Acatl,  a  Mexican  sign,  150. 

Achiotl,  seeds  of,  471. 

Achiutla,  high-priest  of,  579. 

Adam,  M.  Lucien,  article  by,  192. 

Adam's  Peak,  Buddha's  foot-prints 
on,  72,  553. 

Adams  County,  Ohio,  bones  found  in, 
429. 

Adobes,  used  in  construction  of  pyra 
mids,  605. 

Adobe  walls,  boards  used  in  con 
structing,  419 ;  in  Fu-sang,  268 ;  in 
Country  of  Women,  314 ;  in  Cali 
fornia,  518. 

Adultery,  punishment  of,  in  Mexico, 
437. 

Afghanistan,  Cophene  situated  in,446. 

Africa,  conquests  in,  by  Arabs,  37; 
unknown  to  Europeans,  454. 

Agates,  found  in  Alaska,  356. 

Agate-gem,  a  mythical  tree,  416. 

Agave  (American  aloe,  maguey,  metl, 
or  century-plant);  peculiarities  of, 
400;  description  of,  98,  195,  384; 
illustration  of,  385 ;  abundance  of, 
in  Mexico,  98,  394;  reproduction 
of,  400;  Mexican  name  for,  375, 


376 ;  a  double  species,  236 ;  resem 
blance  to  cacti,  394  ;  called  a  this 
tle,  398;  called  hemp,  173;  called 
a  tree,  384;  indifference  to  soil, 
386;  value  to  the  Aztecs,  98,  172, 
375,  379 ;  sprouts,  390 ;  resem 
blance  to  those  of  bamboo,  389; 
edibility,  390 ;  thorny  leaves,  388 ; 
used  as  fuel,  525 ;  lye  made  from 
its  ashes,  525 ;  thorns  used  in  pen 
ance,  544 ;  not  mentioned  in  ac 
count  of  Fu-sang,  195  ;  plants  used 
as  hedges,  399 ;  size  of  flowering- 
stalks,  383;  used  as  beams,  386; 
period  for  blossoming,  400 ;  de 
scription  of  fiber,  393;  its  value, 
521 ;  called  "  silk,"  521 ;  the  leaves 
the  "  silk-worms  "  of  Fu-sang,  525 ; 
preparation  of  fiber,  526  ;  uses,  98  ; 
paper  made  therefrom,  392 ;  cloth 
made  therefrom,  392 ;  sap  called 
"  milk,"  397 :  liquor  made  from 
sap,  98,  196,  384,  397;  now  called 
"  pulque,"  384,  397 ;  said  not  to  be 
mentioned  in  account  of  Fu-sang, 
235;  called  uitztli,  380;  or  ocfli, 
397 ;  described  as  wine,  533 ;  whit 
ish  like  whey,  397 ;  plant  identified 
as  the  fu-sang  tree,  165 ;  said  not 
to  be  the  fu-sang  tree,  194 ;  did  it 
exist  in  Corea  ?  401 ;  its  introduc 
tion  in  China,  173.  See,  also,  Ma 
guey  and  Fu-sang  tree. 

Age,  great,  of  Japanese,  631 ;  of  Japa 
nese  sovereigns,  624. 

Age  at  which  inhabitants  of  Country 
of  Women  became  adult,  306. 

Age  to  which  pygmies  live,  494. 

Age  of  mines  near  Lake  Superior,  118. 

Age  of  Mexican  pyramids  and  tem 
ples,  598. 

Age,  how  reckoned  by  Buddha,  464. 


742 


INDEX. 


Age,  how  reckoned  in  China  and 
Japan,  464. 

Ages,  four,  Hindoo  account  of,  615. 

Agnese,  Baptiste,  map  drawn  by,  370. 

Agriculture,  taught  by  the  Toltecs, 
430. 

Ahuacatt,  a  Mexican  fruit,  587. 

Ainos,  description  of,  83,  85;  de 
scribed  as ' "  Hairy  People,"  681 ; 
growth  of  hair  upon,  84 ;  home  of, 
84;  tattooing,  84;  dwellings,  86; 
differences  between,  and  Tartars, 
187 ;  resemblance  to  American 
tribes,  143 ;  accompanied  a  Japa 
nese  embassy,  85 ;  identified  as  the 
WIN  SHAN,  84,  186. 

Akafsuma.    See  Atsuma. 

Akwa,  king  of  PE-TSI,  627.  ^ 

Alabaster  used  for  ornamenting  build 
ings,  528. 

A-LAN-JO,  definition  of,  441. 

Alarcon,  expedition  of,  169. 

Alaska,  meaning  of  the  name,  339; 
communication  between,  and  Asia, 
9 ;  visited  from  Kamtchatka,  183 ; 
distance  from  Kamtchatka,  164; 
from  Central  America,  183 ;  at  dis 
tance  stated  from  Fu-sang,  189; 
excursion  to,  from  Oregon,  447 ;  as 
much  west  of  Mexico  as  north,  361 ; 
breakers  near,  340 ;  Japanese  crew 
wintered  near,  101 ;  Hwui  Shan's 
description  of,  324,  326;  precious 
stones  found  in,  356 ;  climate,  121, 
354;  identified  as  Great  HAN,  92, 
336. 

Alaskans,  religious  ideas  of,  6 ;  hospi 
tality,  348 ;  kindness,  350 ;  merry 
nature,  347  ;  fondness  of  orna 
ments,  352 ;  tattooing,  345 ;  inunda 
tions  of  dwellings,  354;  lack  of 
fortifications,  351 ;  trials  of  medi 
cine-men,  357;  punishment  of 
witches,  357 ;  language,  344 ;  word 
"  Shaman  "  in,  6  ;  customs  same  as 
those  of  Aleuts,  344. 

Albinos  in  America,  506. 

Aleutian  Islands,  skirted  by  Pacific 
gulf-stream,  9;  peaks  of  a  sub 
marine  mountain-chain,  9 ;  connect 
Asia  and  America,  8,  9,  39 ;  route 
to  Fu-sang  passed  via,  447 ;  bound 
ary  between  two  seas,  8;  climate, 
9,  121 ;  breakers  upon,  340 ;  ship 
wrecks  upon,  10;  large  wild  ani 
mals  exterminated  in,  357 ;  descrip 
tion  of,  122;  identified  as  land  of 
WXN  SnXx,  92,  or  "  Marked  Bodies," 
335;  Ainos  in, 84;  population  of,  341. 


Aleutian  family,  members  of,  90. 

Aleuts,  tradition  as  to  former  home, 
340 ;  voyages  made  by,  171 ;  de 
scription  of,  86  ;  hospitality,  348, 
350 ;  merry  nature,  347  ;  tattooing, 
92,  345,  346;  boring  of  nose,  etc., 
92 ;  fondness  of  ornaments,  352 ; 
hats  made  by,  352  ;  dwellings,  353 ; 
lack  of  fortifications,  351 ;  chiefs 
of,  351 ;  all  ^Esquimaux,  344 ;  lan 
guage,  344 ;  customs  same  as  those 
of  Alaskans,  344 ;  no  money  used 
by,  356. 

Alexander  the  Great,  fables  regard 
ing,  95. 

Aliman,  a  Mexican  province,  491. 

Alkalies,  used  in  preparing  agave- 
fiber,  526. 

Alligator-pear,  a  Mexican  fruit,  587. 

Allowances  to  be  made  for  errors  in 
Hwui  Shan's  story,  335,  708. 

Almaizar,  a  garment,  617. 

Aloe.    See  Agave. 

Alpacas,  possibly  called  "  horses,"  59. 

Alphabet  introduced  into  China,  440. 

Alphabet  of  Yucatan,  inventor  of,  556. 

Altars,  Buddhist,  133. 

Altars  upon  pyramids,  600. 

Alum  used  as  a  mordaunt,  471. 

Alvarado,  welcomed  with  music,  424. 

Amanam,  designation  of  priests,  74. 

Amarsinh,  reference  to  works  of,  144. 

Amazons,  Hwui  Shan's  account  of, 
93;  mention  by  MaundevLe  and 
Marco  Polo,  244;  by  Lily,  454; 
tales  regarding,  213,  487,  488,  489, 
490,  491,  492,  493 ;  explanation  re 
garding,  226;  derivation  of  name, 
489.  See,  also,  Women,  Country  of. 

Amber,  prized  by  Aleuts  and  Chinese, 
357. 

America,  Buddha's  command  a  suffi 
cient  reason  for  visiting,  8,  684 ; 
Who  Discovered?  171 ;  several  dis 
coveries,  193  ;  thought  to  be  Mero- 
pide,  55  ;  visited  by  Northmen,  49  ; 
and  by  Irish,  92  ;  ancient  relations 
of  other  nations  with,  56  ;  western 
coast  of  long  unexplored,  54,  55 ; 
discovery  by  Russians,  22.;  its 
northwestern  coast,  28 ;  its  pecul 
iarities,  447 ;  trend  of  the  coast, 
360  ;  suggestion  that  Chinese  came 
from,  220  ;  natural  marvels,  233  ; 
routes  by  which  crossed,  549  ;  made 
for  Americans,  201 ;  its  oldest  his 
tory,  95 ;  Chinese  transcription  of 
the  name,  406 ;  pygmies  in,  496 ; 
animals  of,  115 ;  different  from 


INDEX. 


743 


those  of  Old  World,  426  ;  but  given 
names  of  those  of  Europe,  33  ;  cat 
tle  brought  to,  by  Columbus,  427 ; 
horses  and  mammoths  in,  203 ; 
elephants  in,  608 ;  deer,  69 ;  flora 
connected  with  that  of  Asia,  97 ; 
imperfect  knowledge  of  flora  of, 
165 ;  vines  in,  94,  110,  116,  211, 
212,  415 ;  no  fu-sang  tree  in,  189  ; 
identified  as  Fu-sang.  118,  140 ; 
not  Fu-sang,  189  ;  no  other  large 
country  east  of  China  and  Japan, 
57 ;  ease  of  voyage  to,  from  Asia, 
8,  121,  139,  155,  171,  183,  193,  194, 
447,  685 ;  difficulties  of  voyage, 
190 ;  reached  by  Pacific  gulf- 
stream,  9  ;  winds  'toward,  63  ;  dif 
ferent  steps  of  route  to,  known  by 
natives,  685 ;  Chinese  and  Japanese 
may  have  drifted  to,  241 ;  Chinese 
voyage  to,  19,  168  ;  known  by  Chi 
nese  and  Japanese,  104  ;  and  by 
other  Asiatic  tribes,  87 ;  migration 
to,  very  early,  159,  160;  probable 
communication  with  Asia,  158 ;  be 
lief  therein,  621 ;  lack  of  proof,  122, 
351 ;  communication  with,  by  Bud 
dhists,  7,  113,  162,  197;  how  peo 
pled,  34,  35,  81,  231 ;  Asiatic  tribes 
transplanted  to,  153 ;  not  peopled 
by  Asiatics,  180.  See,  also,  Alaska, 
Oregon,  California,  Arizona,  New 
Mexico,  Mexico,  Yucatan,  Guate 
mala,  Anahuac,  Palenque,  Peru, 
Bogota,  and  South  America. 
American  tribes,  not  autochthones, 
76 ;  civilization  of,  168 ;  confined 
to  Pacific  coast,  173,  708 ;  resem 
blance  of,  to  Asiatics,  35,  36,  81, 87, 
110,  111,  155,  158,  172,184,  516  ;  all 
of  same  race,  622 ;  wars  of,  198 ; 
cruelty  of,  33 ;  extermination  of 
some  tribes,  33,  95 ;  decadence  of, 
132,  153 ;  fondness  for  wandering, 
348  ;  reliance  upon  hospitality,  349 ; 
councils  of,  436;  tattooing,  345, 
346 ;  serpents  worn  as  ear-orna 
ments,  680;  arch  not  known  by, 
605  ;  milk  not  used  by,  190  ;  paper 
made  by,  194 ;  copper  used  by,  117; 
iron  unknown  to,  117,  194;  work 
ing  of  stone  by,  151  ;  fortifications 
of,  198 ;  ruins'  left  by,  thought  to 
be  like  those  of  Asia;  72 ;  customs 
and  arts  of,  like  those  of  Asia,  112, 
142,  160,  200,  706,  707;  traditions 
of,  explained  in  different  ways,  199, 
201 ;  religion  of,  157 ;  Christian  in 
fluence  thought  to  be  found  among, 


199;  languages  of  a  common  origin, 
81 ;  similarity  to  those  of  Asia,  l.">i; ; 
inscriptions  might  be  read  by  Chi 
nese,  156  ;  introduction  of  appella 
tion  "  Shaman,"  6  ;  cities  of,  with 
Asiatic  names,  111. 

American  Oriental  Society,  article 
read  before,  230. 

American  Philological  Magazine,  quo 
tations  from,  16,  161. 

Amethysts  found  in  Alaska,  356. 

Amoor  River,  exploration  of  valley  of, 
187 ;  nature  of  country  near,  24 ; 
Buddhist  monuments  '  near,  126  ; 
tribes  near,  82,  87,  187 ;  Hyperbo 
reans  lived  near,  55, 63 ;  ease  of  voy 
age  from,  to  America,  194  ;  distance 
from  LIEU-KUEI,^,  87;  on  route 
to  Great  HAN,  126 ;  which  was  near 
mouth  of,  137,  186,  188. 

Anadir,  gulf  of,  82. 

Anahuac,  meaning  of  term,  96 ;  arrival 
of  Aztecs  in,  96 ;  civilization  of,  in 
fluenced  by  Asia,  160 ;  reign  of 
Quetzalcoatl  in,  541 ;  languages  of, 
111 ;  Aztec  languages  spoken  in, 
366. 

Ananda,  garments  made  by,  553. 

Anchitherium,  an  equine  genus,  482. 

Anchors  of  Mexico  and  China,  155. 

Anderson,  Major,  essay  by,  76. 

Androgynae,  descriptions  of,  451,  454. 

Angara  River,  Chinese  name  of,  24, 
45  ;  Great  HAN  near,  247. 

ANG-KO-LA,  Chinese  name  of  the  An 
gara,  24,  45. 

Anian,  strait  of,  14,  28. 

Animals,  floated  on  cakes  of  ice,  36. 
American,  115 ;  different  from  those 
of  Old  World,  426 ;  figures  of,  in 
pairs,  129 ;  none  used  by  Aztecs, 
99 ;  fantastic  descriptions  of,  in 
SHAN  HAI  KING,  678 ;  gods  with 
bodies  of,  651,  665. 

Annals  of  Voyages,  articles  from, 
16. 

Annual  Registers  of  China  and  Japan, 
84,  85,  86,  87.  See,  also,  NAN-SSE, 
LIANG-SSE,  and  Nipon-Ki. 

Antaravdsaka,  a  Buddhist  robe,  553. 

Antelopes,  gait  of,  452 ;  migrations 
of,  512  ;  possibly  called  "  horses," 
484. 

AN-T'O-HOEI,  a  Buddhist  robe,  553. 

Ants  larger  than  foxes,  451. 

Anurddhapura,  pyramids  of,  602. 

Anuswara,  nasals  resembling,  541. 

Apaches,  courtship  of,  433;  expedi 
tion  against,  390. 


744 


INDEX. 


Apes,  mistaken  for  men,  516;  worship 
of,  495.  See,  also,  Monkeys. 

Apianus,  map  drawn  by,  370. 

Apollo,  offerings  to,  by  Hyperboreans, 
55. 

Apollonius,  life  of,  59,  69. 

Apples,  said  to  exist  in  Fu-sang,  212. 

Ara,  a  tribe  of  Ainos,  85. 

Arabia,  pygmies  in,  494. 

Arabs,  knowledge  by,  of  Cape  Verde 

Islands,  38 ;  knowledge  of  eastern 

lands,  94 ;  accounts  by,  of  land  of 

Amazons,  94,  488  ;  explorations  of, 

^  37 ;  voyages  of,  to  China,  446. 

Aranyaka,  definition  of,  441. 

Aratus,  reference  to,  146. 

Arawack,  grammatical  peculiarities 
of,  111. 

Arch,  not  known  to  Americans,  605  ; 
a  species  of  false,  605. 

Archipelago  on  American  coast,  448. 

Architecture  of  Mexican  monuments, 
96  ;  similarity  to  that  of  Asia,  136, 
155. 

Arctic  Ocean,  entered  by  Pacific  gulf- 
stream,  9 ;  visited  by  Tartarian 
tribes,  25 ;  Chinese  knowledge  of, 
82. 

Arctic  region,  Herodotus's  descrip 
tion  of,  451. 

Ardahnari,  group  attributed  to,  129. 

Argippeans,  a  peaceful  tribe,  59. 

Arikaras,  dwellings  of,  354. 

Ariki,  kings  of  Oceanica,  61. 

Arizona,  vines  in,  415  ;  mirrors  in, 
522  ;  not  Fu-sang,  196. 

Arms  of  Japanese,  164,  631,  640. 

Arms  not  used  in  Great  HAN,  216, 
324 ;  or  in  Fu-sang,  207,  270. 

Armour  of  quilted  cotton,  420,  618. 

Arrakan,  candidates  for  priesthood  in, 
582.  ' 

Arrian,  works  of,  95 ;  description  of 
Cophene  River,  445. 

Art,  American,  analogies  of,  200. 

Arts  taught  by  Quetzalcoatl,  542. 

Arts  taught  by  Buddhist  priests,  572, 
620. 

Arts,  East  Indian,  existing  in  Fu- 
sang,  76. 

Artemisias,  eaten  by  animals,  511; 
aroma  of,  510;  varieties  of,  510. 
See,  also,  Absinthe. 

Artemisia  Laciniata,  an  Asiatic  plant, 

Artocarpus.      See    Bread-fruit    tree, 

165. 
Asbestos,  or    "Salamander's    wool," 

225,  532. 


Ascetics,  found  in  many  lands,  198. 

Asceticism  of  Aztec  monks,  575. 

Ashes,  criminals  smothered  in,  208, 
276,  435,  437. 

Ashes  of  the  fu-sang  used  for  lye, 
224. 

Ashes  of  dead  collected  in  a  vase, 
159. 

Asia,  ease  of  voyage  from,  to  America, 
8,  121,  139,  155,  171,  183,  193,  194, 
447,  685 :  belief  in  communication 
with  America,  351,  621 ;  communi 
cation  very  remote,  160;  connection 
of  civilization  with  that  of  Amer 
ica,  706,  707;  no  room  in,  for  Great 
HAN,  216;  or  Fu-sang,  105;  un 
known  to  Europeans,  454;  Hawaii- 
ans  said  to  have  come  from,  102 ; 
pyramids  in,  601 ;  veneration  of  the 
cross  in,  552 ;  punishment  of  crime 
in,  464. 

Asiatics,  common  civilization  of,  620 ; 
use  of  arms  by,  216 ;  milk  not  used 
by,  621 ;  civilization  of,  similar  to 
that  of  Americans,  112,142;  resem 
blance  of,  to  Americans,  35,  36,  81, 
87,  110,  111,  155,  158, 172, 184,  516 ; 
civilization  of,  introduced  into  Fu- 
sang,  456, 470  ;  names  of  their  cities 
applied  to  American  citieJs,  111. 

Asiatic  coast,  Chinese  knowledge  of, 
82.  m 

Asiatic  ecliptic,  144. 

Asiatic  Society,  foundation  of,  66. 

Asiatic  zodiac,  its  names  repeated  in 
those  of  the  Mexican  months,  143. 

Asoka,  death  of,  5. 

Aspen  Mountain,  644,  and  River,  663. 

Assyrian  art,  analogies  of,  to  that  of 
America,  200. 

Astree,  her  place  in  the  zodiac,  150. 

Astronomer  Hi-Ho,  250. 

Astronomers  of  HWANG-TI,  221. 

Astronomical  globes,  invention  of, 
221. 

Astronomical  ideas  of  Mexicans  and 
Asiatics,  148. 

Astronomical  observations — Chinese 
never  measured  distances  by,  330. 

Ata-sil,  eight  Buddhist  command 
ments,  567. 

Ateles,  a  species  of  Mexican  monkey, 
496. 

Atemoztli,  a  Mexican  month,  512. 

Athena3um,  account  published  by, 
202. 

Atka,  language  of  people  of,  344. 

Atl,  Aztec  word  for  water,  150. 

Atlantis,  tales  regarding,  56,  58. 


INDEX. 


745 


Atlcahualco,  a  Mexican  month,  512. 

Atogi  introduces  writing  into  Japan, 
627. 

Atsowm-a,  or 

Atsuma,  the  Japanese  Country  of 
Women,  178,  639. 

Attou  Island,  distance  of,  from  other 
islands,  9. 

Atzacuatco,  a  ward  of  Mexico,  369. 

Aubin.  Mexican  books  of,  167. 

Aukland,  Lord,  Director  of  Asiatic 
Society,  66. 

Aureola,  about  head  of  Buddha,  131, 
132. 

Aureola,  origin  of,  132. 

Author's  translations,  reasons  for,  259, 
642. 

Avatcha,  a  Kamtchatkan  port,  22, 
28. 

Avebury,  monoliths  of,  601. 

Avezac,  de,  conversations  with,  68. 

Avocado-pear,  a  Mexican  fruit,  587. 

Axum,  idols  at,  71. 

Azores,  wood  from  America  thrown 
on,  38. 

Aztecs,  resemblance  of,  to  Japanese, 
62  ;  said  to  have  come  from  Asia, 
34,  74;  migrated  from  north,  32, 
149;  arrival  at  Anahuac,  96;  at 
Mexico,  362 ;  migrations  before 
Toltec  era,  366  ;  flight  at  time  of 
conquest,  32  ;  warlike  nature,  190  ; 
cruelty,  74,  96 ;  degeneration  of, 
574 ;  not  builders  of  Mexican  pyra 
mids,  598  ;  history  of,  does  not  run 
far  back,  95 ;  civilization  derived 
from  Toltecs,  365  ;  coincidences 
with  Asiatic  civilization,  17,  706 ; 
explanation  of  civilization  of,  622  ; 
religion,  157,  172 ;  bloody  nature 
of,  77,  162 ;  incongruity  of,  574 ; 
Noah  called  Coxcox,  146 ;  mytholo 
gy,  154  ;  resemblance  of  religion  to 
that  of  Asia,  170,  615 ;  to  Bud 
dhism,  97 ;  to  Roman  Catholicism, 
568 ;  absence  of  Christian  doctrines, 
585  ;  superstitions,  590 ;  Hades  of, 
459,  590;  religious  orders,  198; 
duties  of,  576  ;  discipline,  577 ;  as 
ceticism,  575 ;  food,  577 ;  garments, 
580  ;  marriage,  581 ;  resemblance  to 
Buddhist  priests,  582;  a  god  of, 
613  ;  modesty  of  idols  of,  613  ;  be 
lief  in  return  of  Quetzalcoatl,  547  ; 
hieroglyphics  or  picture-writing,  34, 
168,  421,  536  ;  books,  167,  618  ;  pa 
per,  98 ;  astronomical  ideas  like 
those  of  Asia,  148 ;  zodiac  resem 
bling  that  of  Asia,  149;  not  con 


fined  to  Mexican  animals,  149; 
months  same  as  divisions  of  Asiatic 
zodiac,  143 ;  cycles,  143 ;  divisions 
of  time,  475, 476 ;  chronological  sys 
tem  of,  159  ;  calendar,  144 ;  new- 
year,  500 ;  months  of,  used  at  Nut- 
ka,  168;  week  of  five  days,  475, 
571 ;  day  Atl,  145 ;  laws,  99  ;  pris 
ons,  459  ;  punishment  of  criminals, 
437,  464,  465 ;  councils,  power  of, 
436  ;  monarchs,  pomp  of,  421,  423  ; 
mantles  worn  by,  472 ;  marriage 
ceremonies,  479  ;  slavery,  462 ;  cot 
ton  armour,  618 ;  resembling  that 
of  Tartars,  420;  architecture  resem 
bling  that  of  Chinese,  155 ;  monu 
ments  near  Gila  River,  149;  metals 
known,  431;  iron  unknown,  431; 
art  of  casting  metals,  572;  working 
gems,  416,  573 ;  vases  resembling 
those  of  Japanese,  573 ;  mirrors, 
522 ;  paints  and  dyes,  471 ;  symbol 
ism  of  colours.  616;  dwellings,  419; 
garments,  617;  cakes,  620,  708; 
markets,  432  ;  barter,  432  ;  uses  of 
century-plant,  386;  game  of,  620; 
toys  given  by,  620 ;  music,  422 ; 
mourning,  466 ;  dogs,  147 ;  tamed 
deer,  430 ;  language,  rules  of,  540  ; 
abbreviations  in,  376 ;  extension  of, 
366,  367  ;  language  same  as  that  of 
Toltecs,  365 ;  place-names,  exten 
sion  of,  366 :  words  resembling  Asi 
atic  words,  150,  term  for  milk,  397; 
its  meaning,  398.  See,  also,  Mexi 
cans. 

Aztlan,  civilization  of,  149 ;  meaning 
of  name,  506. 

Azure  Sea,  Fu-sang  in,  236. 


Bacchacan,  traditions  regarding,  565. 
Backgammon  or  pacJiisi,  620. 
Bad  Lands,  beds  of  fossils  in,  203. 
Baikal,  Lake,  24,  45,  126,  187,  215. 
Bajucos,  Mexican  trees,  618. 
Balang-ko,  Hindoo  altars,  133. 
Bald  Mountain,  646. 
Bamboos,  shape  of  leaves  of,  195. 
Bamboo-sprouts,  illustration  of,  389 ; 

edibility  of,  390 ;  mulberry-sprouts 

do  not  resemble.  164. 
Bamboo  books,  659,  665,  677. 
Bamboo  Mountain,  647. 
Banana,   leaves  and    fruit    of,   682 ; 

called  pisang,  58,  405;    identified 

with  the  fu-sang  tree,  642. 
Bancroft,   II.   II.,  comments  of, .  on 


INDEX. 


story  of  Fu-sang,  17;  criticisms  of, 
622. 

Baptize,  Chinese  transcription  of,  404. 
Baracjere,  opinion  of  M.,  573. 
Barbarians,   Chinese  name   for    for 
eigners,  81.     See,  also,  Eastern  and 

Northern  Barbarians. 
Bark,  fiber  produced  from,  391 ;  used 

for  making    paper,    167;    extract 

used  for  mixing  stucco,  605. 
Barking,,  by  Tasncas,  106;   language 

of  Apaches  compared  to,  517. 
Bar  many,  pagodas  of,  112. 
Barter,  by  Aleuts,  356 ;  by  Mexicans, 

432. 
Basques,  visits  of,  to  Newfoundland, 

113. 
Basque  language,  111.   See,  also,  Eus- 

karian. 

Bazin,  M.,  article  by,  670. 
Beans,  eaten  in  Country  of  Women, 

213,  314;  raised  by  Aztecs,  517. 
Bean  Mountains,  648. 
Bears,  in  Jesso,  681 ;  exterminated  in 

Aleutian  Islands,  357. 
Beards,  difference  of,  among  different 

nations,  35 ;  lack  of,  by  Chinese,  84. 
Bearded  men,  traditions  of,  490,  555. 
Beasts  of  burden,  none  in  America, 

170,  190,  196,  481. 
Beautiful  Green  Hills,  658. 
Beavers,  possibly  described  as  sables, 

534. 
Begging,    commanded   to    Buddhist 

monks,  441. 

Behring,  discovery  made  by,  120. 
Behring's  Island,    9 ;    tattooing    on, 

346. 

Behring's  Strait,  prediction  of  its  ex 
istence,  14;  Mongolians  near,  82; 

Pacific  gulf-stream  flows  through, 

9 ;  easily  crossed,  183. 
Benares,    Chinese    transcription    of, 

404. 

Bengal,  nopal  growing  in,  76. 
Bhdgavat  Parana,  152,  154. 
Bhavani,  wife  of  Siva,  546. 
Bhikshu,  title  of  Buddhist  monks, 

42,  540 ;  meaning  of  term,  440. 
BJiikshus,  observances  imposed  on, 

440. 
Bibliography  of  discussion  regarding 

Fu-sang,  13,  205. 

Big-bone  Lick,  bones  found  at,  428. 
Bignonia  tomentosa,  said  to  be  the 

TUNG  tree,  387. 
Binapa,  an  Amazon  town,  493. 
Birch,  Mr.,  Secretary  of  Royal  So 
ciety,  29. 


Birds,  monkeys  compared  to,  535. 
Birds  which  bear  human  beings,  222, 

239,  534. 

Birds  with  hair,  644 :  with  rats'  legs, 
654,  680 ;  with  rats'  tails,  651 ;  with 
two  heads,  661. 
Birds,  Valley  of,  644. 

Bisons  found  in  America,  59,  69,  115 ; 
herds  of,  169;  description  of,  427; 
in  Montezuma's  garden,  427 ;  for 
mer  range  of,  427;  not  found  on 
Pacific  coast,  196;  use  as  draught 
animals,  169,  190;  horns  of,  428; 
weight  of,  429;  called  vaccas,  115; 
or  "  cattle,"  426. 

Bison  latifrons,  an  extinct  species, 
428,  429. 

Bitdra  Gdna,  or  Ganesa,  611,  612. 

Bitumen  on  Mexican  coast,  533. 

Black  dye,  bitumen  used  as,  533. 

Black-haired  race,  Chinese  so  called, 
498. 

Black-Hip  Country,  660,  665. 

Black-People's  Kingdom.  495. 

Black  River,  or  Black-dragon  River, 
the  Amoor,  87. 

Black  Stream.     See  Kuro-Siwo. 

Black-Teeth  Country,  182,  633,  644, 
658,  664,  681. 

Black  Valley,  225,  532. 

Blue  and  green  confounded,  209,  471, 
616. 

Blumer,  Rev.  A.,  discovery  of  ele 
phant-pipe  by,  610. 

Boa-constrictor,  a  symbol  of  the  sun's 
course,  73. 

Boards  used  in  constructing  adobe 
walls,  419. 

Boats,  of  Alaskans,  29 ;  with  pelicans 
at  bow,  168. 

Bochica,  the  hero  of  the  Muyscas, 
543  ;  teachings  of,  560 ;  came  from 
Asia,  143 ;  a  Buddhist  priest,  162 ; 
fabulous,  198 ;  derivation  of  name, 
561. 

Bodhi-dharma,  journey  of,  440. 

Bodhi-sattwa,  a  class  of  Buddhists, 
485 ;  title  of  KWAN  YIN,  4 ;  defini 
tion  of,  485. 

Bodleian  Library,  Chinese  maps  in, 
50 ;  Mexican  manuscript  in,  464. 

Bogota,  people  of,  60 ;  possibly  visited 
by  Buddhists,  62,  74 ;  Japanese  ori 
gin  of,  63 ;  civilization  of,  derived 
from  Asia,  15. 

Bokhara,  said  to  be  KI-PJN,  123,  213. 

Bonito,  estufas  at,  435. 

Book  of  Changes.    See  Y  KING. 

Book  of  Exhortations-    See  LUN-YU. 


INDEX. 


74T 


Book  of  Filial  Piety.  See  HIAO  KING. 

Book  of  the  Flowers  of  the  Law,  635. 

Book  of  Mountains  and  Seas.  See 
SHAN  HAI  KING. 

Book  of  the  Waters,  674. 

Books  burned  in  China,  220. 

Books  of  Mexicans,  167,  618 ;  of  Tol- 
tecs,  96;  made  from  agave  fiber, 
391. 

Border  about  seated  figure,  132. 

Borgian  Museum,  manuscript  of,  145. 

Borneo,  voyages  of  people  of,  36. 

Boro-Budor,  temple  of,  in  Java,  61, 
71,  135,  602. 

Bos  Americanus.    See  Bison. 

Bos  moschatus.    See  Musk-oxen. 

Botany  of  Chinese,  213. 

B6rpvs,  Japanese  transcription  of,  42. 

Boun-zin.    See  WAN  SH!N. 

Bows  and  arrows,  in  Kamtchatka,  90 ; 
may  have  been  used  in  Fu-sang, 
208. 

Brahma,  Chinese  transcription  of, 
404. 

Brahmanic  hermit,  Buddha  a,  3. 

Brahmanism,  its  persecution  of  Bud 
dhism,  5,  143,  446:  mixture  with 
Buddhism,  124, 126,  544 ;  cruel  rites 
of,  162,  544;  practices  similar  to 
those  of  American  tribes,  112,  198. 

Branches,  divisions  of  time  so  called, 
682. 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  references  to, 
16,  167,  500,  607. 

Brazil  visited  by  Scandinavians,  49, 
63 ;  road  from,  563. 

Brazos  River,  bones  found  near,  428. 

Bread,  of  the  Aztecs,  620. 

Bread-fruit  tree,  165,  166. 

Breakers,  about  Aleutian  Islands,  341. 

Breasts,  women  destitute  of,  306 ;  fe 
male  monkeys  destitute  of,  501,  502. 

Bretschneider,  Dr.  B.,  letter  from,  174. 

Bricks,  used  in  pyramids,  605. 

Bridal  processions  in  China,  478. 

Bridges,  suspension,  in  China  and 
Mexico,  618. 

Bright  Star  Mountain,  664. 

Britains,  Caesar's  account  of,  335. 

British  Columbia,  Chinese  coins  found 
in,  184 ;  carved  posts  of  Indians  of, 
352. 

British  Islands,  a  possible  route  to 
America,  37. 

Bronze,  used  by  the  Aztecs,  98. 

Broussonetiapapyrifera,  177 ;  identi 
fied  as  the  fu-sarig  tree,  235 ;  not 
found  in  Mexico,  236;  used  for 
making  paper,  638. 


Brown,  Rev.  Nathan,  Essay  by,  161. 

Buache,  Philippe,  map  made  by,  191. 

Buddha,  birth  of,  1 ;  his  father,  1 ; 
education  2 ;  abandonment  of  his 
family,  3 ;  his  supposed  discovery, 
3 ;  his  universal  charity,  2, 3,  4 ;  his 
command  to  teach  his  doctrine  to 
all  the  world,  4,  125;  dress  pre 
scribed  by,  552,  553;  his  death, 
586 ;  meaning  of  the  appellation, 
2 ;  his  names,  1,  2,  587 ;  his  name 
in  Chinese,  123,  404,  595  ;  wide  dis 
tribution  of  images  of,  171 ;  images 
in  Japan,  628,  629;  image  in  Lon 
don,  5 ;  supposed  images  of  in  Yu 
catan,  61,  71,  72,  77,  127,  128,  134, 
199,  594;  foot-prints  of,  553;  pyra 
mids  devoted  to  worship  of,  601  ; 
symbolized  by  the  elephant,  608; 
and  by  the  cross,  552 ;  anomaly  in 
teachings  of,  585 ;  his  command  a 
sufficient  motive  for  journey  to 
America,  684 ;  means  for  attaining 
the  rank  of,  3 ;  similarity  of  Quet 
zal  coatl  to,  6,  112. 

Buddhism,  gentle  nature  of,  74,  162; 
its  acceptance  of  dogmas  of  other 
faiths,  97,  124 ;  its  respect  of  the 
gods  of  India,  124 ;  of  caste,  124 ; 
its  proselyting  spirit,  4,  80,  125 ;  its 
mixture  with  Brahmanism,  124, 
126,  544;  and  with  Sivaism,  72, 
124;  persecution  by  Brahmans,  61, 
63,  143,  446 ;  expulsion  from  Cen 
tral  India,  5 ;  persecution  in  China, 
447;  spread  in  China,  440;  its  in 
troduction  throughout  Asia,  5,  80 ; 
in  Japan,  47,  110, 121, 164,  628, 635, 
641;  in  Corea,  62;  in  Eastern  Si 
beria,  153;  in  Fu-sang,  296;  traces 
of  in  Alaska,  6;  in  Europe,  5;  in 
Mexico,  96;  its  three  jewels,  125; 
morality  preached  above  ritualism, 
125;  permitted  only  fruits  and 
flowers  as  offerings,  133;  recom 
mended  penance,  126;  books  of, 
asked  for  by  Coreans,  527;  trans 
lated  into  Chinese,  440 :  brought  to 
Japan,  635 ;  decalogue,  566 ;  thought 
to  have  been  influenced  by  Chris 
tianity,  569;  resemblance  to  Roman 
Catholicism,  568,  585;  attempt  to 
connect  doctrines  of  LAO-TSE  with, 
79;  resemblance  of  Aztec  religion 
to,  172,  582. 

Buddhists,  failure  of  to  comply  with 
their  rules,  585;  eat  flesh,  69,  586; 
but  no  milk,  69,  621. 

Buddhist  monks,  travels  of,  7,  80, 193 ; 


748 


INDEX. 


records  of  journeys  of,  8,  10;  visits 
to  Northeastern  Asia,  138,  188; 
route  north  of  China,  18/> ;  possible 
journeys  to  America,  113,  143;  ob 
ject  of  their  travels,  10, 11,  80,  125; 
division  into  classes,  7 ;  requirement 
to  travel  in  companies,  446 ;  their 
character,  10;  credit  due  to  their 
accounts,  11,  80;  garments  of,  567; 
vows  and  duties  of,  440,  582 ;  pen 
ances  of,  583  ;  punishment  of  for  in 
continence,  584 ;  arts  taught  by,  572, 
620;  councils  of,  5;  monasteries, 
569 ;  nunneries,  583. 

Buddhist  structures,  temples  in  Ja 
pan,  628 ;  monasteries  and  convents, 
125 ;  monuments  near  Amoor  River, 
126,  138;  resemblance  to  Mexican 
pyramids,  601-606  ;  sanctuary  at 
Palenque,  127;  altars,  133,  134. 

Buddha  6rayd,  ruins  of,  545. 

Buffaloes.    See  Bisons. 

Buildings  upon  pyramids,  601. 

Bull,  the  bison  so  called,  427. 

Burets  Teno,  Emperor  of  Japan,  164. 

Burial  of  dead,  by  American  tribes, 
159. 

Burlingame,  Mr.,  Chinese  embassador, 
179. 

Burmah  received  Buddhists,  5 ;  dress 
of  priests  of,  585 ;  badge  of  rank 
used  in,  606. 

Burning  Mountain,  225,  239,  530. 

Burning  of  books  in  China,  220. 

Burning  of  dead  in  Asia  and  Amer 
ica,  159. 

Burnouf,  Bmfle,  67,  678. 

Butter,  made  from  milk  of  hinds,  100 ; 
in  Fu-sang,  395 ;  not  used  in  China, 
396 ;  or  many  other  Asiatic  coun 
tries,  621. 

C 

Cabul.  said  to  be  Cophene,  446 ;  nopal- 

plant  found  in,  76. 

Cabulistan,  the  country  of  KI-PIN,  77. 
Cabul  River,  said  to  be  the  Cophene, 

445. 
Cacao,  used  as  a  medium  of  exchange, 

98,  432. 

Cacique,  title  of  Indian  chiefs,  60. 
Cactus,  Mexico  its  native  home,  394 ; 

introduction  of  from  America,  77. 
Cacumatzin,  visit  to  Cortez,  433 ;  path 

swept  before,  617. 
Caesar,  his  account  of  the  Britains, 

335 ;  repeated  by  Maundevile,  336 ; 

mistakes  of,  451. 
Cakchiquels,  garments  of,  391. 


Cakes  made  by  the  Mexicans,  620. 

Calabash,  carried  by  priests,  580. 

Calcutta,  cochineal  insects  in,  76. 

Calendar  of  Mexicans,  143,  144,  501, 
571 ;  introduced  by  Quetzalcoatl, 
547;  introduction  of  Chinese  in 
Japan,  630. 

California,  route  to  from  China,  22; 
gulf -stream  on  coast  of,  9;  Chi 
nese  and  Japanese  vessels  on  coast 
of,  9, 31, 101, 168 ;  Fu-sang  situated 
near,  20,  33,  55,  163 ;  but  not  Fu- 
sang,  196 ;  bisons  in,  427 ;  deer  of, 
100;  vines  of,  415;  Wellingtonia 
of,  219 ;  climate  of,  75 ;  tales  of 
Amazons  in,  489 ;  Indians  of,  501 ; 
their  dwellings,  518. 

Calli,  Aztec  word  for  house,  150. 

Calmucks,  zodiac  of,  149. 

Camaxtli,  name  of  Huitzilopochtli, 
381 ;  story  regarding,  596. 

Gamboge,  received  Buddhists,  5. 

Campeachy,  image  found  at,  571. 

Camphor-plant,  eaten  by  animals,  511. 

Camphor-wood  trees,  thrown  on  Un- 
alaska,  9. 

Canada,  moccasins  used  in,  75 ;  monu 
ment  with  Tartarian  characters  in, 
112;  reindeer  of,  76;  resemblance 
of  natives  to  Tunguses,'  112. 

Canadian  voyageurs,  their  name  for 
sage-brush,  510. 

Canary  Islands,  visited  by  Arabs,  37 ; 
voyages  of  natives  of,  38. 

Canassatego,  an  Onondaga  chief,  349. 

Candahar,  said  to  be  KI-PIN,  445,  446. 

Cannibalism,  in  Asia  and  America, 
158. 

Canoes  of  the  Aleuts,  122. 

Cafion  of  the  Colorado  River,  532. 

Cantico,  Mexican  story  of,  614. 

Canton,  ice  seldom  found  at,  354; 
distance  of  from  Pekin,  330. 

Cape  of  the  Women  of  Yucatan,  489. 

Cape  Verd  Islands,  visited  by  Arabs, 
38. 

Cappelen,  M.  van  der,  drawing  of,  71. 

Capricornus,  a  marine  monster,  145. 

Capuchin  monkeys,  498 ;  origin  of 
name,  506. 

Caracorum,  the  Mongolian  capital,  44, 
187;  on  route  to  Great  HAN,  23; 
Chinese  transcription  of,  404. 

Carbonate  of  lime,  use  of  by  Aztecs, 
605. 

Caribs,  defense  of  homes  by  women, 
489. 

Carnelians,  found  in  Alaska,  356. 

Carolinas,  called  Great  Ireland,  92, 


INDEX. 


749 


Carthaginians  acquainted  with  At 
lantis,  56. 

Carts  in  Fu-sang,  24,  286,  480 ;  none 
in  Japan,  640;  or  America,  190; 
"the  three,"  a  Buddhist  term,  484. 

Carvings  of  Haidah  Indians,  352. 

Casas  Grandes,  construction  of,  419. 

Cashmere,  said  to  be  KI-PIN,  445. 

Caspian  Sea,  known  to  Chinese,  218, 
240. 

Cassiar,  Chinese  coins  found  at,  184. 

Caste,  existing  in  India,  2. 

Castelnau,  M.  de,  oxen  found  by,  69. 

Casting  metals,  art  of,  572. 

Cataldino,  Father,  removal  of,  562. 

Cathay,  boats  from,  169;  mechanism 
made  in,  573 ;  name  contained  in 
Quatu-zaca,  74. 

Cattle,  of  America,  33,  35, 114 ;  intro 
duced  into  Mexico,  427;  not  raised 
in  Japan,  631,  640 ;  term  applied  to 
other  animals,  426 ;  striped  like 
tigers,  644,  679;  with  a  serpent's 
tail,  656 ;  with  a  horse's  tail,  653 ; 
with  one  foot,  667 ;  probably  pho- 
caceans,  679. 

Cattle-carts  of  Fu-sang,  286,  480 ;  of 
India,  64 ;  metaphoric  use  of  term, 
485. 

Cattle-horns  of  Fu-sang,  210,  284, 
424. 

Catualcans,  commerce  of,  31. 

Cayotes,  a  tribe  of  the  Apaches,  517. 

Celestial  Mountains,  visits  to,  8. 

Celibacy  of  Buddhist  priests,  582; 
not  universal,  585. 

Cempoalfepec,  a  Mexican  mountain, 
538,  539. 

Centaurs,  description  of,  454. 

Centenarians  in  Japan,  624,  631. 

Centeotl,  goddess  of  maize,  578. 

Centli,  Aztec  term  for  maize,  315. 

Central  America,  belief  of  people  of, 
461 ;  colours  distinguished  in,  471 ; 
volcanoes  of,  531 ;  mirrors  used  in, 
524;  false  arch  in  ruins  of,  605; 
monuments,  71  ;  pyramids,  598  ; 
analogies  to  those  of  Asia,  601,  602, 
603 ;  analogies  of  arts,  706 ;  ex 
planation  of  civilization,  622. 

Central  Flower,  China  so  called,  80. 

Century-plant.     See  Agave. 

Ceres,  place  of,  in  zodiac,  150. 

Cervus  Mexicanus,  69,  75. 

Cetu,  an  imaginary  planet,  72. 

Ceylon,  origin  of,  488;  conquest  of, 
495;  visited  by  Buddha,  553;  re 
ceived  Buddhists,  5 ;  religion  of, 
125;  caste  in,  585;  pyramids  of, 


602 ;  married  priests  in,  585 ;  em 
bassy  from,  446 ;  Adam's  Peak,  72. 

CHA  Hill,  656. 

Chaacmol,  an  American  figure,  606. 

Chacahua,  76,  77. 

Chacamarca,  journey  of  Tonapa  along, 
565. 

Chain,  arguments  not  like  links  of, 
709. 

CHA-KIU  country,  657. 

Chalcas,  expedition  against,  469. 

Chalchihuitl,  a  Mexican  gem,  416; 
and  a  title,  417. 

Chaldea,  radiation  of  civilization 
from,  131. 

Chambers  in  pyramids,  599,  601. 

Chametla,  Guzman's  army  at,  491. 

Chan,  an  American  tribe,  111. 

CH!N,  a  poisonous  bird,  656. 

CHAN,  a  wind,  665. 

CH'AN  River,  649. 

Chances,  application  of  doctrine  of, 
359. 

CHANG-HOA,  a  Chinese  author,  674. 

CHANG-JIN,  Kingdom  of  Giants,  36. 

CHANG-K'IAN,  a  Chinese  general,  42. 

CHAO-HAO,  spirits  of,  reign  of,  671. 

CHAO-HOA,  commentary  by,  673. 

CHAO-SHI,  commentary  by,  673. 

CHAO-SIEN,  or  Corea,  178,  630,  635, 
681. 

CHAO-YANG,  or  Corea,  657,  681. 

CHAO-YAO,  mountain,  665. 

Chapati,  cakes  made  in  India,  620. 

Chapopotli,  description  of,  533. 

Charlemagne,  fables  regarding,  95. 

Charles  IV,  Duke,  globe  of,  370. 

Charlevoix,  Father,  564. 

Charnay,  M.  de,  photographs  by,  135. 

Chattering  of  monkeys,  498. 

Chaves,  Gabriel  de,  617. 

CHE,  Chinese  characters  for,  405. 

CH'E,  character  for  "  cart,"  481. 

Chedshen,  members  of  Aleutian  fam 
ily,  90. 

Cheese,  of  Fu-sang,  395  ;  not  made  in 
America,  59,  190;  not  used  in 
China,  396. 

CHEH-TAN,  a  god,  665. 

CHEN  River,  654. 

Chepewyans,  an  American  tribe,  346. 

Chettro  Kettle,  estufas  at,  435. 

CHEU  dynasty,  83. 

CHEU  -  PU  -  CHANG,  arrow  found  by, 
662. 

CHEU-LI,  a  Chinese  book,  647. 

CHEU-PANG-YEN,  a  Chinese  poet,  675. 

CHI  River,  645. 

Chiapas,  or  Zacatlan,  200,  501,  587. 


750 


INDEX. 


Chibchas,  a  South  American  tribe, 
561. 

Chichen,  edifices  of,  602,  604. 

Chichen-Itza,  bas-relief  at,  136 ;  three 
brothers  of,  557. 

Chichilticale,  animals  found  near, 
115. 

Chichimecas,  history  of,  32,  62,  363  ; 
deer  kept  by,  430. 

Chiconahuapan,  a  river  in  Hades, 
590. 

CHIE-KEU,  a  species  of  bird,  651. 

CHIH,  or  foot,  length  of,  331. 

Chihuahua,  bisons  in,  428. 

Chilan  Balam,  551,  559. 

Children,  manner  of  carrying,  620; 
toys  given  to,  620 ;  school  age,  463 ; 
sold  as  slaves,  463;  treatment  of 
illegitimate,  463. 

Chili,  tradition  in,  564. 

Chimaltizatl,  a  species  of  stone,  471. 

Chimizapagua.    See  Bochica. 

Chimsean  Indians,  352. 

CHIN,  Fu-sang  tree  said  to  resemble, 
219. 

CH'IN,  a  Chinese  dynasty,  40. 

China,  called  the  Land  of  HAN,  338 ; 
the  "  Central  Flower,"  57 ;  capital 
of,  82 ;  introduction  of  Buddhism, 
5,  7,  62;  history  of  Buddhism  in, 
440;  marriage  of  priests  in,  585; 
travels  of  monks  from,  80 ;  condi 
tion  in  days  of  Hwui  Shan,  440; 
emigration  from,  83  ;  pyramids  in, 
601 ;  ice  in,  354 ;  adobe  walls,  419 ; 
vines  in,  110;  conquest  of,  by'Mon- 
gqls,  34 ;  Fu-sang  east  of,  329 ;  dis 
tance  to,  228 ;  route  from,  to  Great 
HAN,  126;  relations  with  Kam- 
tchatka,  123,  183 ;  with  Corea,  527 ; 
with  Japan,  639:  with  Pacific  isl 
ands,  101 ;  journeys  from,  to  India, 
10,  113,  446;  voyages  to  America, 
169. 

China,  Great  Annals  of,  260. 

Chinese,  mystery  of  origin  of,  220; 
not  credulous,  226;  liberal  with 
numbers,  175;  precepts,  78,  79; 
vanity,  78,  80;  insults  to  foreign 
nations,  80,  88;  travels  of,  18,  19, 
79 ;  knowledge  of  foreign  lands,  19 ; 
may  have  visited  America.  36,  104, 
168,  241;  no  proof,  12^2;  traces  in 
British  Cohimbia,  184;  fragments 
of  ship,  101;  acquaintance  with 
Japan,  178rl80,  229;  with  Ainos, 
84 ;  with  LIEU-KUEI,  87 ;  with  Ha 
waii,  100;  knowledge  of  Fu-sang, 
12,,,  254,  642;  of  Kamtchatka,  180: 


of  Asiatic  ^oast,  82  ;  of  Pacific  isl 
ands,  ,83j ,$>33>  mistakes  as  to  for 
eign  nafions781 ;  inquiries  regard 
ing  foreign  nations,  420,  519  ;  de 
mand  for  tribute,  520 ;  custom  of 
giving  toys,  620  ;  non-use  of  dairy 
products,  100,  396,  621 ;  marriage 
ceremonies,  476  ;  mourning  -  gar 
ments,  468 ;  method  of  arranging 
hair,  498  ;  salt,  508 ;  koumiss,  396  ; 
visits  of  foreigners,  79  ;  horses,  484 ; 
roads,  330  ;  suspension  -  bridges, 
618  ;  knowledge  of  compass,  113  ; 
not  acquainted  with  glass,  524 ;  em 
peror's  garments,  471 ;  laws  punish 
ing  family  of  criminals,  64 ;  nuns, 
583  ;  persecution  of  Buddhism, 
447 ;  cycles,  221 ;  zodiac,  145  ;  cal 
endar,  630;  new-year,  499;  stand 
ards  of  measure,  329 ;  li  not  used 
in  Japan,  331 ;  customs  in  Fu-sang, 
65,  212,  234;  architectui^  similar 
to  that  of  Mexicans,  ft55 ;  resem 
blance  to  American  trite,  (12,.  1.84, 
516;  maps  show  Fu-sang,  50,  94; 
jiccftunt  of  pygmies,  495  ;  of '"fairies, 
401 ;  of  monkeys,  514 ;  of  flying- 
men,  535 ;  botanical  classifications, 
213 ;  accounts  of  Amazons,  488, 
489 ;  of  kingdoms  of  women,  213 ; 
of  fu-sang  tree,  399  ;  engraving  of 
native  of  Fu-sang,  75 ;  burning  of 
books,  220;  Geography  of  the 
World,  242. 

Chinese  language,  peculiarities  of,  256, 
403 ;  characters,  how  composed, 
337 ;  meaning  of  phrases,  256 ; 
deficiencies  of  dictionaries,  257; 
transcriptions  of  foreign  words, 
253,  257,  404,  414 ;  inability  to  ex 
press  certain  sounds,  234,  403,  413 ; 
changes  in,  709  ;  changes  in  sound 
of  characters,  404  ;  method  of  writ 
ing  Sanskrit  words,  440;  love  of 
brevity,  355;  lack  of  punctuation, 
353 ;  difficulty  of  translating,  255  ; 
etymologies,  339 ;  substantive  verbs, 
444 ;  signs  of  plural,  481 ;  transla 
tions  of  names,  339  ;  grammar,  17 ; 
use  in  Japan,  629 ;  not  connected 
with  American  languages,  14; 
names  in  America,  111 ;  term  for 
Gautama,  558 ;  for  Buddha,  123, 
404,  495  ;  names  of  constellations, 
523 ;  authorities  for  account  of  Fu- 
sang,  260 ;  account  of  Fu-sang,  262 ; 
of  Country  of  Women,  302 ;  of  land 
of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  316  :  of  Great 
HAN,  324 ;  differences  between  dif- 


INDEX. 


751 


ferent  versions,  261 ;  unreliability 
of  texts,  180;  Hwui  Shan  imper 
fectly  acquainted  with,  709. 

CHING,  a  Chinese  Buddhist  term,  484. 

Chinggis  Chakan,  reference  to,  82. 

CHING-MU  classic,  659. 

CHIX-NONG,  Herbal  of,  674. 

Chinook  Indians,  description  of,  75. 

Chippewa  language,  398;  traditions, 

Chiquito  language,  111. 

Chiriquanos.  resemblance  to  Asiatics, 
112. 

CHI-SHUAI,  duties  of  the,  632. 

CH'I-YIU,  a  soldier,  667. 

CHIU-YU,  a  species  of  animal,  649. 

Chivim,  land  from  which  Votan  came, 
549. 

CHI-WU-MIXG-SHI-TU-K'AO,  176,  177. 

CHO-LONG,  the  Luminous  Dragon, 
225. 

Chocolate,  used  by  Aztecs,  432. 

Cholollan,  monuments  of,  363. 

Cholula,  reign  of  Quetzalcoatl  at,  197, 
541,  543 ;  monuments  of,  142,  363, 
604,  605 ;  entrance  of  Cortez,  154, 
423. 

Chorhan.    See  KO-LI-HAN. 

Christianity,  spread  of,  570;  influ 
ence  of  Buddhism  upon,  570 ;  ab 
sence  of  its  doctrines  in  Mexico, 
585 ;  influences  on  American  tribes, 
199  ;  its  slight  effect  upon  the  Az 
tecs,  457. 

Chronicle  of  the  kingdoms  of  Wu  and 
YUE,  673. 

Chronological  systems  of  Asia  and 
America,  159. 

CH'U  or  CHU-SANG,  the  paper-mulber 
ry,  638  ;  not  the  f  u-sang  tree,  640. 

CHUEN-HIO,  deluge  in  time  of,  145 ; 
spirits  of  reign  of,  671. 

CHU-JU,  or  Pygmy  Country,  495,  633. 

CHU-JU,  a  species  of  animal,  649. 

CHU-KEU  Mountain,  652. 

Chulotecas,  a  tribe  of  Nicaragua,  489. 

Chumuc  Akab,  Maya  term  for  mid 
night,  476. 

CHUNG,  a  species  of  locust,  649. 

CHUNG  NAM  SHAN,  account  given  by, 
254. 

CHUNG-SHEU-KIANG-CH'ING,  a  city,  23, 
44. 

CHUN-TSIEU.  See  "Spring  and  Au 
tumn." 

CHUNG-YUNG'S  Country,  663. 

CHU-PIEH  fish,  or  cuttle-fish,  648. 

Chusan  Islanders,  633. 

CHU-SHING  River,  645. 


CHU-SHU,  or  "  Bamboo  Books,"  find 
ing  of,  677. 

CHU-SHU,  Land  of,  84. 

CHWA'NG-CHEU,  an  author,  659. 

CHWANG-TSZ',  an  author,  <>.">!),  663. 

CHWEN-SUH,  a  Chinese  emperor,  661. 

Cibola,  description  of,  170 ;  meaning 
of  name,  427 ;  bisons  of,  115,  196 ; 
sheep  of,  430 ;  vines  of,  116 ;  prick 
ly-pears  preserved  in,  395 ;  Palenque 
not  situated  in,  200. 

Cicuye,  welcome  of  Alvarado  at,  424. 

Ciguatan.    See  Cihuatlan. 

Cihuacatzin,  an  Aztec  general,  491. 

Cihuacoatl,  an  Aztec  official,  467, 548. 

Cihuatl,  Aztec  word  for  woman,  514. 

Cihuatlampa  ehecatl,  the  west  wind, 
490. 

Cihuatlan,  the  Mexican  "  Place  of 
Women,"  490,  491,  492. 

Cihuatlanque,  Aztec  marriage  bro 
kers,  479. 

Cinaloa,  distance  of,  from  Mexico,  427. 

Cinteotl,  the  Mexican  Ceres,  150. 

Cintli,  Aztec  term  for  maize,  517. 

Cipactli,  description  of,  145. 

Circular  pyramids,  600,  601 ;  and 
temples,  604. 

Cities  in  Asia  and  America  with  the 
same  names,  111. 

Civilization,  radiation  of,  from  Chal- 
dea,  131 ;  on  banks  of  Amoor,  138, 
187;  of  American  tribes,  168;  of 
New  Mexico,  123 ;  of  Toltecs,  190 ; 
of  America  on  Pacific  coast,  31, 
173,  708;  connection  of  American 
and  Asiatic,  14,  17,  119,  142,  156, 
160 ;  of  Mexico,  explanation  of,  622. 

Clams,  with  pearly  shells,  648. 

Classic  of  the  Eastern  Mountain?,  644. 

Classic  of  Mountains  and  Seas.  See 
SHAN  HAI  KING. 

Clavigero,  reliability  of,  96 ;  reply  to 
criticisms,  622. 

Clear  River,  654. 

Clement  of  Alexandria.  -">70. 

Climate,  of  Kamtchatka,  89 ;  of  Aleu 
tian  Islands,  121 ;  and  Alaska,  122 ; 
of  northwest  coast;  of  America,  9. 

Cloth  made  by  Aztecs,  392;  from 
fiber  of  century-plant,  384. 

Clothing,  of  people  of  Country  of 
Women,  314.  See,  also,  (Janiicnts. 

Co,  meaning  of  Aztec  termination, 
373,  406. 

Coahuila,  bisons  in,  428. 

Coatl,  definition  of,  548. 

Coatlicue,  mother  of  Huitzilopochtli, 
614. 


752 


INDEX. 


Coatzacoalcos  River,  367,  368. 

Coaxayacayo  tilmatli,  an  Aztec  man 
tle,  472. 

Cochin-China,  embassy  from,  114. 

Cochineal,  76,  77,  471. 

Cocoa-nut  water,  use  of,  605. 

Coco-Maricopa  courtship,  434. 

Cocomes,  reign  of,  558. 

Cocoons,  not  made  by  silk-worms  of 
Fu-sang,  524. 

Code  of  Competitive  Examinations, 
676. 

Codex  Borgianus,  152. 

Codex  Troano,  168. 

Coins,  Chinese,  found  in  British  Co 
lumbia,  184. 

Colimonte,  a  Mexican  province,  491. 

Collars,  an  indication  of  slavery,  465. 

Colon,  Fernando,  map  drawn  by,  370. 

Colopeus,  king  of  Amazonia,  488. 

Colorado,  Village  Indians  of,  501. 

Colorado  River,  country  near,  74  ; 
defensive  works  near,  108. 

Colorado  River  Canon,  532. 

Colours,  in  Asia,  470;  in  Central 
America,  471 ;  in  Mexico,  472 ;  blue 
and  green  confounded,  471 ;  con 
nection  with  divisions  of  time,  99, 
470;  used  to  designate  years,  209, 
234 ;  connected  with  days  of  week^ 
475;  with  points  of  compass,  475, 
615 ;  colours  of  garments  of  king 
of  Fu-sang,  282,  470 ;  of  priests  of 
Salvador,  472 ;  placed  upon  corpses, 
475 ;  of  courier's  dress,  475  ;  of 
walls  of  temples,  615;  of  inhab 
itants  of  Country  of  Women,  505 ; 
of  Mexican  monkeys,  506. 

Columbia  River,  Fu-sang  near,  55, 
68;  Lewis  &  Clark's  journey  to, 
75 ;  bar  at  mouth  of,  69 ;  villages 
near,  60 ;  customs  in  valley  of,  501. 

Columbus,  preceded  in  America,  49 ; 
reasons  for  expecting  to  find  land, 
38 ;  called  American  tribes  "  In 
dians,"  230  ;  brought  cattle  to 
America,  427. 

Comitl,  a  Mexican  hero,  566. 

Comitlan,  music  at,  424. 

Companions  of  the  Moon,  zodiacal 
divisions,  144. 

Compass,  knowledge  of,  by  Chinese-, 
101,  113 ;  introduction  into  Japan, 
627 ;  colours  connected  with  points 
of,  475,  615,  616;  leading  point  of, 
615 ;  described  as  a  crow  with  eight 
feet,  678. 

Con,  a  Peruvian  tradition  about,  566; 

"  Concerning  Fu-sang,"  181. 


Conclusions  to  which  Hwui  Sh&n's 
story  should  lead,  341. 

Confession,  practiced  by  Buddhists, 
126,  569;  in  Mexico,  198;  and  in 
Nicaragua,  579. 

Confinement,  places  of,  270.  See, 
also,  Prisons. 

Confucius,  difficulty  of  understand 
ing,  256;  CHUX-TSIEU,  or  "Spring 
and  Autumn"  of,  643,  649,  663, 
674;  KIA-YU,  or  "Familiar  Dis 
courses  "  of,  672 ;  demolition  of 
house  of,  672. 

Conifers,  called  CHIN,  219 ;  their 
resemblance  to  the  century-plant, 
219. 

"  Considerations  Geographiques,"  14. 

""  Consideration  of  the  Western  and 
Southern  Kingdoms,"  674. 

Consistency,  need  of,  in  interpreta 
tion,  342. 

Constantinople,  Chinese  transcription 
of,  404. 

Constellations,  designation  of,  523. 

Contice,  a  Peruvian  tradition  about, 
566. 

Continence  of  Mexican  priests,  575, 
581. 

Continental  Magazine,  an  article  from, 
15. 

Convents  established  by  Buddhists, 
125. 

Cook's  Voyages,  vocabularies  in,  14. 

Copan,  a  colony  of  Toltecs,  365 ;  pyra 
mids  at,  600 ;  bas-relief  at,  200. 

Cophene,  description  of,  123,  233 ; 
identification  of,  445,  446;  called 
KI-PIN  by  Chinese,  42 ;  Buddhism 
in,  446 ;  Hwui  Sha"n,  a  native  of,  709. 

Copper,  found  in  Japan,  47 ;  first  use 
of,  629,  636  ;  imperfect  purification 
of,  636;  in  America,  58,  117,  432; 
used  by  Aztecs,  98,  431 ;  in  Fu- 
sang,  288,  431;  leaves  of  fu-sang 
tree  said  to  resemble,  387. 

Copper  bells  made  in  America,  74. 

Copper  Islands,  near  Kamtchatka,  9. 

Coppermine  River,  58. 

Coral -tree,  a  mythical  tree,  416. 

Corea,  names  of,  681 ;  named  CHAO- 
SIEN,  178,  630,  635, 657,  681 ;  CHAO- 
TANG,  657,  681 ;  Valley  of  Sunrise, 
243 ;  origin  of  name,  549,  626 ;  in 
tercourse  with  Japan,  332,  625, 630, 
639 ;  route  to  Japan,  634 ;  and  dis 
tance,  65;  conquered  by  Chinese, 
178,  630  r  intercourse  with  China, 
527;  Ma  Twan-lin's  account  of, 
209 ;  Hyperboreans  situated  near, 


INDEX. 


753 


55 ;  Mongolians  near,  82,  87 ;  writ 
ing  used  by,  527;  old  records,  172; 
their  small  value,  527 ;  tigers  once 
found  in,  681 ;  Hwui  Shan  journey 
ed  through,  527;  silk-worm  eggs 
from  Fu-sang  taken  to,  224,  238, 
525 ;  introduction  of  Buddhism,  5, 
62  ;  dresses  of  Buddhist  priests, 
567 ;  journeys  from,  80 ;  horses  in 
troduced,  100 ;  route  to  Great  HAN, 
53 ;  same  title  found  in,  as  in  Fu- 
sang,  209;  knowledge  of  Fu-sang 
in,  12 ;  a  story  told  in,  250 ;  not 
Fu-sang,  402 ;  length  of  li  or  ri  used 
in,  332 ;  Corean  fishing-boats,  515. 

Cornice,  upon  temple  at  Mictlan,  606. 

Corpse,  wrappings  of,  in  Mexico,  475. 

Cortez,  expedition  of,  169;  entrance 
into  Cholula,  154;  welcomed  by 
music,  423 ;  visited  by  Cacumatzin, 
433,  617 ;  use  of  name  "  Mexico  " 
by,  372 ;  presents  sent  by,  to  Charles 
V,  572;  title  bestowed  on,  417; 
army  of,  fed  on  prickly-pears,  395. 

Cosmogonal  traditions  of  Mexico,  158. 

Cosmogonies  of  America  and  Asia, 
143. 

Costa  Rica,  light-coloured  inhabitants 
of,  506. 

Cotton,  description  of  plant,  450; 
Chinese  name  of  flower-bud,  415 ; 
cloth  made  by  Aztecs,  517;  armour 
made  of  quilted,  420,  618. 

Councils,  for  judging  criminals,  435  ; 
of  American  Indians,  436. 

Courier,  symbolism  of  dress  of,  475. 

Courteous  Vassals,  country  of,  664. 

Courtship,  customs  of,  in  Fu-sang, 
60,  290,  432;  in  America,  60;  in 
Mexico,  99;  among  Apaches,  433; 
among  Coco-Maricopas,  434. 

Cousin,  Jean,  of  Dieppe,  discovery  of 
America  by,  193. 

Cowmull,  or  Cophes  River,  445. 

Coxcox,  the  Aztec  Noah,  146. 

Cozumel,  cross  at,  550. 

Crabs,  of  Fu-sang,  225 ;  of  Japan,  84 ; 
of  NU-CHEU,  666. 

Crab-Barbarians.     See  Ainos. 

Creamy  dishes  of  Fu-sang,  395. 

Creeping  Plants,  mountain  of,  644. 

Cremation  in  Mexico,  467. 

Criminals,  punishment  of,  in  Fu-sang, 
208,  274,  434,  457,  464 ;  in  Japan, 
632 ;  in  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies," 
357;  by  Aztecs,  465;  families  in 
cluded  in,  64. 

Critica,  a  zodiacal  sign,  150. 

Criticisms  of  Mexican  historians,  621. 
48 


Crocodile,  resemblance  of  Cipadli  to, 
145. 

Crook,  General,  statement  of,  532. 

Crosier,  carried  by  Buddhist  lamas, 
569. 

Cross,  veneration  of,  in  Asia,  552 ;  a 
sign  of  peace,  552;  on  robe  of 
Quetzalcoatl,  542 ;  in  America,  549 ; 
as  an  ornament,  551 ;  emblem  of 
god  of  rain,  551 ;  theory  regarding 
existence  of,  550. 

Cross-legged  figure  at  Palenque,  127, 
199 ;  and  at  Copan,  200. 

Crow  with  eight  feet,  678. 

Cuaxolotl,  Mexican  story  of,  614, 

Cuba,  occupation  of,  550. 

Cuepopan,  a  ward  of  Mexico,  370. 

Cuernavaca,  horns  found  at*  69. 

Cukulcan,  culture-hero  of  Yucatan, 
556,  557, 558. 

Culba,  or 

Culhua,  name  of  a  gold-producing 
region,  370. 

Culiacan,  worship  of  serpents  in,  530. 

Cundinamarca,  visited  by  Buddhists, 
63. 

Currant-bush  sprouts,  eaten  by  monk 
eys,  511. 

Curtains,  hung  before  doors,  518. 

Curved  swords,  in  Mexico,  606. 

Cuttle-fish,  Chinese,  description  of, 
654,  679. 

Cuzco,  monuments  of,  143. 

Cycles,  characters  used  for,  209 ; 
names  of  years  of,  41,  470;  colours 
used  to  designate,  209 ;  ten-year, 
60,  194 ;  sixty-year,  64,  234 ;  begin- 
ning  of,  221 ;  of  Mexicans  and 
Asiatics,  143 ;  of  Aztecs,  99. 

Cynocephali.  244,  451,  517. 

Cyprus,  sculpture  from,  129. 


Ddgobas,  of  Ceylon,  602. 

Dairi,  a  Japanese  ruler,  638 ;  gar 
ments  worn  by,  only  once,  617. 

Damitsi,  expedition  of,  against  Jesso, 
627. 

Dancing,  of  Alaskans,  etc.,  347. 

Daourian  region,  tribes  of,  187. 

Darien,  punishment  of  criminals  in, 
437. 

Darkness,  explorers  stopped  by,  37. 

Davenport  Academy  of  National  Sci 
ences,  609,  610. 

Days,  divisions  of,  by  Mexicans,  475, 
476. 

Day's  journey,  length  of,  329,  334. 


754: 


INDEX. 


Dead,  a  stone  interred  with  the,  617 ; 
feast  of  the,  591. 

Death,  ceremonies  at,  among  Aztecs, 
466. 

Decadence  of  art,  in  America,  132. 

Decalogue  of  the  Buddhists,  566. 

Decipherers,  tricks  of,  106. 

Deer,  of  Fu-sang,  286,  424 ;  thought 
to  have  been  milked,  395  ;  supposed 
to  be  reindeer,  196 ;  used  as  draught 
animals,  169  ;  not  reared  by  Japa 
nese,  164 ;  possessed  by  Americans, 
169  ;  said  to  have  been  milked,  59  , 
description  of,  69 ;  kept  in  Florida, 
431 ;  tamed  by  Mexicans,  430 ;  range 
of,  100 ;  gait  of,  452 ;  horses  so  called, 
483  ;  metaphoric  use  of  the  term, 
485  ;  Island  of,  75.  See,  also,  Hinds. 

Deer-carts,  said  to  be  used  in  Fu-sang, 
480. 

Delos,  Temple  of,  129. 

Deluge,  traditions  regarding,  131 ;  in 
time  of  CHUEN-HIU,  145  ;  draining 
the  waters  of,  671. 

Demons,  Chinese  term  for  foreigners, 
81. 

Deneb  Kaitos,  a  star,  145. 

Dene-dindjies,  nursing  of  children  by, 
501. 

Denmark,  scholars  of,  49. 

Details,  necessity  for  examination  of, 
343. 

Deucalions,  celebrated  among  Scyth 
ians,  146. 

Deva,  introduction  of  the  word  into 
Mexico,  589. 

Devils,  Chinese  term  for  foreigners, 
88. 

Dhamma-pada,  the  Pali  scriptures, 

Dharma,  the  Buddhist  "  Law,"  458. 
Dictionaries,  deficiencies  of  Chinese, 

257. 

Difficultiesof  translating  Chinese,  257. 
Difficulties,  to  be  expected,  12,  342, 

454 ;  which  theory  has  least  f  358. 
Digambaras,  or  gymnosophists,  443. 
Diminishing  River,  645. 
"  Dissipation  of  Sorrows,"  659,  661. 

See,  also,  LI-SAO. 
Distances,  not  measured  accurately, 

163,  186,  189,  243,  334;  but  given 

with  approximate  accuracy,  334. 
Distressed  People's  Country,  660. 
Ditches,  in  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies," 

322 ;  about  dwellings  of  Arikaras, 

"  Divine  Book,"  a  possession  of  the 
Toltecs,  96. 


Djourdje,  the  Mantchoos,  187;  or 
their  ancestors,  45. 

Doctrine  of  Chances,  application  of, 
359. 

Dogs,  in  Fu-sang,  225,  239,  534;  in 
Kamtchatka,  89 ;  in  America,  169, 
170 ;  in  Mexico,  147 ;  used  as 
draught  animals,  32 ;  and  beasts  of 
burden,  179,  481;  a  Chinese  term 
for  foreigners,  81 ;  kingdom  of,  226 ; 
guides  to  Hades,  590;  change  of 
Cantico  into,  614  ;  six-legged,  644 ; 
possibly  seals,  679 ;  sacrifice  of, 
647. 

Dog's  heads,  men  and  monkeys  with, 
312,  517.  See,  also,  Cynocephali. 

Dog-rib  Indians,  tattooing  of,  346. 

Dome-shaped  edifices,  602,  604. 

Don,  the  River,  487. 

Doors,  none  used  by  American  tribes, 
518. 

Doorways  of  California  dwellings, 
518. 

Dragon,  descriptions  of,  450,  455 ; 
varieties  of,  670;  the  Luminous, 
225,  239,  532 ;  the  cause  of  eclipses, 
72,  73,  157 ;  figure  of,  at  Uxmal, 
73;  worship  of,  in  Mexico,  157; 
gods  with  heads  of,  64  7. j 

Dragon-horses,  description  of,  450. 

Draught  animals,  none  in  America, 
170,  190,  196,  481. 

Dresden  Manuscript,  167. 

Dress,  of  people  of  Fu-sang,  75;  of 
Indians  near  Columbia  River,  75 ; 
of  Buddhist  monks,  442.  See,  also, 
Garments. 

Driftwood,  said  to  float  to  HAN,  341. 

Drinkable  water.     See  SHIH  River. 

Drought,  omen  of,  645,  646,  650,  655. 

Drums,  of  Mexicans,  421,  422. 

Drunkenness,  punishment  of,  437. 

Dryanda  cor  data,  or  cor  di folia,  176, 
195,  387. 

Ducks,  in  Fu-sang,  225, 534 ;  in  Mexi 
co,  440. 

Dumont  d'TJrville,  opinion  of,  53. 

Durango,  vines  in,  415 ;  bisons  in, 
428. 

Durga,  cruel  rites  of,  162. 

Dwarf,  Vishnu  as  a,  152. 

Dwarfs,  Land  of.     See  CHU-JU. 

Dwellings,  of  Fu-sang,  207,  268,  418  ; 
of  land  of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  320, 
327 ;  of  Country  of  Women,  314, 
315 ;  of  the  Chinese,  419 ;  of  the 
Ainos,  86;  of  the  Ko-li-han,  83; 
of  the  Kamtchatkans,  88;  of  the 
Aleuts,  353;  of  theHaidah  Indians, 


INDEX. 


755 


351 ;  of  Indians  of  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory,  420 ;  of  Cali- 
fornians,  518 ;  of  Arikaras,  354 ;  of 
New  Mexicans,  168,  196 ;  of  Mexi 
cans,  419  ;  of  newly  married  pairs 
in  Yucatan,  434. 

Dyes,  used  by  Mexicans,  471. 

Dyeing  purple,  a  Phrenician  art,  76. 

E 

Eagles  said  to  produce  dogs,  450. 

Earthquakes,  destruction  by,  615. 

Ease  of  voyage  from  Asia  to  America, 
171,  183. 

East,  symbolized  by  the  lotus,  58 ;  and 
the  banana,  58 ;  the  hieroglyph  for, 
56 ;  Fu-sang  means  the  extreme, 
57 ;  Quetzalcoatl  said  to  have  come 
from,  549 ;  Tume  said  to  have  come 
from,  562. 

East  and  West,  distance  between, 
658. 

East  India.     See  India. 

East  Indians,  garments  of,  618. 

Eastern  Barbarians,  82,  638,  658. 

Eastern  Classic — first  section,  644; 
second  section,  647 ;  third  section, 
651 ;  fourth  section,  653. 

Eastern  Mountains,  Classic  of,  644. 

Eastern  Ocean,  a  term  for  the  Pacific, 
82. 

Eastern  Pass,  Mountain  of  the,  663, 
680. 

Eastern  Sea,  26,  661 ;  fish  of,  645  ;  ex 
pedition  in,  657. 

Eastern  SHI  Mountain,  654. 

Eastern  YOH  Mountain,  646. 

Ecacozcatt,  a  Mexican  flower,  474. 

Ecapatli,  the  Laurus  Indica,  509. 

Eclipses,  caused  by  a  dragon,  72,  157. 

Ecliptic,  divisions  of,  144,  153. 

Eggs  of  silk-worms  of  Fu-sang,  224, 
238,  525. 

Egypt,  symbolized  by  the  lotus,  57 ; 
veneration  of  cross  in,  552;  idols 
of,  71 ;  divisions  of  zodiac  in,  144 ; 
communication  with  Hindostan, 
144  ;  analogies  of  art  of,  to  that  of 
America,  200;  winged  globes  of, 
found  in  America,  100;  resem 
blance  of  pyramids  of,  to  those  of 
America,  96  ;  differences,  600. 

d'Eichthal, "  Study  "  of,  119 ;  followed 
de  Paravey,  67. 

Eight  vessels,  used  to  hold  Buddha's 
ashes,  96. 

Eight-footed  crow,  678. 
Eight-headed  serpent,  678. 


Eitel's  identification  of  the  fu-sang 
tree,  401. 

Ekapdnika,  definition  of,  441. 

Eldest  Child  Mountain,  652. 

Elements,  the  five,  of  the  Chinese, 
234. 

Elephant,  a  symbol  of  Buddha,  608  ; 
pictured  on  a  tablet,  610;  tradition 
of,  611 ;  possible  recent  existence  in 
America,  608,  611. 

Elephant's  head,  at  Palenque,  607. 
608. 

Elephant-mound  of  Wisconsin,  610. 

Elephant-pipes,  discovery  of,  610. 

Elephant's  trunk,  in  Yucatan,  200, 
607. 

Elien's  Meropide,  55. 

Elks,  Caesar's  account  of,  452 ;  called 
cattle,  426,  483;  used  as  draught 
animals,  169  ;  animals  resembling, 
651. 

El-Kurud,  stars  so  called,  147. 

Ellora,  figure  of  Buddha  at,  135. 

Elceococca  verrucosa,  176,  387. 

Eloquent  Nation,  Chinese  account  of, 
495. 

Embassies  to  China,  from  Japan,  84, 
85, 178,  624,  625,  626,  627,  632,  635 ; 
from  Corea,  527,  630 ;  from  Ceylon, 
446;  from  Kolihan,  82;  from  Co- 
chin-China,  114;  from  Pacific  isl 
ands,  83 ;  from  KAO-LI,  638 ;  from 
LIEU-KUEI,  26, 90 ;  from  Great  HAN 
of  the  North,  215,  246 ;  from  Fu- 
sang,  179,  221,  222,  223,  519. 

Endogenous  plants,  sprouts  of,  389. 

England,  Chinese  name  for,  406 ; 
shipwrecked  Japanese  sent  to,  102. 

Epiceriniens,  neighbours  of  the  II u- 
rons,  31. 

Equus  fraternits,  482. 

Erect  attitude  of  inhabitants  of  Coun 
try  of  Women,  505. 

Erigone,  her  place  in  the  zodiac,  150. 

Erikson,  Leif,  discovery  of  America 
by,  193. 

Errors,  in  translating  from  Chinese, 
257;  origin  of,  in  account  of  Fu- 
sang,  449. 

Espadarte,  or  narwhal,  145. 

Esquimaux,  in  Aleutian  Islands,  344 ; 
in  Alaska,  30 ;  allied  to  Ainos,  84 ; 
and  Tartars,  81 ;  said  to  have  lived 
in  Vinland,  453 ;  meaning  of  name, 
88 ;  characteristics  of,  183 ;  religion 
of,  6 ;  peaceful  nature  of,  357 ;  hos 
pitality  of,  350;  tattooing  of,  346; 
dancing  of,  347;  doorways  of,  518; 
practice  of  nursing  children,  501 ; 


756 


INDEX. 


crossing  between  Asia  and  America, 

183. 

Eatafiate,  or  Mexican  absinthe,  508. 
Estufas,  description,  435 ;  and  uses  of, 

436. 

Eternity,  the  Land  of,  625. 
Ethiopia,    communication    of,    with 

Egypt,  144. 

Ethnography  of  Foreign  Nations,  16. 
Ethnology,  Chinese  system  of,  80. 
Etruria  and  Mexico,  same  fables  in, 

155. 

Europe,  visited  by  Buddhists,  5 ;  Chi 
nese    not   acquainted    with,    180; 

Quetzalcoatl  not  from,  143. 
Europeans,    ignorant    of    Asia   and 

Africa,  454. 

Euskarian  language,  366. 
Explorations  by  the  Arabs,  37. 
Explorers,  errors  of,  450,  483,  708. 


Fables,  told  only  of  unknown  lands, 
121,  163;  truth  contained  in,  105, 
336;  related  by  Tacitus,  56;  by 
early  explorers,  94,  450,  708 ;  same 
in  Asia  and  America,  155 ;  destruc 
tion  of  universe,  615;  regarding 
Vishnu,  152 ;  Alexander  and  Char 
lemagne,  95 ;  flying-men,  535 ;  sala 
manders,  532 ;  in  Mexico,  490 ;  in 
SHAN  HAI  KING,  181 ;  regarding 
tree  of  stone,  416 ;  regarding  HAN, 
341;  regarding  FU-SANG,  48,  56, 
163,  174,  224,  243;  and  the  FU- 
SANG  ^  tree,  219  ;  origin  of,  218  ; 
none  in  Hwui  SH!N'S  account,  224. 

Fabulous  Encyclopedia,  674. 

FA  HIAN,  journey  of,  to  India,  10; 
mistakes  made  by,  450 ;  companions 
of,  444. 

FAH,  meaning  of,  457. 

FAH  Hill,  656. 

Fairies  of  the  Chinese,  401. 

Fairy  Hills,  the  Three,  241. 

Fairy-land,  in  the  KWUN-LUN  Mount 
ains,  253;  a  tree  of  stone  in,  254. 
See,  also,  P'ANG-LAI  and  LANG 
YUEN. 

FA-KHEU  KING,  a  Chinese  translation, 
458. 

FA-KIAI-NGAN-LI-TU,  a  Chinese  book, 
94. 

"  Familiar  Discourses  "  of  Confucius, 
672. 

Family  of  criminals  punished,  64, 
464. 

FAN  River,  653. 


FAN-LIS,  the  way  of,  666. 

FAN-T'IAO  Mountain,  645. 

F'ANG-CHANG,  an  island  of  the  genii, 
251. 

Fasting,  in  Fu-sang,  292  ;  and  Mexi 
co,  466,  581 ;  by  Buddhist  monks, 
441 ;  punishment  for  not,  614. 

Feathers,  snow  described  as,  450. 

Feather-work,  temple  adorned  with, 
616. 

FEI,  a  poisonous  insect,  656. 

Females,  Island  of,  488. 

Females,  excess  of,  born  in  Japan, 
632. 

Festivals,  at  Norton  Sound,  347 ;  of 
Peruvians,  210. 

Fiak-sai.    See  PE-TSI. 

Fiber  of  agave,  value  of,  98,  521 ; 
woven  into  brocade,  236. 

Fig,  Chinese  name  for,  415.  See,  also, 
Bread-fruit  tree  and  Prickly-pear. 

Finns,  influenced  by  Buddhism,  5. 

Fir-tree,  Aztec  name  for,  219. 

Fira-kana,  invention  of,  637. 

Fire,  destruction  of  mankind  by,  615 ; 
Island,  trees  and  rats,  225,  530. 

Fire-drills,  representations  of,  551. 

Fish  with  ten  bodies,  679. 

Fish-eaters,  or  Esquimaux.  68. 

Fish-skins,  tribes  clothed  in,  90. 

Fishing-boats,  Corean,  515. 

Fitaka  no  kisi,  mission  of,  627. 

Five  ages,  accounts  of,  154,  158. 

Flora,  of  Asia  and  America  connect 
ed.  97. 

Florida,  called  "  Great  Ireland,"  92  ; 
woman  from,  met  in  Tartary,  35  ; 
deer  kept  in,  431. 

Flowers  offered  to  Buddha,  133 ;  to 
the  gods,  598;  the  Place  of  the 
House  of,  598. 

Flowing-stream,  Islands  of  the,  668. 

Flutes  of  Mexicans,  422. 

Flying-people,  traditions  of,  535 ; 
origin  of  stones  of,  514. 

Fo,  Chinese  name  of  Buddha,  28,  77, 
123,  595. 

FO-KIO-SI,  the  Temple  of  the  Recep 
tion  of  the  Law,  629. 

Fomahaud,  name  of  a  star,  145. 

FONG-HOANG,  varieties  of,  670. 

Food,  derived  from  century-plants, 
98,  384 ;  prepared  by  Alaskans  for 
travelers,  348,  350. 

Foot-prints,  worship  of,  72,  553,  560, 
563. 

Forehead,  lines  tattooed  upon,  346. 

Foreign  Range,  645. 

Forest  of  agaves.  384. 


INDEX. 


Formosa,  Chinese  colonies  in,  84. 

Fort  Simpson,  Chimsean  Indians  at. 
352. 

Fortifications,  in  America,  198 ;  none 
in  Alaska  or  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
351 ;  in  Mexico  or  Central  Ameri 
ca,  420. 

Foucaux,  M.,  note  by,  183. 

Fountain  of  wine,  225,  239. 

Four  ages,  Hindoo  account  of,  154, 
158,  615 ;  Aztec  account  of,  151, 158. 

Fourth  day,  consummation  of  mar 
riage  postponed  to,  619. 

Fou-so,  Japanese  pronunciation  of 
FU-SANG,  which  see. 

Foxes  with  nine  tails,  651,  657,  658, 
664. 

Fox  Islanders,  tattooing  of,  346 ;  hos 
pitality  of,  350. 

France,  Chinese  transcription  of,  404. 

Franck,  M.,  drawings  of,  573. 

Frontispiece,  reference  to,  361. 

Fruits  offered  to  Buddha,  133;  and 
to  the  gods,  598. 

Fu,  its  pronunciation  and  meaning. 
408. 

Fu  Mountain,  652. 

Fu-tree,  or  FU-SANG  tree,  182,  653, 
666. 

FU-HI,  spirits  of,  reign  of,  671. 

FU-LI  Mountain,  650. 

FU-LIN,  Chinese  term  for  the  west,  57. 

FU-NAN,  Chinese  term  for  the  south, 
57. 

FU-SANG,  Chinese  characters  for,  399  ; 
Fu-su  sometimes  used  for,  400; 
original  sound,  405 ;  possibly  a 
transcription  of  pisanff,  405,  642 ; 
and  used  for  "  Mexico,"  406 :  mean 
ing  of  term,  46,  56,  57,  219,  399 ; 
used  for  the  extreme  east,  57,  76 ; 
derived  its  name  from  a  plant  or 
tree,  94,  173;  description  of,  20, 
40,  260,  262,  264 ;  its  situation,  203, 
360,  653,  658 ;  its  distance  and  di 
rection  from  China,  105,  163,  192, 
228,  329,  639;  route  to,  360,  447; 
distance  from  Great  HAN,  19  ;  clew 
to  location  of,  300,  681 ;  in  same 
direction  as  HIA-I,  233  ;  in  Eastern 
Asia,  235,  359 ;  on  western  side  of 
the  Pacific,  243  ;  one  of  the  Kurile 
Islands,  243;  Saghalien,  179,  242; 
in  Philippine  Islands,  682;  in  Ja 
pan,  46,  174, 191 ;  not  in  Japan,  58, 
108,  164,  178,  333,  402,  639,  641, 
685;  term  applied  to  Japan,  46, 
242,  249 ;  never  applied  to  Japan, 
109 ;  east  of  Japan,  227,  242,  639 ; 


place  in  Chinese  maps,  50,  94 ;  in 
America,  118,  140,  336;  not  in 
America,  189,  191 ;  included  South 
America,  59  ;  not  in  South  Ameri 
ca,  194;  in  Alaska,  189;  in  Ore 
gon,  55, 163  ;  or  California,  20, 163 ; 
near  San  Francisco,  68,  177;  not 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  or  Califor 
nia,  196;  in  Mexico,  12,  95.  399; 
not  in  Mexico,  189;  the  place  of 
sunrise,  252,  342 ;  not  a  sun-myth, 
226,  341 ;  used  as  name  of  Fairy 
land,  240 ;  compared  to  Laputa, 
243 ;  its  great  size,  52,  63,  220,  534, 
640;  a  small  island,  243;  position 
can  not  be  determined,  242;  two 
countries  so  called,  406,  409  ;  early 
knowledge  of,  by  Chinese,  12,  207, 
218,  221,  642 ;  and  by  Greeks,  56 ; 
TONG  FANG-SO'S  account  of,  219; 
KIU-YUEN'S  reference  to,  218;  Yu 
KIE'S  account  of,  224,  519 ;  visited 
only  once,  94;  how  the  account 
reached  us,  448 ;  no  further  infor 
mation  regarding,  233,  246  ;  varia 
tions  in  texts  regarding,  709 ;  errors 
made  in  copying,  709 :  knowledge 
of,  preserved  in  China,  254 ;  ac 
counts  of,  have  a  common  origin, 
107;  analogy  between,  and  Great 
HAN, -216;  called  the  Vinland  of 
Asiatic  explorers,  168  ;  figure  of  a 
native  of,  58,  69,  75 ;  statue  of  a 
native  of,  254;  stanza  regarding 
him,  254 ;  peculiarities  of,  418 ; 
marvels  contained  in,  48 ;  dwell 
ings  in,  418 ;  prisons  of,  457 ;  pun 
ishment  of  crime  in,  435;  464 ;  slave- 
children,  457,  462;  animals,  239, 
534 ;  deer,  424 ;  horse-carts,  480  ; 
oxen,  425 ;  horns,  424 ;  silk-worms, 
223,  524 ;  metals  and  markets,  431 ; 
mirrors,  522;  liquor,  397;  mourn 
ing,  466;  fasting,  466;  courtship, 
432;  titles  of  noblemen,  411,413; 
and  of  king,  409  ;  delay  after  coro 
nation,  466 ;  colour  of  his  garments, 
99,  470  ;  music  attending  him,  421 ; 
his  palace,  224,  528 ;  former  igno 
rance  of  people  of,  456 ;  introduc 
tion  of  Buddhism,  126 ;  Asiatic  civ 
ilization,  456,  470;  East  Indian 
arts,  76  ;  Chinese  customs.  65,  212, 
234;  an  envoy  from,  179,  221,  519; 
fables  regarding,  56,  163  ;  not  wor 
thy  of  credit,  194  ;  account  should 
be  consistently  explained,  342  :  re 
capitulation  of  arguments  regard 
ing,  684. 


758 


INDEX. 


Fu-sang,  Notices  of,  by  Professor  S. 
Wells  Williams,  200. 

Fu-sang,  or,  Who  Discovered  Ameri 
ca?  174. 

Fusang,  Where  was  I  161. 

FU-SANG  tree,  meaning  of  the  name, 
236;  descriptions  of,  264,  382;  in 
the  SHAN  HAI  KING,  182,  249;  in 
the  SHIH  CHAU  Ki,  236 ;  by  TONG 
FANG-SO,  219 ;  reference  to  it  by 
SO  KI-Y(J,  243 ;  Chinese  traditions, 
399;  called  JOH-MUH,  400;  Nm, 
400;  or  "a  great  cloud  of  blos 
soms,"  401 ;  leaves  of,  variations  in 
texts  regarding  386,  389 ;  its  red 
pears,  211,  395,  449 ;  its  silk  and 
silk-worms,  223,  224,  238,  520;  in 
island  of  KI-SHU,  182 ;  east  of  the 
KWUN-LUN  Mountains,  252 ;  its  pet 
rified  wood,  249  ;  connection  of  its 
name  with  that  of  the  country, 
383;  attempts  to  identify  it,  33; 
inability  to  do  so,  117, 194,  195  ;  its 
possible  extinction,  97;  identified 
as  the  Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis,  40, 
57,  175,  249 ;  not  the  hibiscus,  117, 
195 ;  identified  as  the  mulberry,  or 
Morns  papyri/era,  190 ;  not  the 
mulberry,  164 ;  the  Broussonetia 
papyri/era,  177, 235 ;  not  the  Brous 
sonetia,  117 ;  the  prickly- poppy, 
64 ;  no  such  tree  in  America,  187 ; 
the  pisang,  banana,  or  plantain,  58, 
682 ;  the  agave,  aloe,  maguey,  or 
century-plant,  383  ;  or  possibly  in 
tended  to  include  the  cacti  and 
agaves,  394;  not  the  agave,  174, 
175, 194, 195;  Eitel's  definition,  401. 

Fu-su,  a  variant  of  FU-SANG,  400. 

FU-YU,  Chinese  term  for  the  north,  57. 

FUH-KIEN,  marriage  festivities  in,  477. 

FUN  River,  653. 

FUNG-KAO,  mountain  in,  646. 

FUNG-SHWIN,  the  source  of  the,  253. 

Fylfot,  a  species  of  cross,  552. 

G 

Gage,  welcomed  by  music,  424. 
Gallatin,  researches  of,  81. 
Galoches.     See  Koljushes. 
Gama,  Don  Jean  de,  Island  discovered 

by,  22. 
Games  played  in  Mexico  and  India, 

620. 

Gammadion,  a  species  of  cross,  552. 
Ganesa,  head-dress  of,  135 ;  figure  of, 

612. 
Ganges,  Chinese  transcription  of,  414. 


GANG-KO-LA,  Chinese  name  of  the 
Angara,  24. 

Gaps  in  Japanese  history.  623. 

Garments,  prescribed  by  Buddha,  554 ; 
of  Buddhist  priests,  567;  priests 
of  Burmah,  585 ;  Updsakas,  561 ; 
Mexican  priests,  580 ;  priests  of 
Salvador,  472 ;  of  Chinese  emperor, 
471 ;  of  king  of  Fu-sang,  282,  470 : 
of  Montezuma,  472 ;  not  worn  twice, 
617;  placed  on  images  of  the  dead, 
467;  on  corpses,  475;  worn  by 
Quetzalcoatl,  542 ;  of  Aztecs,  617 ; 
of  East  Indians,  617;  of  Japanese, 
631 ;  made  of  paper,  638 ;  those  of 
bride  and  groom  tied  together,  480, 
619. 

Garnets,  found  in  Alaska,  356. 

Gass,  Rev.  J.,  explorations  of,  610. 

Gaubil,  Pere,  letter  by,  14,  51,  99, 
180;  identification  of  LIEU-KUEI 
by,  52 ;  denies  that  Fu-sang  was  in 
America,  63. 

Gautama,  family  name  of  Buddha,  2 ; 
corruptions  of,  558,  561. 

Geese,  worshiped  in  China,  478 ;  kept 
by  Mexicans,  430. 

Gelius,  his  account  of  Pygmies,  494. 

Gems  used  as  standard  of  -  value,  322, 
356 ;  worked  by  Aztecs,  573. 

Genealogy  of  Asiatic  nations,  82. 

Generations,  the  seten,  definition  of, 
464. 

Genii,  who  ruled  the  earth,  680 ;  Isl 
ands  of,  251 ;  country  inhabited  by, 
488 ;  mentioned  in  Chinese  account, 
42. 

Geographical  Annual,  article  from,  16. 

Geographical  relations  between  Asia 
and  America,  119. 

Geography,  importance  of  study  of, 
191 ;  Chinese  system  of,  80,  242 ;  of 
TU-YU,  674. 

Geoutam,  Thibetan  term  for  Gau 
tama,  558. 

German  races,  relationship  between, 
82. 

Germania.     See  Tacitus. 

Gestation,  length  of,  in  Country  of 
Women,  304 ;  in  monkeys,  498,  499. 

Ghiliaks,  on  Asiatic  coast,  187 ;  their 
Village  of  the  Tower,  138. 

GM-wa,  a  virgin,  163,  250. 

Ghi-wa-kokf,  an  eastern  land,  163,250. 

Ghizneh,  said  to  be  KI-PIN,  445. 

Ghosts,  the  feast  of  the,  591. 

Giants,  Chinese  accounts  of,  662 ;  in 
Patagonia,  455 :  Vishnu's  visit  to, 
152 ;  among  Japanese  rulers,  624. 


INDEX. 


759 


Gibraltar,  food  of  monkeys  of,  510. 

Gifts,  Chinese  custom  regarding,  80. 

Gila  River,  428;  country  near,  62; 
bisons  not  found  near,  427 ;  civiliza 
tion  of  tribes  near,  168 ;  Buddhist 
monks  near,  143  ;  Aztec  monu 
ments  near,  149;  defensive  works 
near,  198. 

Glass,  Chinese  term  for,  355 ;  Chinese 
long  unacquainted  with,  524. 

Gloomy  Sea,  a  name  of  the  Atlantic, 
37. 

Go-betweens,  or  marriage  -  brokers, 
476,  479. 

Gobi,  desert  of,  44,  648. 

Godam,  the  Mongolian  term  for  Gau 
tama,  558. 

Godron,  Dr.  A.,  article  by,  16, 113, 194. 

Gods,  mirrors  held  by,  614 ;  of  East 
ern  Mountains,  647;  with  birds' 
bodies,  661,  665 ;  with  beasts'  bod 
ies,  666 ;  with  tiger's  body — see 
T'IEN-WU  ;  with  sheep's  horns,  653 ; 
of  Thunder,  668. 

Gold,  in  Fu-sang,  Chinese  text  regard 
ing,  288 ;  not  valued,  172, 431 ;  used 
merely  as  an  ornament,  351 ;  valued 
by  Japanese,  164;  not  separated 
from  sand,  637 ;  discovery  of,  in 
Japan,  636,  640 ;  its  first  use,  629 ; 
used  by  Aztecs,  431;  but  not  as 
money,  98 ;  weight  of  a  load  of,  417. 

Golden  Age,  merely  a  popular  fancy, 

Goldsmiths  of  Mexico,  572. 

Gomal  River,  445. 

Goncalves,  his  definition  of  the  fu- 

sang  tree,  64. 

Gorgons,  description  of,  by  Lily,  454. 
Gotama.  See  Gautama,  and  Buddha. 
Grammar  of  the  Chinese  Language,!  7. 
Grammatical  peculiarities  of  several 

languages,  111. 
Grand  Khan,  court  of,  159. 
Grand  View,  Iowa,  elephant  -  pipes 

found  near,  610. 
Grapes,  characters  used  by  Chinese 

for,  211;  found  in  America,  110; 

in  Mexico,  415 ;  but  little  used,  415. 

See,  also,  Vines. 

Grasshoppers,  damage  done  by,  649. 
Graves,  pyramids  used  for,  599,  601. 
Gray,  Professor  Asa,  statements  of, 

401,  508. 

Great,  the  word  prefixed  to  titles,  412. 
Great  Annals  of  China,  39,  193,  260. 
Great  Britain,  Chinese  name  for,  406. 
Great  Canon  beyond  the  Eastern  Sea, 

661. 


Great  Eastern  Waste,  Classic  of  the, 
661. 

Great  HAN.    See  HAN,  Great. 

Great  Island,  a  portion  of  America, 
92 ;  colonists  of,  199. 

Great  Men's  Country,  657.  662. 

Great  Men's  MarkeCand  Mansion,663. 

Great  Spirit,  worshiped  by  American 
tribes,  157. 

Grecian  art,  analogies  to  American 
art,  200. 

Greece,  should  not  be  sought  in 
America,  201. 

Greeks,  thought  to  have  colonized 
Asia,  55;  their  knowledge  of  Fu- 
sang,  56 ;  four  ages  of,  158. 

Green  and  blue  confounded,  209,  471, 
616. 

Green  Hills  Country,  657,  664. 

Green-iade-stone  Mountain,  650. 

Green  Mounds,  Region  of,  644. 

Green  Shepherds'  Plains,  643. 

Greenland,  reached  from  Iceland,  37. 

Greenlanders,  connected  with  Alas 
kans,  344. 

Grellon,  Pere,  travels  of,  35. 

Grijalva,  named  Yucatan  "  New 
Spain,"  97 ;  expedition  of,  550. 

Ground,  Buddhist  priests  sit  upon, 
443. 

Gualle,  Francois,  prediction  by,  29. 

Guanacos,  found  in  Florida,  431. 

Guarani    language,  peculiarities  of, 

Guaranis,  traditions  of,  562,  563. 

Guatemala,  derivation  of  the  name, 
588;  Aztec  place-names  in,  367; 
Aztec  language  spoken  in,  366  ; 
traditions  of,  558,  608;  calendar, 
501 ;  tame  deer  kept  in,  431 ;  king 
of,  accompanied  by  music,  423 ; 
monuments  of,  56 ;  analogy  of  civil 
ization  with  that  of  Mexico,  362. 

Guatimofin,  a  Mexican  high-priest, 
588. 

Guatusos,  a  tribe  of  Costa  Rica,  506. 

Guaxaca,  pearl-fishing  near,  76 ;  name 
contains  name  "  Sakva,"  77. 

Guayra,  road  to,  from  Brazil,  563. 

Guetzlaff,  Carl,  attempts  to  visit  Ja 
pan,  102. 

Guignes,  M.  Jos.  de,  references  to, 
50, 105 ;  his  studies,  120  ;  his tk  His 
tory  of  the  Huns,"  13;  map  fur 
nished  by,  121  ;  article  by,  18 ; 
translation  of  account  of  Fu-sang, 
26,  263;  of  Country  of  Women, 
303 ;  of  the  land  of  "  Marked  Bod 
ies,"  317;  of  Great  HAN,  325;  title 


760 


INDEX. 


of  his  article  incorrect,  39,  119; 
gave  first  information  of  the  Chi 
nese  account,  13,  204 ;  quoted  from, 
by  Buache  and  others,  14 ;  justice 
rendered  to,  64 ;  merit  of  his  works, 
137,  185 ;  had  best  of  the  argument, 
192. 

Gulf-stream  of  the  Pacific,  would 
carry  Chinese  to  Mexico,  167.  See, 
also,  Kuro-siwo. 

Gulliver,  threads  by  which  bound, 
709. 

Gulls,  eaten,  660. 

Guzman,  Nuno  de,  expedition  of,  491, 
530. 

Gymnosophists,  or  digambaras,  443. 

Gypsum,  used  for  window-glass,  529. 

H 

Haas,  P.,  elephant-pipes  found  on 
farm  of,  610. 

Hades,  the  Mexican,  460,  590. 

HAI,  king,  adventures  of,  665. 

Haidah  Indians,  345,  351. 

Hair,  of  Aztec  priests,  580 ;  of  Bud 
dhist  priests,  567;  of  inhabitants 
of  the  Country  of  Women,  106, 
304;  of  Hapales,  502 ;  ofCamaxtli, 
596. 

Hairy  People,  or  Ainos,  21,  84,  186, 
660,  681. 

Hakas,  ancestors  of  the  Kirgtiis,  246. 

Hall,  Prof.  Asaph,  discovery  of,  243. 

Hammocks,  made  from  agave  fiber, 
386. 

HAN,  meaning  of  the  character,  337, 
338 ;  the  river,  339 ;  the  duke,  339 ; 
the  dynasty,  20,  51,  672 ;  the  state, 
164,  165 ;  China  so  called,  338  ; 
description  of  the  three,  165 ;  fable 
regarding,  341 ;  dialect,  629. 

HAN,  Great,  meaning  of  the  name,  25, 
92,  214,  215,  246,  337,  338,  340;  ac 
count  of,  301,  324  ;  Hwui  Shan  its 
author,  301 ;  route  to,  25,  44,  53,  65, 
137,  360;  its  distance  from  W!N 
SH!N,  or  the  land  of  "Marked 
Bodies,"  19,  328,  336;  from  Japan, 
639;  its  location,  22,  163;  interest 
therein,  185 ;  nearer  to  Japan  than 
to  Fu-sang,  333;  no  such  country 
between  Japan  and  China,  109 ;  no 
country  mentioned  between  it  and 
Fu-sang,  188;  situated  on  north 
eastern  coast  of  Asia,  137 ;  in  Sibe 
ria,  22,  178 ;  near  mouth  of  Amoor 
River,  137,  186,  188;  in  Saghalien, 
44,  45, 186 ;  in  Japan,  165  ;  in  Kam- 


tchatka,  20,  25,  52;  not  in  Kam- 
tchatka,  45, 207,  228 ;  in  Alaska,  92, 
336 ;  a  continent,  207 ;  examination 
of  its  customs,  343 ;  their  analogy 
with  those  of  Fu-sang,  216;  two 
countries  bearing  thig  name,  215, 
246,  359. 

HAN,  of  the  North,  Great,  account  of, 
215. 

HAN,  of  the  East,  Great,  account  of, 
215 ;  not  in  Asia,  216  ;  peaceful 
character  of  its  people,  216. 

HAN-HAI,  a  sea  and  island  near  Corea, 
634. 

HAN-LIN,  the  Imperial  Academy,  676. 

Hands,  prints  of,  614 ;  of  idols,  614. 

HAN-KOW,  custom  of  shopkeepers  of, 
240. 

Hanuman,  worship  of  in  India,  135, 
147,  495. 

HAO  Mountain,  653. 

Hapale,  a  species  of  monkey,  497, 
502,  506. 

Hardy,  unprejudiced  opinion  of,  603. 

Hares,  of  Fu-sang,  239 ;  of  Mexico, 
430 ;  in  the  disk  of  the  moon,  147. 

Hats,  made  by  Aleuts,  353 ;  not  worn 
by  American  tribes,  568. 

Hawaii,  Chinese  and  Japanese  in,  100; 
resemblance  of  natives  to  Asiatics, 
102. 

Hawaiian  Spectator,  quotations  from, 
101. 

Hawks's  translation  of  Riviero,  162. 

Head-dresses,  of  Chinese  and  Mexi 
cans,  156;  of  East  Indian  idols,  135; 
of  Buddhist  priests,  567  ;  of  an  ele 
phant's  head,  607. 

Hedges,  of  century-plants,  386,  400. 

Hellwald,  M.  F.  de,  remarks  of,  202. 

Hens,  turkeys  so  called,  115. 

Herbal  of  CHIN-NONG,  674. 

Herb-eaters,  or  Quaquacuiltin,  575. 

Herodotus,  reference  to,  55 ;  account 
of  the  Argippeans,  59^  marvelous 
tales  of,  450. 

d'Hervey  de  Saint-Denys,  M.  le  Mar 
quis,  notes  of,  204 ;  his  translation 
literal,  205;  appendix  by,  217;  cor 
rection  of  error  by,  222 :  his  trans 
lation  of  the  account  of  Fu-sang, 
263;  of  the  Country  of  Women, 
303;  of  the  land  of  "Marked  Bod 
ies,"  317;  of  Great  HAN,  325. 

HEU-TSI,  said  to  be  Chinese  name  of 
Shem,  72. 

Hi,  a  Chinese  prince,  666. 

HIA-CHEU  Island,  664. 

HIA-I,  Fu-sang  near,  233.    See,  also, 


INDEX. 


761 


Amos,  Crab-Barbarians,  and  Hairy 

People. 

HIANG,  confusion  of,  with  TING,  502. 
Hiang-hioung,  language  of  the  Oto- 

mis,  111. 

HIANG-YUAN-SZU,  Temple  of,  628. 
HIAO  KING,  or  Book  of  Filial  Piety, 

672. 
HIAO  LING-TI,  a  Chinese  emperor, 

632. 
HIAO  WU-TI,  a  Chinese  emperor,  42, 

108,  672. 

Hiaqui,  a  Mexican  river,  427. 
Hibiscus,  brought  from  Persia,  57; 

confounded  with  mulberry,  46, 110; 

not  the  fu-sang  tree,  117. 
Hibiscus  rosa  Sinensis,  46,  176,  195; 

thought  to  be  the  fu-sang  tree,  57, 

175,  190,  249. 

Hibiscus  Syriacus,  175,  195. 
Hic-sos,  the  Egyptian  Shepherd  Kings, 

HIEH-TS€*,  a  species  of  animal,  654. 

Hieroglyphic  writing,  of  Asia,  143 ; 
and  America,  143,  156 ;  of  the  Az 
tecs,  144, 145, 363, 536 ;  derived  from 
the  Toltecs,  365  ;  nearly  all  de 
stroyed,  364;  on  image  of  Quetzal- 
coatl,  596. 

HI-HO,  an  astronomer,  250 ;  a  virgin, 
250;  land  of,  250. 

Hills,  islands  so  called,  644. 

Hindoos,  zodiac  of,  144 ;  Nakchairas 
or  Lunar  Houses  of,  144,  149,  150; 
divisions  of  the  day,  475 ;  four  ages 
of,  158,  615;  legend  of,  152;  arts, 
analogies  in  to  those  of  America, 
200;  altars,  133;  marriage  ceremo 
nies,  619 ;  backgammon,  620. 

Hindostan,  communication  with  Eu 
rope,  144;  cornices  upon  temples 
of,  606 ;  prints  of  the  hand  in,  614. 

Hinds,  of  Fu-sang,  58,  69 ;  of  Ameri 
ca,  59,  76.  See,  also,  Deer. 

Hipparion,  an  equine  genus,  482. 

Historiographers,  Chinese,  11. 

History  of  the  Eastern  Barbarians, 
658. 

History  of  the  Gods  and  of  Prodigies', 
671. 

History  of  the  South,  39,  46, 182, 260, 
357.  See,  also,  NAN-SSE. 

HIUEN-CHONG,  a  Buddhist  devotee,  635. 

HIUEN-TS'ANG,  travels  of,  10, 125,  126, 
257,  340,  488. 

Ho,  a  measure  of  capacity,  210. 

Ho,  or  HO-KOUE,  a  nanie  of  Japan, 
250. 

HO-MOU,  or  trees  of  fire,  530. 


HO-POH,  adventures  of,  665. 

HO-SHANG,  Chinese  Buddhist  priests, 
561. 

HO-T'AO,  the  Country  of  the  Ordos, 
44. 

HO-TCHEOU,  the  Island  of  Fire,  530. 

HO-TCHIN,  a  Lord  of  the  Liang  dy 
nasty,  222. 

HO-TU'S  "  Album  of  Gems,"  662. 

HOANG-HO,  cities  upon,  44. 

HOEI-KE,  Tartarian  tribes,  23,  44. 

HOEI-SHIN.    See  Hwui  SnXN. 

Hoffman,  translation  by,  86. 

HOH-HU  Mountain,  663. 

HOH-MING-TSUN-TSIH  Mountain,  667. 

HoH-Yti,  a  species  of  animal,  655. 

HOK-KEEN,  adobe  walls  in,  419. 

Hollanders,  the  discoverers  of  Jesso, 
21. 

Hondius,  map  in  account  of,  370. 

Honey,  extracted  from  century-plant, 
386 ;  not  to  be  eaten  after  mid-day, 
442. 

Honolulu,  shipwrecked  Japanese  in, 
101. 

Horary  cycle  of  the  Chinese,  523. 

Horns,  in  Fu-sang,  210,  284,  424;  in 
Mexico,  69,  100,  210 ;  of  American 
animals,  100;  of  Rocky  Mountain 
sheep,  450 ;  of  bison,  428  ;  of  extinct 
bison,  428 ;  as  instruments  of  mu 
sic,  421,  422;  as  vessels,  430;  gods 
with,  653. 

Horn-bill,  described  as  bird  with  two 
heads,  680. 

Horses,  of  Fu-sang,  32,  225,  239,  534; 
possibly  some  other  animal,  33,  59, 
100,  162,  483;  of  China,  484;  of 
Tartary,  32;  of  Great  HAN  of  the 
North,  215,  246;  limits  of  native 
country  of,  100 ;  not  found  in  some 
parts  of  Siberia,  32 ;  method  of  tam 
ing,  654;  not  raised  in]Japan,  178; 
631,  640;  introduced  into  Japan, 
100,  627;  used  as  post-horses,  626; 
myth  of  creation  of,  47;  none  in 
America,  47,  99,  175;  bones  of  in 
America,  203,  482;  may  have  sur 
vived  in  America,  59,  70,  162,  482 ; 
especially  in  South  America,  483 ; 
said  to  have  existed  in  Newfound 
land,  483 ;  brought  to  America  from 
Europe,  43,  115,  196,  481;  called 
"tapirs"  and  "deer,"  483;  use  of 
in  Apache  courtship,  433. 

Horse-carts  of  Fu-sang,  286,  480. 

Horse-deer,  elks  so  called  by  Spaniards, 
116. 

Horus,  an  Egyptian  god,  58,  72. 


762 


INDEX. 


Hospitality,  of  people  of  land  of 
"Marked  Bodies,"  320;  of  Aleu 
tians,  350 ;  of  American  tribes,  348. 

Hot-springs,  in  Nicaragua,  534 ;  Val 
ley  of.  See  TANG-KU. 

Hu  Marsh,  651. 

Hu  River,  644. 

HU-KUANG,  a  Chinese  district,  206. 

HU-PE,  a  Chinese  province,  40. 

HU-SHE  Mountain,  652. 

Huaraanga,  pyramids  in,  565. 

Huatamo,  a  town  in  Michoacan,  588. 

Huatulco,  appearance  of  Wixipeco- 
cha  at,  539. 

Huazamala,  a  town  in  Jalisco,  588. 

Huazontlan,  a  Mexican  town,  541. 

Hudson's  Bay,  cattle  found  near,  33  ; 
customs  of  tribes  near,  34,  75. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  102. 

Huematzin,  a  Toltec  astronomer,  559. 

HUEN  People,  667. 

Huetlapan,  home  of  the  Toltecs,  364. 

Huey-Comitl,  a  Mexican  hero,  566. 

Hueya,  an  Aztec  verb,  508. 

HUH,  a  measure  of  capacity,  210,  425. 

HUIEN-HIAO,  a  Chinese  zodiacal  sign, 
145. 

Huilcas,  a  Peruvian  tribe,  565. 

Huitl,  the  termination  dropped,  378. 

Huitzillan,  temple  at,  380. 

Huitzilopochtli,  meaning  of  the  name, 
379 ;  conception  of,  97,  614 ;  the  god 
of  war,  373,  374;  bloody  rites  of, 
575 ;  feast  in  honor  of,  526 ;  a  drag 
on  on  his  escutcheon,  533 ;  son  of 
the  god  of  plants,  380 ;  the  god  of 
vegetation,  380 ;  worshiped  in  green 
garments,  472 ;  a  deification  of  the 
century-plant,  379 ;  names  given  to, 
381. 

Huitztli,  or  uitztli,  fresh  pulque,  380. 

Human  sacrifices  in  Mexico,  32. 

Humboldt,  Alex,  von,  believed  Ameri 
can  tribes  came  from  Asia,  49 ;  in 
fluenced  by  Pere  Gaubil,  51,  181 ; 
views  as  to  connection  of  Asiatic 
and  American  civilizations,  63 ;  quo 
tations  from,  142. 

Humming-birds,  said  to  die  and  re 
vive,  454. 

HUNG-HUNG,  land  of,  657. 

HUNG-LI-TI  Hill,  667. 

Hungarian  verbs,  conjugation  of,  111. 

Huns,  History  of  the,  13. 

Hurakan,  worship  of,  551. 

Ilurons,  reference  to,  by  Home,  31 ; 
a  woman  of,  found  in'Tartary,  35. 

Husbands,  of  women  of  the  Country 
of  Women,  308;  of  the  so-called 


Amazons,  504;  serpents  taken  as, 
529. 

Huttman,  Mr.,  sec'y  of  Asiatic  Soc., 
51,  67. 

Hvitramannaland,  White  Men'sLand, 
199. 

HWA-KIAU,  or  marriage  sedan,  477. 

HwAH-fish,  655. 

HWAI-NAN-TSZ',  a  Chinese  philosopher, 
47,  226,  653,  659. 

HWAI  SENG,  journey  of,  to  India,  10. 

HWAN  River,  646. 

HWANG-TI,  a  Chinese  emperor,  221, 
250,  665,  671. 

HWOH-SHI,  or 

HWOH-TUNG,  tadpoles,  644. 

Hwui,  meaning  of,  443 ;  its  common 
occurrence,  443. 

Hwui  SH^N  (HoEi  SHIN,  or  Hwui- 
SHIN),  meaning  of  name,  205 ;  na 
tionality  of,  444;  our  imperfect 
knowledge  of,  710 ;  one  of  a  party 
of  five,  233,  237;  not  a  native  of 
Fu-sang,  223 ;  not  a  native  of  China, 
206 ;  but  a  native  of  Cophene,  709 ; 
probably  understood  Chinese  but 
imperfectly,  448, 709 ;  Yu  Kie's  mis 
understanding  of,  521, 525 ;  journey 
through  Corea,  527;  preservation 
of  his  story,  222';  the  Chinese  text, 
262 ;  variations  in  different  texts, 
261 ;  circumstances  under  which  the 
account  was  given,  221,  439 ;  ques 
tioned  by  representative  of  the  em 
peror,  420;  author  of  the  account 
of  the  Country  of  Women,  244 ;  as 
well  as  Jihat  of  "  Marked  Bodies," 
and  Great  HAN,  301 ;  proof  that  he 
had  visited  some  unknown  land, 
641,  685;  evidence  of  honesty  of, 
685 ;  interest  excited  by  his  story, 
11 ;  convinced  Chinese  emperor  and 
scholars,  12 ;  truths  told  by,  12, 358, 
686 ;  difference  between  his  account 
and  other  tales  of  Fu-sang,  217 ;  no—" 
fables  told  by,  224 ;  courage  of,  334 ; 
lack  of  care  in  examining  his  story, 
493 ;  should  not  be  assumed  to  be 
dishonest,  335;  allowances  to  be 
made  for,  450,  455,  708 ;  principle 
adopted  in  translating  his  story, 
255,  355 ;  used  li  in  its  usual  mean 
ing,  333 ;  reasonably  accurate  in  his 
estimates,  334  ;  did  not  describe 
countries  on  the  route,  234;  may 
not  have  visited  Fu-sang,  140 ;  did 
not  visit  Country  of  Women,  213 ; 
repeated  stories  of  Chinese  sailors, 
202 ;  rejection  of  his  story,  175, 194, 


INDEX. 


763 


202,  233,  300 ;  guided  by  old  tradi 
tions,  220;  not  first  discoverer  of 
Fu-sang,  204,  207 ;  the  envoy  from 
Fu-sang,  223,  237,  520;  traditions 
in  Mexico  of  his  visit,  706;  his 
name  and  title  preserved  as  Wixi- 
pecocha,  540 ;  his  story  should  lead 
to  one  of  three  conclusions,  341 ; 
which  is  attended  with  fewest  diffi 
culties  f  342. 

Hyacinth,  Father,  verdict  of,  175. 

Hyperboreans,  country  of,  55,  63. 

Hypochlorite,  found  in  Alaska,  356. 

I 

I,  the  prince  named,  659. 
I-HAN,  a  Chinese  astronomer,  86. 
I-TIEN-SU-MAN  Mountain,  667. 
Ice,  people  and  animals  floated  upon, 

36 ;  but  little  formed  in  China,  354 ; 

wonder  of  the  change  of  water  into, 

354;    described  as   "water-silver," 

327. 
Iceland,  wood  and  animals  floated  to, 

36 ;  a  possible  route  to  America,  37. 
Icelandic  sagas,  credibility  of,  100. 
Icelanders,   America    discovered  by, 

193 ;  and  named  Vinland,  452. 
Icy  Cape,  tattooing  of  people  near, 

"Icy-silver,"  ice  possibly  so  called, 

OKK 

Idols,'of  Egypt,  71 ;  of  Java,  612 ;  of 
Mexico,  597,  613. 

Igurians,  New- Year's  day  of,  499. 

Iliad,  described  as  a  sun-myth,  341. 

Illegitimate  children,  treatment  of, 
463. 

Images,  of  Buddha,  in  Fu-sang,  298 ; 
in  London,  5 ;  resembling  Buddha, 
in  America,  200,  591,  592,  594,  595 ; 
in  Buddhist  temples,  606 ;  of  spirits, 
exposed  in  Fu-sang,  212,  294 ;  in 
Asia,  235 ;  of  dead,  made  in  Mexi 
co,  467;  and  Yucatan,  468. 

Imperial  Library  of  Paris,  618. 

Impregnable,  Chinese  transcription 
of,  404. 

Iname,  a  Japanese  minister,  628. 

Incas,  ritual  of,  210. 

Incense,  offered  to  the  gods,  598. 

Incense-burner  of  Chinese  emperor, 
520. 

Incombustible  fabric,  225. 

Incontinence,  punishment  of,  584. 

India,  intercourse  between,  and  China, 
10,  113,  440,  446;  traces  of,  should 
not  be  sought  in  America,  201 ; 


veneration  of  cross  in,  552 ;  pyra 
mids  of,  601 ;  marriage  ceremonies, 
619;  divisions  of  zodiac  in,  144; 
architecture  of,  96;  inhabited  by 
pygmies,  494 ;  garments  of  people 
of,  617;  manner  of  carrying  chil 
dren  in,  620 ;  cakes  made  in,  620 ; 
wopaZ-plant  in,  76. 

Indians,  name  given  to  American 
tribes  by  Columbus,  230. 

Indian  Bulletin,  article  from,  16. 

Indian  corn.    See  Maize. 

Indian  fig.  See  Prickly-pear  and  No 
pal. 

Indigo,  preparation  of,  471. 

Indra-Saba,  temple  of,  135. 

Inferno,  described  by  Lily,  454. 

ING-CHEU,  an  island  of  the  genii,  251. 

Inhabitants  of  the  Country  of  Women, 
493. 

Innuit.    See  Esquimaux. 

Inscriptions  at  Palenque,  421. 

Intemperance,  view  of,  by  Buddhists, 
547 ;  of  lamas  of  Mongolia,  585. 

Interment,  practiced  by  Toltecs,  467. 

International  Congress  of  American 
ists,  16. 

Intlacatl,  definition  of,  410. 

Iowa,  elephant-pipes  found  in,  610. 

Iris-plant,  said  to  be  found  in  Fu- 
sang,  41,  211. 

Irish,  discovery  of  America  by,  92. 

Iron,  lack  of,  in  Fu-sang,  288,  431 ; 
not  known  to  Mexicans,  98,  431 ;  or 
other  American  tribes,  117, 159, 172, 
194;  or  in  some  Asiatic  countries, 
177;  or  in  Loo  Choo  Islands,  194; 
its  introduction  into  Japan,  627, 
636 ;  its  use  in  Japan,  117,  164, 640 ; 
rare  in  Japan,  47. 

Iroquois,  hospitality  of,  349 ;  councils 
of,  436. 

Isis,  place  of,  in  the  zodiac,  150. 

Islands,  of  the  Pacific,  36,  101;  of 
Fire,  225 ;  of  Females,  488 ;  of  the 
Flowing  Stream,  679 ;  described  as 
mountains,  644. 

1'Isle,  M.  de,  letter  to,  14,  180 ;  map 
by,  29. 

Istayata,  a  Mexican  town,  509. 

Italmen.     See  Kamtchatkans. 

Itineraries,  references  to,  10,  137. 

Itoa,  definition  of,  413. 

Itzas,  traditions  of,  557;  length  of 
records  of,  559. 

Itzamna,  or  Zamna,  556. 

Jtzcalli,  a  Mexican  month,  512. 

Itzcoayo  tilmatli,  a  mantle,  473. 

Itzcuintli,  or  dog,  147. 


764 


INDEX. 


Itzehecaya,  or  "Wind  of  Knives," 
590.  ' 

Ivory,  found  near  Kolyma  River,  35 ; 
and  in  Alaska,  356. 

Ixneztlaciulolli,  a  mantle,  474. 

Ixtenextl,  a  mound  at  Cholula,  605. 

Ixtli,  meaning  of,  605. 

Ixtlilxochitl,  quotations  from,  62, 420. 

Jyo,  a  Japanese  province,  249. 

iza-naki-no-mikote,  a  Japanese  divin 
ity,  47. 

Iztaccihuatl,  or  "  the  White  Woman," 
a  Mexican  mountain,  506,  507. 

Iztatl,  Aztec  word  for  salt,  508. 

Iztauhyapatli,  a  Mexican  plant,  509. 

Iztauliyatt,  a  species  of  Artemisia, 
508,  509. 

Iztli,  or  obsidian  (q.  v.),  151,  529. 


Jack-tree,  of  India,  166. 

Jackass  rabbits,  size  of,  534. 

Jacob,  history  of,  a  sun-myth,  341. 

Jade-stone,  placed  in  tombs,  617 ;  tree 
of,  416. 

Jaitdwanardma,  a  pyramid,  602. 

JAN,  meaning  of,  503, 

jAN-trees,  649. 

Japan,  meaning  of  the  name,  174, 178, 
549;  situation  of,  630:  route  to, 
from  China,  634,  635;  distance 
from  China,  630;  from  LIAO-TONG, 
19;  f  rom  Corea,  65 ;  direction  from, 
of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  316,  328 ;  of 
Great  HAN,  639;  of  Fu-sang,  227, 
242,  328 ;  of  CHU-JU,  495 ;  on  route 
from  China  to  Fu-sang,  63 ;  and 
from  China  to  America,  22 ;  nearer 
Great  HAN  than  Fu-sang  is,  333 ; 
no  country  like  Great  HAN  between 
it  and  China,  109 ;  the  Pacific  gulf- 
stream  flowing  from,  9 ;  its  people 
acquainted  with  lands  north,  29; 
and  other  foreign  countries,  633; 
connected  with  Kamtchatka  by  the 
Kurile  Islands,  8 ;  journey  from,  to 
Aleutian  Islands,  335 ;  map  drawn 
in,  29 ;  communication  with  Pacific 
islands,  101;  ship  of,  wrecked  on 
Oahu,  101 ;  one  wrecked  near  Queen 
Charlotte's  Island,  102 ;  discovery 
of  a  great  continent,  101 ;  its  sailors 
may  have  drifted  to  America,  168, 
241 ;  no  proof  of  such  voyages,  122 ; 
a  "  Country  of  Women  "  in,  178, 638, 
640 ;  no  place  east  of,  for  "  Country 
of  Women,"  110,  120;  called  Fu- 
sang,  242,  249;  reason  for  name, 


57;  denial  that  it  was  ever  called 
Fu-sang,  109, 120 ;  identified  as  Fu- 
sang,  46,  174,  191 ;  said  not  to  be 
Fu-sang,  58,  65,  108,  109,  164,  178, 
402,  639 ;  no  fu-sang  tree  in,  640 ; 
customs  not  same  as  those  of  Fu- 
sang,  641 ;  points  of  resemblance  to 
Fu-sang,  47;  well  known  to  Chi 
nese,  178,  229 ;  too  well  known  for 
fables,  163,  639 ;  thought  to  be  the 
eastern  limit  of  the  world,  94 ;  called 
WA  or  Ho,  250;  history  of,  13, 178, 
623 ;  Ma  Twan-lin's  account  of,  247 ; 
Li  YEN-SHAU'S  description  of,  332 ; 
how  founded,  165 :  colonized  by 
Chinese,  84,  180,  251 ;  settlement  of 
SiN-fu  in,  633  ;  expedition  men 
tioned  by  Japanese  historians,  252 ; 
first  sovereigns  of,  624;  early  rec 
ords,  623 ;  mythical  stories,  252 ;  of 
genii,  681 ;  inhabited  by  Ainos,  84 ; 
non-intercourse  with  foreign  na 
tions,  102;  attacks  upon  SIN-RA 
and  PE-TSI,  626,  627;  conquest  of 
KAO-LI,  628 ;  of  Jesso,  85 ;  colonies 
from,  63 ;  intercourse  with  Corea, 
332,  636,  639  ;  with  Wu,  627;  with 
Continent  of  Asia,  625-629 ;  embas 
sies  to  and  from,  84,  625,  €26 ;  par 
ticularly  to  China,  624,  626,  632, 
635 ;  introduction  of  Buddhism,  5, 
62,  110,  121,  164,  174,  628,  629,  635, 
641 ;  arts  introduced  by  Buddhist 
priests,  572 ;  religion,  125 ;  worship, 
157 ;  married  priests  in,  585 ;  cross 
es  used  as  sign  of  peace,  552 ;  be 
lief  regarding  the  judge  of  the 
dead,  614 ;  altars,  133 ;  journeys  of 
Buddhist  monks  from,  80 ;  visit  of 
architects  to,  627;  petrified  wood 
in,  249 ;  great  age  of  sovereigns, 
624;  length  of  the  li  or  ri,  331; 
sea-crabs  in,  84 ;  no  stags  reared  in, 
164 ;  its  capital,  21 ;  outbreak  of  a 
contagion,  628 ;  poisonous  insects, 
681;  excess  of  females,  632;  the 
CHI-SHUAI,  632 ;  iise  of  knotted 
cords  as  records,  635 ;  introduction 
of  the  compass,  627 ;  the  pomegran 
ate,  625;  titles  of  nobility,  t>29, 
640 ;  music,  629 ;  iron,  627 ;  use  of 
iron,  117,  164;  and  other  metals, 
636,  637,  640 ;  of  gold,  silver,  and 
copper,  164,  629 ;  vine  indigenous 
to,  58 ;  its  names,  42 ;  arms  used  in, 
164,  631 ;  custom  of  wearing  swords, 
681 ;  civil  war  in,  632 ;  walled  cities 
of,  631, 640 ;  no  horses  in  early  days, 
178;  introduction  of  horses,  100, 


INDEX. 


Y65 


627;  use  of  post-horses,  626;  no 
carts  in,  640 ;  or  wagon  roads,  480 ; 
animals  of,  631 ;  products  of,  631 ; 
the  reign  of  an  empress,  626 ;  called 
Zin-gu  Kwo-gu,  632 ;  tattooing,  631, 
635 ;  cycles,  143 ;  zodiac,  144 ;  Chi 
nese  calendar,  630;  Chinese  litera 
ture,  629,  630 ;  introduction  of  art 
of  writing,  624,  637,  640;  and  of 
writing-paper,  638 ;  customs  of,  631 ; 
polygamy  in,  632 ;  punishment  of 
crime  in,  632;  garments  of  Dairi 
worn  only  once,  617;  garments  of 
people,  631 ;  mourning-garments, 
468,  635,  640 ;  mourning  customs, 
632,  635 ;  home  of  the  Toltecs,  62 ; 
and  of  the  natives  of  Bogota,  63 ; 
resemblance  of  people  to  American 
tribes,  62,  155 ;  their  knowledge  of 
America,  104;  words  in  American 
languages,  157;  its  people  might 
decipher  American  inscriptions, 
156 ;  resemblance  of  their  vases  to 
those  of  the  Mexicans,  573 ;  embas 
sy  from,  to  the  IT.  S.,  103 ;  its  people 
in  Hawaii,  100 ;  their  resemblance 
to  Hawaiians,  102. 

Japan,  Annual  Register  of.  See  Ni- 
pon  Ki. 

Japan,  Sea  of,  139. 

Japanese  Encyclopaedia,  107.  See, 
also,  Wa-kan-san-sai-dzo u-ye. 

Japanese  junks.     See  Junks. 

Java,  religion  of,  124, 545  ;  Buddhists 
of,  5 ;  temple  of  Boro-Budor  in,  61, 
135,  602 ;  week  of  five  days  in,  475, 
571 ;  symbolism  of  colours  in,  616. 

Jebis,  account  of,  83,  84. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  a  letter  to,  112. 

JEI  KWAN,  a  Buddhist  priest,  629. 

Jemes,  estufa  at,  435. 

Jenghis  Khan.  See  Chinggis  Chakan. 

Jesso,  its  discovery  by  Hollanders,  21 ; 
account  of,  21 ;  customs,  44;  bold 
ness  of  its  people,  103 ;  its  north 
ern  coast,  46 ;  tiger-skins  exported 
from,  681 ;  Chinese  voyages  to,  19, 
180;  attacks  upon  people  of,  86; 
their  conquest  by  Japanese,  85 ; 
their  revolt,  627;  they  drive  out 
the  Japanese,  86 ;  said  to  be  WAN 
SnXN,  or  the  land  of  "  Marked  Bod 
ies,"  20,  21,  44,  186;  this  statement 
denied,  92,  335. 

Jesso,  Sea  of,  on  route  to  California, 
22. 

Jesso,  Upper,  name  of  Kamtchatka, 
25. 

Jesuits,  remembrance  of,  by  Japanese, 


102 ;  their  change  of  the  length  of 
the  li,  330. 

Jesus,  Chinese  characters  used  for, 
400. 

JE-TSCHAY,  meaning  of  name,  88; 
distance  from  Kamtchatka,  88. 

JEU-PUH  country,  664. 

Jewels,  the  three,  of  Buddhism,  125. 

JIN-CHIN-NGAN,  a  Chinese  author,  676. 

JIN  TSUNG,  a  Chinese  emperor,  231. 

JOH-MUH,  a  term  for  the  fu-sang  tree. 
400. 

Joly,  Professor,  remarks  of,  202. 

Jomard,  M.,  refutation  of  his  opinion, 
76. 

Jones,  Rev.  N.  \V.,  argument  by,  16. 

Journal  Asiatique,  article  from,  669. 

Jouschanu,  name  for  absinthe,  511. 

JU-CHE,  or  Djourdje,  45,  137. 

JU-PI,  or  "  Fish-Skins,"  90. 

Juitemal,  king  of  Guatemala,  588. 

Julien,  M.  Stanislas,  reference  to  trans 
lation  by,  188 ;  his  preparation  for 
translating,  257 ;  his  translation  of 
account  of  Fu-sang,  263;  of  land 
of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  317 ;  of  Great 
HAN,  325. 

Junks,  Japanese,  wrecked  upon  the 
Kurile  Islands,  10 ;  on  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  10;  drifted  to  California, 
9 ;  picked  up  at  sea,  156. 

Juvaka,  robes  presented  by,  to  Bud 
dha,  552. 


K 


KA,  interchanged  with  SHA,  414 

Ka  fukano  wonnoko,  628. 

KA-SHI-MIE,  or  Cashmere,  446. 

Kabah,  elephant's  trunk  at,  607. 

Kadiak,  near  the  American  coast, 
340 ;  amber  found  in,  356 ;  popula 
tion  of,  341  ;  Esquimaux,  344 ; 
dwellings,  353;  tattooing,  346;  its 
people  can  not  understand  Unalas- 
kans,  344. 

KAI-YU  Country,  665. 

Kali,  wife  of  Siva,  546. 

Kalidasa,  works  of,  144. 

Kalmucks,  food  of  herds  of,  511. 

Kaloshes.    See  Koljushes. 

Kamtchatka,  description  of,  86 ;  dis 
tance  from  China,  87, 183 ;  Chinese 
knowledge  of,  19,  180;  suzerainty 
exercised  over,  by  China,  123 ;  called 
Upper  Jesso,  25 ;  distance  from  JE- 
TSCHAY,  88;  Ainos  near,  84;  isl 
ands  near  coast,  9;  islands  con 
necting  it  with  Japan,  8,  22 ;  ship- 


766 


INDEX. 


wrecked  Japanese  in,  101 ;  said  to 
be  Great  HAN,  20,  52;  not  Great 
HAN,  45 ;  identified  with  LIEU-KUEI, 
52,  54,  87 ;  which  was  confounded 
with  Loo  Choo  Islands,  248 ;  its  sea 
receives  the  Ouda  River,  25;  dis 
tance  from,  to  Alaska,  164 ;  visited 
by  Alaskans,  183 ;  winds  blow  from, 
to  America,  62 ;  climate,  28,  33,  89 ; 
animals  of,  89, 90;  reindeer  of,  59, 64. 

Kamtchatkans,  26,  33;  their  dwell 
ings,  88,  353;  their  merry  nature, 
347;  their  songs,  91;  their  mar 
riage  ceremonies,  99 ;  their  punish 
ment  of  thieves,  358. 

KAN-fish,  645. 

KAN-MEI  Mountain,  644. 

KAN-SHUI,  or  «  Sweet  Waters,"  163. 

KAN-TSZ'  fish,  646. 

KAN-Yti's  Body,  657. 

KING  Mountain,  649. 

K'ANG,  definition  of,  435. 

KANG-HI,  Encyclopaedia  of,  86,  246. 

KANG-WHA,  Admiral  Roze's  visit  to, 
528. 

Kaniagmioutes,  religion  of  the,  6. 

KAO  Marsh,  655. 

KAO  River,  654. 

KAO-KIU-LI.    See  Corea. 

KAO-LI,  conquered  by  Japan,  628 
intercourse  with  Japan,  626-629 
paper  carried  from,  to  Japan,  638 
Corea  (q.  v.)  a  transcription  of,  47. 

KAO-SHI  Mountain,  645. 

Kapilapura,  Buddha,  son  of  king  of, 
80. 

Kapilavastu,  Buddha's  birthplace,  1. 

Kaptchak,  said  to  be  KI-PIN,  445. 

Kargaules,  at  a  fair  in  Asia,  8. 

Karlsefne's  adventures,  453. 

Karok  squaws,  tattooing  of,  347. 

Xata-kana,  invention  of,  637. 

Katuns  of  Yucatan,  length  of,  559. 

Kazwini,  references  to,  146,  147. 

KE-KIA-SSE,  an  Asiatic  tribe,  215. 

Kedu,  temple  in,  602. 

Kei-ko,  a  Japanese  prince,  624. 

Kentucky,  bones  found  in,  428. 

Kerkis,  or  Kergis,  24. 

Kesmacoran,  Island  of  Females  near, 
488. 

KEU,  a  character  resembling  that  for 
copper,  388. 

KEU  River,  656. 

KEU-CHWANG  Mountain,  644. 

K'EU-WANG,  description  of,  661. 

KEU-YAO,  the  "  barbed  exotic,"  388. 

Key  West,  preparation  of  agave  fiber 
at,  526. 


Khalkhas,  visited  by  Buddhists,  7. 

Khalupaswaddhaktinka,  definition 
of,  442. 

Khi,  king  of  a  province  of  Corea,  251. 

KHI-TAN,  an  Asiatic  tribe,  24,  45. 

K'I,  meaning  of,  410,  444. 

K'I  Mountain,  651,  667. 

K'l-trees,  654. 

K'I-CHUNG  Mountain,  652. 

K'I-KIN,  a  Chinese  book,  656. 

KI-LIN,  varieties  of,  670. 

KI-PIN,  Chinese  text  regarding,  296 ; 
identification  of,  123 ;  identified  as 
Cabalistan,  77 ;  as  Samarcand,  108, 
212,  213 ;  as  Kaptchak,  445 ;  as  Co- 
phene  (q.  v.),  42,  233. 

KI-SHU,  fu-sang  tree  in,  182. 

KIA-CHING-SHI,  a  Chinese  author,  675. 

KIA-SHA,  definition  of,  442. 

KIA-SHE-MI-LO,  or  Cashmere,  446. 

KIA-Y  Island,  31. 

KIA-YU,  a  book  of  Confucius,  672. 

KIAH-SHI  Mountain,  650. 

KIANG  River,  40. 

KIANG  Tribe,  664. 

KIANG-CHANG'S  Great  Cafion,  661. 

KIANG-JONG,  a  race  of  barbarians,  226. 

KIANG-TUNG  River,  645. 

KIANG- YEN,  a  Chinese  scholar,  677. 

KIAO  People's  Country,  661. 

KIEH-KIAH-SZ'  Country,  246. 

KIEN  River,  645. 

KIEN-KANG,  capital  of  China,  206. 

KIH  River,  647. 

Km-KitiN's  "  Bamboo  Book,"  657, 659, 
665. 

Km-Ntt  River,  648. 

KIH-YUNG  Country,  667. 

Kijofiko,  presents  made  by,  625. 

Kiki-zin,  title  of  ruler  of  Fu-sang,  108. 

KIN,  description  of,  236,  391. 

K'IN  Mountain,  655. 

KIN-SEH  Forest,  647. 

KING,  definition  of,  499,  672. 

KING  River,  646. 

K'ING-CHANG,  a  province  of  Corea, 
625. 

KING-CHEU,  capital  of  China,  40,  206, 
222. 

KING  HANG,  a  Japanese  prince,  624. 

King  of  Fu-sang,  title  of,  280,  409 ; 
musicians  of,  282,  421 ;  changes  of 
garments,  282 ;  mourning  of,  296, 
466  ;  his  palace,  224,  528. 

King  of  Mexico,  title  of,  410 ;  musi 
cians  of,  423 ;  pomp  of,  421,  423 ; 
ceremonies  at  death  of,  467 ;  delay 
before  crowning  his  successor,  469 ; 
palace  of,  529. 


INDEX. 


767 


King  of  Chichimecas,  deer  kept  by, 

King  of    the  country  of    "  Marked 

Bodies,"  320. 

Kings  of  Japan,  age  of,  624. 
Kings  of  Asia,  paths  swept  before, 

Kingsborough,  Lord,  71,  77. 

Kinri,  a  Japanese  title,  638. 

Kio  or  KIAI,  an  Asiatic  country,  215, 
216. 

Kirkis,Kirghis  or  Kirguis,  45, 246, 511. 

K'I-TSU,  the  first  Chinese  prince  in 
Corea,  43. 

Kitsuno  Sukune,  expedition  of,  against 
PE-TSI,  627. 

Kituy,  a  junk  wrecked  upon,  10. 

KIU-NU,  a  Japanese  province,  633, 
634. 

KIU-SIN,  visit  of,  to  Japan,  627. 

KIU-TAN,  Chinese  transcription  of 
Gautama,  558. 

KIU-YE-HAN,  a  place  between  China 
and  Japan,  630,  631,  634. 

KIU-YUEN,  a  Chinese  poet,  47,  207, 
218,  240. 

KIUN,  definition  of,  481. 

KitiN  rushes,  652. 

KIUNG,  a  poisonous  insect,  656. 

Klaproth,  J.,  article  by,  39 ;  refer 
ences  to,  51,  106,  182,  624 ;  his  at 
tack  upon  de  Guignes's  theory,  14 ; 
motive  for,  106 ;  its  weakness,  120, 
228 ;  alone  in  his  views,  229 ;  pos 
sibly  communicated  with,  by  Mr. 
Huttman,  51 ;  informed  as  to  Chi 
nese  knowledge  of  compass,  113, 
114;  his  suppression  of  a  clause, 
468 ;  account  of  petrified  wood, 
249  ;  of  a  Corean  story,  250 ;  an  at 
tempt  to  claim  Titsingh's  transla 
tion,  85 ;  works  from  which  he 
translated,  182;  his  translation  of 
the  account  of  Fu-sang,  263. 

Knapp,  Mr.,  superintendent  of  a  Min 
ing  Co.,  117. 

Knickerbocker  Magazine,  an  article 
in,  15. 

Knistenaux,  tattooing  of  women,  346 ; 
hospitality  of,  350. 

Knotted  cords  used  as  records,  635. 

KO-CHANG-TIAO-LI,  the  Code  of  Com 
petitive  Public  Examinations,  676. 

Ko  Don  Dzu  Roku,  a  Japanese  mem 
oir,  636. 

KO-LI-HAN,  a  Tartarian  tribe,  23,  24, 
44,  45,  82. 

Kodom,  the  Siamese  name  for  Gau 
tama,  558. 


KOH  or  KOH-KOH  fish,  651,  653. 

KOH  Mountains,  648. 

Koliman,  resembles  a  Chinese  name, 

Koljushes,  belief  of,  6 ;  customs  of, 
83. 

Kolyma  River,  8,  35. 

KONG-NGAN-KUE,  a  description  of  Con 
fucius,  672. 

Koi  ai  (or  Corea,  q.  v),  47,  626. 

Ko-rei-ten-o,  a  Japanese  Dairi,  251. 

Kotzebue  Sound,  people  near,  346. 

Koukounoor,  visited  by  Buddhists,  7. 

Koumiss,  made  in  China,  396 ;  from 
milk,  395 ;  a  similar  liquor  made  in 
Mexico,  396 ;  Chinese  text  regard 
ing  it,  286. 

JCoung,  a  native  of  Corea,  251. 

Krishna,  the  Hindoo  Apollo,  152. 

KU-FUNG  Mountain,  650. 

KU-KIN-TU-SHU-TSI-CHIXG,  an  Ency 
clopaedia,  208,  211,  212,  221,  226. 
395. 

KU-KUNG,  king  of  CHOU.  165. 

KU-MAO  Mountain  and  Itiver,  645. 

KU-SHE  Mountain,  650. 

KU-TU-MOEI,  an  Asiatic  tribe,  70. 

KU-YANG-TSA-TSU,  a  Chinese  book, 
675. 

KUAN-MEI,  quotation  from,  221. 

Kubo,  a  Japanese  title,  638. 

Kuchin  Indians,  245. 

Kudic  races,  influenced  by  Buddhism, 
5. 

K(;EH  Mountain,  663. 

KUEI-KI,  intercourse  between,  and 
TAN-CHEU,  633. 

KUEI-YEU-KUANG-SHI.  a  book,  696. 

KUH,  an  Asiatic  country,  246. 

KUH-LIANG  History,  662. 

KCH-LING-YC-T'IEN  Mountain,  665. 

Kulgun,  a  Mongolian  term,  484. 

Kume-wasi,  defeat  of,  62(5. 

KUNG,  meaning  of  523,  595;  length 
of,  331. 

KUNG  MAN-WAXG,  visit  of,  to  Japan, 
626. 

K'UNG-SANG  Mountain,  647. 

KUNG-YANG'S  "  Chronicles,"  647. 

KUO-P'O,  a  Chinese  author,  676. 

KUO-YEN-NIEN-SSE,  a  Chinese  book, 
673. 

Kurile  Islands,  between  Japan  and 
Kamtchatka,  8 ;  the  Pacific  gulf- 
stream  flowing  past,  9 ;  junk 
wrecked  on,  10;  Ainos  in,  84;  route 
to  Fu-sang  passed  near,  447;  Fu- 
sang  one  of,  243;  Country  of  Wom 
en  in,  245. 


768 


INDEX. 


Kuro-siwo,  the  Pacific  gulf -stream,  9, 

10,  121. 
Kuskoquim     women,    tattooing    of, 

346. 
KW'A-FU,  646  ;  death  of,  667. 

K  WAN- YIN,  VOW  Of,  4. 

KWANG-WU,  a  Chinese  emperor,  625, 
632. 

KWEI,  a  species  of  bird,  654. 

KW'EI,  or  cattle  with  one  foot,  668. 

KWEI-KI,  sea  of,  633. 

Kwo,  definition  of,  394. 

KWOH,  definition  of,  406. 

KW'UN  People,  665. 

KWUN-LUN,  a  range  of  mountains, 
252  ;  countries  near,  662  ;  a  tree  of 
stone  in,  254  ;  a  possible  transcrip 
tion  of  quauhtla,  254 ;  an  island  so 
called,  253 ;  meaning  of  the  charac 
ters,  253. 

Kyska,  one  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  9. 


L  and  N  interchanged,  413,  606. 
Labna,  elephant's  trunk  at,  201. 
Lac  insect,  used  in  Cabul,  77. 
Lahore,  nopal-plant  found  in,  76. 
Lakchrni,  statuette  of,  136. 
Lake  Superior,  copper  mined  near, 

Lama,  title  of  Buddhist  priests,  65, 
589  ;  its  form  in  Aztec,  589  ;  as  art 
ists,  606.  See,  also,  Buddhist 
priests. 

LANG-YUEN,  Chinese  account  of,  252. 

Languages,  of  Asia,  differences  be 
tween,  153 ;  of  Aleutian  Islands  and 
Alaska,  344;  Esquimaux,  81;  re 
semblance  of  Asiatic  and  American, 
111,  150,  156,  171,  172;  American, 
of  common  origin,  51 ;  Mexican,  all 
connected,  96  ;  unintelligible,  516. 

Lancet  fish,  645. 

Land  in  Pacific  Ocean,  336. 

Land  and  Sea  Classic.  See  SHAN  HAI 
KING. 

Lanka,  or  Ceylon,  554. 

LAO  Country,  661 ;  River,  656. 

LAO-TSE,  his  journey  to  the  west,  79. 

Lapps,  influenced  by  Buddhism,  5. 

Laputa,  Fu-sang  compared  to,  243. 

Laquenons,  signs  of  zodiac,  146. 

Laurus  Indica,  Aztec  name  for,  509. 

Lead  known  by  Aztecs,  431. 

LEAO-TONG,  port  of  embarkation,  19, 
20,43. 

Leaves  of  f  u-sang  tree,  386,  388,  389. 

Ledyard,  letter  to  Jefferson,  111. 


Legumes,  Chinese  classification  of, 
213. 

LEI  Mountain,  644. 

Leland,  C.  G.,  early  article  by,  15, 
231;  his  book  "  Fusang,"  13,  15, 
170,  229  ;  his  criticism  of  Dr.  Bret- 
schneider,  179. 

Lemon,  Chinese  name  for,  415. 

Leopard-headed  couch.  See  Lion- 
headed. 

Lew-chew.    See  Loo  Choo. 

Li,  length  of,  20,  44,  54,  65,  86,  163, 
328,  329,  330,  332;  variable,  186, 
330;  uncertain,  227;  Klaproth's 
estimate,  228 ;  about  one  third  of  a 
mile,  332 ;  error  in  number  between 
China  and  Japan,  630 ;  Chinese  and 
Japanese,  not  same  length,  331, 
332. 

Li  River,  648 ;  Mountain,  665 ;  peli 
cans,  650. 

LI-LING'S  Body,  a  god,  663. 

LI-SAO,  or  "  The  Dissipation  of  Sor 
rows,"  47,  56,  207,  218,  220,  240. 

LI-SHI,  a  Chinese  author,  677. 

Li  T'AI-PI,  a  Chinese  poet,  47,  226. 

LI-YEN,  or  Li  YEN-SHAU,  a  Chinese 
historian,  19,  40,  45,  163,  192,  221, 
226,  260,  332. 

LIANG  dynasty,  establishment  of,  40, 
222,  440 ;  Great  HAN  first  known  in 
time  of,  92;  Hwui  Snlx's  story 
contained  in  books  of,  222 ;  length 
of  LI  in  time  of,  20. 

LIANG-SHU,  or  Records  of  the  LIANG 
Dynasty,  92,  93,  260. 

LIANG-SSE-KONG-KI,  or  Memoirs  of 
Four  Lords  of  the  Liang  Dynasty, 
179,  221,  223. 

LIANG  WU-TI,  founder  of  the  LIANG 
dynasty,  222. 

Libations,  offered  images,  212. 

LIE-TSEU,  a  Chinese  philosopher,  676. 

LIEU-FONG-TSA-TSU,  a  book,  676. 

LIEU-KUEI,  meaning  of  name,  88  ;  de 
scription  of,  26,  86,  87,  206  ;  a  pen 
insula,  54,  228 ;  its  distance  from 
China,  54 ;  identified  as  Kamtchat- 
ka,  26,  52,  54,  87;  with  Taraikai, 
45 ;  not  Great  HAN,  207,  228 ;  Chi 
nese  colonies  sent  to,  84 ;  Loo  Choo 
Islands  confounded  with,  248. 

Lm  River,  654. 

LIK-PIT,  pygmies  of,  495. 

Lime  used  in  Mexico,  605. 

LIN-T'AO,  a  giant  in,  663. 

Lines,  tattooed  on  face,  346,  347. 

LING-GOEI.    See  LIEU-KUEI. 

LING-KI,  or  spirits  of  the  earth,  671. 


INDEX. 


769 


LING-LING,  or  striped  cattle,  648. 

Lions,  groups  of,  129. 

Lion-headed  couches  of  Buddha,  129 ; 
in  Yucatan,  127,  593. 

Liquor,  drunk  in  Fu-sang,  276,  397 ; 
made  from  agave  sap,  98,  196,  533 ; 
not  mentioned  in  account  of  Fu- 
sang,  235 ;  use  prohibited  by  Bud 
dha,  547;  not  drunk  by  Quetzal- 

.  coatl,  547;  drunk  by  lamas,  585; 
drunk  at  Chinese  weddings,  479. 
See,  also,  Pulque. 

Lisbon,  voyage  from,  by  Arabs,  37. 

Literary  characters  of  Aztecs,  421. 

Lizard,  Chinese  description  of,  680. 

Llamas,  use  of,  170 ;  called  "  sheep," 
115 ;  possibly  called  "  cattle,"  202 ; 
or  "horses,"' 59. 

Lo,  or  koumiss,  211,  396. 

Lo,  kingdom  of,  633. 

LO-LANG,  a  district  of  Corea,  43,  630, 
635. 

LO-PI,  a  Chinese  author,  674. 

Lobscheid,  Rev.  W.,  Chinese  Gram 
mar,  155. 

Locks.    See  Hair. 

Locusts,  eaten  in  Fu-sang,  225 ;  dam 
age  by,  649 ;  poisonous,  in  Japan, 
681. 

LOH  River,  646. 

Lok,  Michael,  map  drawn  by,  370. 

London,  Buddhist  image  found  in,  5. 

London  Illustrated  News,  134. 

Lone  Mountain,  646. 

Long-armed  People,  495. 

LONG-WEI-PI-SHU,  a  Chinese  book, 
206,  213,  221,  228. 

Loo  Choo  Islands,  various  names  for, 
248;  iron  not  known  in,  177,  194; 
confounded  with  LIEU-KUEI,  248. 

Lotus,  an  emblem  of  the  East,  58  ;  of 
Egypt,  57 ;  offered  to  Buddha,  128. 

Louisa  County,  Iowa,  elephant-pipes 
in,  610. 

Louisiana,  account  of,  by  de  Tonti, 
31,  34. 

Lu,  sounds  of  the  character,  411. 

LU-KI  Mountain,  649. 

LC-Ki,  the  Chinese  Book  of  Rites,  60. 

LU-LUN,  Buddhist  books,  635. 

LC-SHi,  a  Chinese  author,  643,  649, 
663. 

LU-SSE-TAO,  a  Buddhist  devotee,  635. 

Lucky  and  unlucky  days,  590. 

LUN-YU,  a  book  by  Confucius,  637, 
672. 

Lunar  Houses,  144,  149,  150.  See, 
also,  Nakchatras. 

LUNG-CHIH,  or  nine-tailed  foxes,  651. 
49 


LUNG-POH  Country,  662. 

Lutes  and  lyres,  647,  661. 

Luzon  Islands.  See  Philippine  Isl 
ands. 

Lye,  from  ashes  of  the  fu-sang,  224, 
525. 

M 

M  and  V  interchanged,  408. 

MA  TWAN-LIN,  a  Chinese  historian,  28, 
64,  193,  231,  440;  source  of  his  ac 
count,  86,  223,  260;  merit  of  his 
work,  217;  changes  in  text,  260; 
omissions,  357;  account  of  Corea, 
209:  of  CHU-JU,  495;  embassies 
mentioned  by,  624;  statement  that 
Fu-sang  is  east  of  Japan,  242 ;  first 
studied  by  de  Guignes,  204. 

Macana,  a  weapon,  437. 

Macassar,  Chinese  transcription  of, 
404,  407. 

Maceta,  Father,  removal  of,  562. 

Macgowan,  Mr. ,  paper  by,  182. 

Madura.    See  Bread-fruit  tree. 

Magazine  of  American  History,  181. 

Magdalena,  statue  at,  537. 

Magellan,  strait  of,  CHANG-JIN  near, 
36. 

Magic,  belief  in,  590. 

Magnetic  chariots  and  fish,  114. 

Maguey,  described  as  a  product  of 
the  agave  (q.  v.),  235. 

Mahd,  Chinese  translation  of,  340. 

Mahara,  a  fabulous  fish,  146. 

Mahavanso,  accounts  preserved  in,  5. 

Maiden,  Mountain  of  the,  645. 

Maidosegee,  a  Chippewa  chief,  611. 

Mailla,  Pere,  translations  by,  39. 

Maize,  called  "wheat,"  117;  Aztec 
term  for,  517;  said  to  be  indige 
nous  to  both  continents,  97 ;  possi 
bly  described  as  "  little  beans,"  31, 
213,  315. 

Malacca,  Chinese  transcription  of,  407. 

Malay,  language,  68 ;  name  of  bana 
na,  58,  405,  642;  garments,  618; 
custom  of  blackening  the  teeth, 
681. 

Males,  Island  of,  488. 

Mammoth,  or  mastodon,  ea^ly  exist 
ence  of,  in  America,  203, 008 ;  ivory 
from,  35 ;  its  head  as  an  ornament, 
607. 

MAN-HU  Mountain,  667. 

Mafiacicas,  tradition  of,  564. 

Managua  Lake,  springs  near,  534. 

Manco-Capac,  143,  162,  198. 

Mandans,  belief  of,  123, 127;  tortures 
of,  198 ;  doorways  of,  518. 


770 


INDEX. 


Mountain,  652. 

Mani,  high-priest  of,  557. 

Mantchoos,  ancestors  of,  45, 187 ;  lan 
guage  of,  111;  garments  of,  90; 
term  for  Gautama,  588  ;  cyclic 
years  distinguished  by  colours,  99 ; 
their  zodiac,  144,  149. 

Mantchooria,  visited  by  Buddhist 
priests,  7 ;  Great  HAN  in,  186. 

Mantles,  worn  by  Aztec  kings,  472; 
from  superstitious  ideas,  474. 

Manuscripts,  liability  of  error  in  copy 
ing,  449. 

MAO  Mountain,  654. 

MAO-JIN,  or  Hairy  Men  (q.  v.),  21.  See, 
also,  Ainos  and  Crab- Barbarians. 

MAO-TSZ'  aborigines,  535. 

Maps,  furnished  by  de  Guignes,  121 ; 
unreliability  of  those  made  by  Chi 
nese,  242  ;  use  of  name  "  Mexico  " 
upon,  370;  exhibited  to  Congress 
of  Americanists,  371 ;  errors  in  old, 
490. 

Maponos,  tradition  of,  564. 

Marble,  found  in  Alaska,  356. 

Mare,  Peter,  elephant-pipe  found  by, 
610. 

"Marked  Bodies,"  land  of  (WXN 
SHiN),  description  of,  21,  301,  316 ; 
meaning  of  term>  245 ;  its  distance 
from  Japan,  19,  21,  328;  and  from 
Great  HAN,  324,  336 ;  identified  as 
Jesso,  20,  21,  22,  44,  186;  denial, 
92,  335;  as  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
91,  335 ;  as  a  land  of  Ainos,  84, 
186 ;  difficulty  in  identifying,  214 ; 
a  further  account  of,  357;  Hwui 
Shan  the  author,  301 ;  examination 
of  customs  of,  343. 

Markets  of  Fu-sang,  288,  431;  of 
Mexico,  432;  of  land  of  "Marked 
Bodies,"  322. 

Marriages,  among  Hindoos,  619;  in 
China,  476;  among  the  SHE-GOBI, 
25 ;  in  Mexico,  99, 479,  618 ;  in  Fu- 
sang,  292 ;  of  prisoners,  196,  272 ; 
consummation  of,  postponed,  619 ; 
of  Buddhist  priests,  585 ;  of  Mexi 
can  priests,  578,  581 ;  celebrated  by 
tying  garments,  157. 

Masaya,  volcano  of,  531. 

Massachusetts,  as  described  by  North 
men,  452. 

Mastodon.    See  Mammoth. 

Matlalxihuitl,  a  Mexican  plant,  471. 

Matsumai,  a  name  of  Jesso,  21,  186. 

Maundevile,  his  account  of  Amazons, 
244 ;  his  repetition  of  Cassar's  story, 
336. 


,  thought  to  be  American 
tribes,  56. 

Maxtli,  a  Mexican  garment,  618. 

Mayas,  mourning  customs  of,  466; 
divisions  of  day  by,  476  ;  symbolism 
of  colours  among,  616;  books  of, 
618. 

Mazapili,  spoke  Aztec  language,  366. 

Mazatecas,  kept  tame  deer,  431. 

Mazatl,  Aztec  word  for  "  deer,"  481. 

Me,  meaning  of  the  syllable  in  Aztec, 
376. 

Meals,  hour  at  which  eaten,  441,  581, 
584. 

Mecatl,  definition  of,  508. 

Media,  definition  of,  147. 

Mecitl,  an  early  Aztec  chief,  373. 

Medicine-men,  called  by  same  title  as 
Buddhist  lamas,  65 ;  trials  of,  357. 

Mediums  of  exchange,  used  by  Az 
tecs,  98. 

MEI  fish,  652. 

MEI-JIN,  or  "go-betweens,"  476. 

MEI-Y€T  Mountain,  653. 

Melendez,  Pierre,  statement  of,  31. 

Men  with  tails,  account  of,  451. 

Mendoza,  Father  de,  journey  of,  563. 

MENG-KIEN,  a  Chinese  author,  676. 

Menu,  traditions  of,  146. 

Mercator's  atlas,  name  "  Mexico  "  up 
on,  370. 

Merhamhir,  the  Cophes  River,  445. 

Merida,  city  founded  near,  557. 

Meropide  of  Elien,  55. 

Merry  nature,  of  people  of  "  Marked 
Bodies,"  318;  of  Alaskans  and 
Aleuts,  347. 

Merychippus,  an  equine  genus,  482. 

Mescal,  a  name  for  the  agave,  377. 

Mescalero  Apaches,  expedition 
against,  390. 

Messigo,  a  variant  of  "  Mexico,"  371. 

Metals,  in  Japan,  640;  in  Fu-sang, 
431;  in  Mexico,  98,  431;  art  of 
casting,  572. 

Metamorphosis,  of  Xolotl,  237;  of 
Cantico,  614;  of  NU-CHEU'S  Body, 
6/56. 

Metempsychosis,  belief  in,  in  India,  2 ; 
and  among  Alaskan  tribes,  6'. 

Metl.     See  Agave. 

MEU  Mountain,  665. 

Mexico,  meaning  of  the  name,  373- 
381;  its  pronunciation,  372 ;  region 
to  which  applied,  369-372 ;  the  first 
hearing  of  the  name,  370;  uncer 
tainty  as  to  its  application,  370 ; 
reason  for  misunderstanding,  381 ; 
other  place-names  from  same  root, 


INDEX. 


771 


372;  possibly  transcribed  by  Chi 
nese  as  FU-SAXG-KWOH,  406;  the 
country  called  "  New  Spain,"  370 : 
the  city  called  "  Tenochtitlan,"  368 ; 
it  agrees  with  the  description  of 
Fu-sang,  399 ;  and  is  in  region  in 
dicated,  361 ;  identified  as  Fu-sang, 
12,  95 ;  distance  from  Alaska,  183 ; 
as  much  east  as  south,  361 ;  said  to 
be  too  distant  for  Fu-sang,  189 ; 
its  early  inhabitants,  96 ;  inhabited 
successively  by  different  tribes,  362 ; 
inhabited  by  the  Toltecs,  364 ;  his 
tory  of,  13  ;  criticisms  upon  its 
historians,  621  ;  means  of  inves 
tigating  its  early  history,  362 ; 
our  imperfect  kno\yledge,  709  ; 
changes  in,  709 ;  traditions  of,  536, 
615,  706;  analogies  between  arts 
and  customs  of,  and  those  of  Asia, 
154,  155,  706 ;  non-intercourse  with 
South  America,  556;  intercourse 
with  Central  America,  362 ; '  its  peo 
ple  -of  same  race  as  other  American 
tribes,  622 ;  its  people  of  to-day  the 
descendants  of  the  lower  classes, 
156;  civilization  of  other  tribes 
same  as  that  of  the  Aztecs,  368  ;  its 
languages  all  connected,  96;  its 
place-names  nearly  all  Aztec,  366 ; 
its  rainy  season,  511 ;  the  days  of 
its  months,  148 ;  its  priests  named 
Amanam,  74 ;  monastery  and  nun 
nery  of,  576;  its  pyramids,  597: 
analogy  of  its  religion  with  that  of 
Peru,  566;  date  of  foundation  of 
the  empire,  19,  32 ;  its  limits,  367 ; 
titles  of  its  nobility,  411,  413 ;  of 
its  ruler,  410 ;  music  played  before 
him,  423  ;  ceremony  of  marriage  in, 
619;  suspension -bridges  of,  618; 
false  arch  used  in,  605 ;  salt,  508 ; 
copper,  432 ;  obsidian  mirrors,  522 ; 
the  only  country  in  which  such 
mirrors  were  made,  706 ;  its  char 
acteristic  vegetation,  510 ;  cacti  arid 
agaves,  394 ;  nothing  like  the  T'uxo 
tree  in,  176 ;  Broussondia  not  found 
in,  236 ;  monkeys  of,  496,  506 ;  deer 
of,  69 ;  buffaloes  of,  427 ;  law  of, 
393 ;  manuscript  of,  No.  2, 167.  See, 
also,  Aztecs. 

Mexitli  (or  Huitzilopochtli,  q.  v.),  the 
Aztec  god  of  war,  373 ;  possibly  a 
deification  of  the  century-plant, 
379 ;  temple  of,  599. 

Mice,  migrations  of,  8. 

Michoacan,  inhabited  by  Toltecs,  365 ; 
included  in  Mexico,  371;  Aztec 


place-names  in,  367;  its  resem 
blance  to  Chinese  names,  111 ;  mu 
sic  played  before  king  of,  423; 
dress  of  its  priests,  581 ;  its  mar 
riage  laws,  479;  its  mourning  cus 
toms,  466 ;  springs  of,  534. 

Micos,  Spanish  name  for  monkeys, 
497. 

Mictlampa  ehecatl,  the  north  wind, 
461.  J 

Mictlan,  the  Mexican  Hades,  460, 
537;  situated  in  the  north,  461. 

Mictlan,  or  Mitla,  ruins  of,  95,  606 ; 
arrival  of  Wixipecocha  at,  539; 
analogy  of  its  civilization  with  that 
of  Mexico,  362 ;  dress  of  the  pon 
tiff,  581. 

Mictlan  -  cihuatl,  resemblance  of,  to 
Kali,  546. 

Mictlan  teuctli,  Lord  of  Hades,  411. 

Midnight,  Aztec  name  for,  476. 

Migrations  of  monkeys,  498. 

Mijes,  spiritual  rulers  of,  540 ;  arrival 
of  Wixipecocha  among,  538 ;  writ 
ten  account  of,  539. 

Mikado,  a  Japanese  title,  638. 

Military  qualities,  Chinese  interest  in, 
420. 

Military  weapons,  used  by  all  Asiatics, 
357. 

Milk,  in  Fu-sang,  58,286;  not  used 
by  many  nations,  621 ;  not  used  by 
American  tribes,  159, 169, 190;  who 
have  no  term  for  it,  398 ;  said  to  be 
used  by  American  tribes,  59;  not 
used  in  many  parts  of  Asia,  159; 
rarely  used  in  China,  100,  169 ;  or 
Sumatra,  396 ;  koumiss  made  from, 
395 ;  the  Aztec  term  for,  397 ;  the 
term  used  figuratively,  398;  and 
applied  to  the  milky  juice  of  a 
plant,  398 ;  particularly  to  that  of 
the  century-plant,  397,  398 ;  reason 
why  its  nature  was  not  explained, 
449 ;  a  sea  the  colour  of,  225,  239, 
533. 

Milky  Way,  compared  to  a  foaming 
stream,  339 ;  drift-wood  said  to 
float  to,  341. 

Mimana,  intercourse  of,  with  Japan, 
625,  627. 

Mix  Marsh,  648. 

MIN-TSZ'  Mountain,  653. 

Mines,  of  ancient  inhabitants  of 
America,  117;  near  Lake  Superior, 
118. 

Mineral  springs  in  Mexico,  534. 

MING-SIXG  Mountain,  664. 

Minnesota  Mining  Co.,  117. 


YT2 


INDEX. 


Mints  established  in  Japan,  629. 

Mirage,  on  American  plains,  483. 

Mirrors,  none  but  metallic  made  by 
Chinese,  524;  brought  to  Japan, 
625;  held  by  gods,  614;  concave 
and  convex,  523 ;  made  by  Aztecs, 
522 ;  Mexican  house  of,  529 ; 
brought  from  Fu-sang,  223,  238, 
522,  685;  must  have  come  from 
Mexico,  705. 

Missionaries,  Buddhist,  countries  vis 
ited  by,  5. 

Mississippi  River,  cattle  near,  33 ; 
customs  of  tribes  near,  34 ;  fortifi 
cations  near,  198. 

Missouri  River,  Buddhists  near,  143. 

Miters,  worn  by  Buddhist  lamas,  567, 
569 ;  and  by  Mexican  Wiyatao, 
580. 

Mithridates,  references  to,  88,  99. 

Mitla.     See  Mictlan. 

Mixcohuatl,  a  name  of  Mexitli,  381. 

Mixteca,  colonized  by  followers  of 
Quetzalcoatl,  543;  high-priest  of, 
579,  587;  vines  in,  416. 

Mixtecapan,  preservation  of  Toltec 
culture  in,  575;  feast  of  dead  in, 
591. 

Mixture  of  nations,  effects  of,  153. 

MO-HO,  or  MO-KO,  country  of,  45,  87. 

MO-LU,  a  place  near  Japan,  634. 

MO-SIN.    See  Ainos. 

Moccasins  not  used  in  Oregon,  75. 

Modesty  of  Buddhist  idols,  584. 

Mog,  a  name  of  the  Mongolians,  82. 

MOH-TSZ',  a  Chinese  author,  661. 

MOH-T'U  River,  646. 

Moluccas,  voyages  of  their  people,  36. 

Monapostiac ,"  an  island,  538. 

Monasteries,  of  Buddhists,  42,  125, 
569,  570 ;  of  Mexico,  143,  157,  575, 
576 ;  founded  by  Quetzalcoatl,  575 ; 
at  Uxmal,  594 ;  of  Totonacas,  578 ; 
education  of  children  at,  583. 

Money,  not  used  by  Aztecs,  98,  432 ; 
or  Alaskans,  356. 

Mongolians,  genealogy  of.  82 ;  coun 
try  of ,  87;  their  zodiac,  149;  years 
of  their  cycles,  99,  470 ;  their  name 
in  Chinese,  45;  visited  by  Bud 
dhist  priests,  7 ;  their  lamas,  585 ; 
their  name  for  G-autama,  558 ;  inva 
sion  of  Corea,  242;  conquest  of 
China,  34;  history,  14;  connected 
with  the  Esquimaux,  81 ;  resem 
blance  of,  to  American  tribes,  87. 
184. 

Monkeys,  considered  as  a  fallen  form 
of  mankind,  494;  the  inhabitants 


of  the  Country  of  Women,  493; 
their  peculiarities,  498 ;  their  timid 
ity,  503 ;  devotion  to  their  mates, 
504 ;  young  carried  on  back,  501 ; 
food  of,  510,  512  ;  of  Mexico,  496 ; 
their  colour,  506;  said  to  exist  in 
Virginia,  483;  a  Chinese  account 
of,  514;  compared  to  birds,  535; 
found  in  zodiacs,  147,  149.  See, 
also,  Quadrumana. 

Monoliths,  about  Buddhist  tumuli, 
601. 

Monono  beno  ogosi,  a  Japanese,  628. 

Monsu,  a  king  of  PE-TSI,  627. 

Monte  jo,  Don  Francisco,  expedition 
of,  550. 

Monterey,  bisons  near,  428. 

Montezuma,  title  of,  410 ;  expedition 
by,  469 ;  belief  in  return  of  Quetzal 
coatl,  547 ;  which  caused  his  ruin, 
197;  pomp  of,  422;  like  that  of 
the  Grand  Khan,  159 ;  reverence 
shown'toward  him,  412 ;  path  swept 
before  his  nephew,  617;  palace  of, 
62,  529;  his  garments,  472;  said 
not  to  use  same  article  twice,  617 ; 
a  buffalo  kept  in  his  gardens,  427 ; 
immense  horns  shown  to  Spaniards, 
210;  his  interview  with  Cortez, 
422 ;  presents  to  the  ruler  of  Spain, 
416. 

Months,  not  mentioned  in  early  Japa 
nese  records,  624;  Mexican  names 
for,  512 ;  same  as  those  of  an  Asiatic 
zodiac,  143 ;  transposition  of  names 
of,  571 ;  first,  of  Mexican  year,  501. 

Montoya,  Father  de,  journey  of,  563. 

Monuments,  with  Buddhist  inscrip 
tions,  187;  of  Asia  and  America, 
143. 

Moon,  "  Companions "  of  the,  144 ; 
temple  of  the,  599;  figured  as  a 
disk  containing  a  hare,  147. 

Moose,  termed  "  cattle,"  426. 

Morambecs,  de  la  Hontan's  account 
of,  32.  / 

Morgan,  L.  II.,  discovery  by,  622. 

Mormons,  at  Salt  Lake  City,  177. 

Morus  papyrifera,  confounded  with 
hibiscus,  46;  identified  as  the  fu- 
sang  tree,  190.  See,  also,  Paper- 
mulberry,  and  Bread-fruit  tree. 

Moska  language,  111. 

Motive  for  visiting  America,  684. 

Mounds,  in  Mexico,  598;  in  Iowa, 
610 ;  in  Wisconsin,  610. 

Mound-builders,  171. 

Mountains  and  Seas,  Classic  of.  See 
SHAN  HAI  KING. 


INDEX. 


773 


Mountain  which  Touches  Heaven, 
644. 

Mountain  of  the  Gods,  79. 

Mountains,  groups  of,  mentioned  in 
the  SHAN  HAI  KING,  670. 

Mountains,  term  applied  to  islands, 
644. 

Mountain-goat,  found  in  America, 
116. 

Mourning,  customs  of  Fu-sang,  235, 
292,  466 ;  garments  not  worn,  294 ; 
customs  of  Mexico,  99,  466;  cus 
toms  of  Japanese,  632,  635 ;  gar 
ments  of  the  Japanese,  468,  640; 
garments  of  the  Chinese,  468. 

Moyotlan,  a  ward  of  Mexico,  369. 

Mud-walls,  boards  used  in  making, 
419. 

Muddy  Marsh,  648. 

Muddy  Kiver,  646. 

MUH-KUNG,  renowned  for  virtue,  661. 

Mulberry-trees,  illustration  of,  387; 
of  Fu-sang,  48,  56 ;  not  fu-sang 
trees,  164 ;  Mountain  of,  647.  See, 
also,  Paper-mulberry,  and  Bread 
fruit  tree. 

Mumajadono  miko,  a  prince,  629. 

Mumako.    See  Sogano  Mumako. 

Murder,  councils  held  regarding,  436. 

Murex,  purple  dye  of,  76. 

Musa  paradisiaca,  the  fu-sang  tree, 
682. 

Musano  awo,  an  embassador,  627. 

Musasi,  a  Japanese  province,  629. 

Music,  attending  king  of  Fu-sang, 
282,  421 ;  and  kings  of  Mexico, 
423 ;  Spaniards  welcomed  with,  423, 
424;  priests  welcomed  with,  424; 
accompanying  bridal  processions, 
478;  used  in  courtship,  434;  of 
Mexicans,  99,  422. 

Musimon  montanus,  found  in  Ameri 
ca,  116. 

Musk-oxen,  found  in  America,  114; 
horns  of,  69. 

Mussel-shells,  prized  in  Alaska,  356. 

Mussulman,  Chinese  transcription  of, 
404. 

Mustard,  the  leaves  of  the  fu-sang 
said  to  resemble,  387,  666. 

Mutsu,  a  Japanese  province,  629. 

Muyscas  (Muscas  or  Moskas,  q.  v.), 
article  regarding,  63 ;  ten-year  cycle 
of,  60 ;  tradition  of,  560. 

Mycetes,  a  species  of  monkey,  497. 

Myths,  analogy  of  Mexican  and  Asi 
atic,  615 ;  ^  regarding  the  fu-sang 
tree,  236 ;  of  birth  of  Huitzilopoch- 
tli,  97;  of  the  sun, '341;  tales  of 


Fu-sang  not,  226  :  of  the  Mexicans, 
154.    See,  also,  Fables. 
Mythriac  monuments  of  Asia,  56. 

N 

N  and  L  interchanged,  413,  606. 
NA,  Sanskrit  syllables  transcribed  by, 

Naas  Indians,  carved  posts  of,  352. 

Nacapan,  prickly-pears  preserved  in, 
395. 

Nachan,  City  of  the  Serpents,  111. 

Nagas,  tribes  so  called,  111. 

NAH-TO-SHA,  title  of  nobles  of  Fu- 
sang,  27,  41,  280 ;  transcription  of 
a  Mexican  title,  413. 

Nahuatalcas,  early  inhabitants  of 
Mexico,  32. 

Nahuatl  language.    See  Aztecs. 

NaisTiadika,  definition  of,  443. 

NakcJiatras,  or  "  Lunar  Houses,"  144, 
146. 

Naked  People's  Country,  495,  633, 
658. 

Nakhorchan,  the  City  of  Serpents,  111. 

Names,  how  bestowed  by  discoverers, 
94 ;  old  names  applied  to  new  ob 
jects,  97,  100,  111,  115,  426;  prac 
tice  of  changing,  443 ;  of  Asiatic 
cities  found  in  America,  111. 

Nancy,  globe  in  library  of,  371. 

NAN-KING,  capital  of  China,  206  ;  why 
Hwui  SnXN  did  not  stop  at,  221. 

NAN-SSE,  or  History  of  the  South,  92, 
193,  260;  its  account  of  Fu-sang, 
260;  of  Kingdom  of  Women,  93; 
of  "  Marked  Bodies,"  214 ;  de  Guig- 
nes's  translation  of,  65 ;  not  written 
until  after  Liang  dynasty,  246. 

NAN-SSE-WANG-YUN-CHUEN,  a  book, 
676. 

Napoleon,  life  of,  described  as  a  myth, 
341. 

Narwhal,  called  espaclarte,  145. 

Nasals,  introduced  by  Chinese,  253, 
407 ;  in  Aztec  language,  541. 

Navigation,  by  people  of  Jesso,  102 ; 
by  Aleuts,  122,  139. 

Negative  argument,  refutation  of, 
589. 

Negritos,  account  of,  83. 

Nemterequeteba.     See  Bochica, 

Nepal,  visited  by  Buddhists,  5;  re 
ligion  of,  97,  545;  title  of  its 
priests,  548 ;  their  marriages,  585 ; 
an  insect  found  in,  77. 

Nequen,  definition  of,  391 ;  mantles 
made  from,  392. 


INDEX. 


Neumann,  Karl  Friedrich,  preceded 
by  de  Paravey,  67 ;  monograph  of, 
78 ;  reference  to,  103 ;  a  Chinese 
ode  mistranslated  by,  258 ;  account 
of  Fu  -  sang,  263 ;  of  land  ot 
"Marked  Bodies,"  317;  of  Great 
HAN,  325. 

New  Annals  of  Voyages,  14. 

New  Biscay,  vines  in,  416 ;  bisons  in, 
428. 

Newfoundland,  horses  found  in,  483. 

New  Galicia,  or  Northern  Mexico, 
367. 

New  Grenada,  traditions  of,  560. 

New  Guinea,  visits  to,  36  ;  its  people, 
84 

New  Holland,  visits  to,  36. 

New  Leon,  bisons  in,  427. 

New  Mexico,  civilization  of,  123, 168 ; 
customs  of  its  people,  31 ;  copper 
found  in,  432  ;  gypsum  used  as  win 
dow-glass  in,  529 ;  mirrors  found 
in,  522 ;  vines  in,  415 ;  bisons  in, 
196  ;  not  Fu-sang,  196. 

N^w  objects  given  old  names,  97, 100, 
111,  115,  426. 

New  Records  of  the  Tang  Dynasty, 
246. 

New  Spain,  Yucatan  first  so  called, 
97  ;  term  afterward  applied  to  Mex 
ico,  371. 

New  Zealand,  visits  to,  36. 

Nezahualcoyotl,  laws  of,  437,  438. 

Nezahualpilli,  reforms  of,  463. 

NGAO-PO,  ducks  in,  662. 

Ni,  a  Mexican  suffix,  414. 

Nr,  a  species  of  sacrifice,  647. 

Nicaragua,  hot  springs  of,  534 ;  Ama 
zons  in,  489;  confession  in,  579; 
calendar  of,  501 ;  mirrors  of,  522 ; 
Aztec  language  in,  366,  367 ;  Mexi 
can  empire  extended  to,  367 ;  Span 
ish  invasion  of,  424. 

Niches,  with  images  of  Buddha,  61, 
71 ;  of  temple  at  Uxmal,  134. 

NIE-YAO-KIUN-TI  Mountain,  249. 

NIEN-'RH-SHI,  the  Great  Annals  of 
China,  or  the  "  Twenty-two  Histori 
ans,"  260. 

NIH,  a  fabulous  tree,  400. 

Nik-a-jak  cave,  587. 

Niki,  a  tribe  of  Ainos,  85. 

Nineveh,  pyramid  at,  601. 

Nipple,  Chinese  character  for,  503. 

Nipon-ki,  or  Annual  Registers  of 
Japan,  86.  100. 

Nirvana,  3,  485. 

Nishney  Kolymsk,  Americans  at,  8. 

Nisiki,  description  of,  236. 


Niskah  Indians,  carved  posts  of, 
352. 

Niter,  used  as  a  mordaunt,  471. 

NIU-CHE,  a  Tartarian  tribe,  24. 

NIU-JIN-KWOH,  or  Country  of  "Wom 
en,  213. 

NIU-MOU-YO,  or  Land  of  Amazons, 
489. 

Noah,  accounts  of,  146. 

Noblemen,  titles  of  those  of  Fu-sang, 
208,  280,  411,  413;  among  the  Az 
tecs,  99,  411,  413 ;  of  Japan,  629, 
640 ;  deer  kept  by  those  of  Chichi- 
mecas,  430 ;  punishment  of  crimi 
nals  among,  in  Fu-sang,  274,  435 ; 
in  Mexico,  437 ;  in  Darien,  437. 

Nochiztli,  or  cochineal,  471. 

Noctli,  or  Nochtli,  the  prickly-pear, 
394. 

Noon,  Aztec  name  for,  476. 

Nopal,  or  Nopalli,  the  prickly-pear, 
394 ;  found  in  Asia,  76. 

Nopal  de  la  tierra,  531. 

Nopaltzin,  a  Mexican  chief,  430. 

North,  Mexican  Hades  situated  at, 
461. 

North  Carolina,  bisons  in,  430. 

Northern  Barbarians,  82. 

Northern  HAO  Mountainr,653. 

Northmen,  Norsemen,  Normans,  or 
Norwegians,  discoverers  of  Ameri 
ca,  94,  113,  116,  162,  452. 

Northmen,  named  Esquimaux  Skrael- 
ings,  81. 

Norton  Sound,  festivals  at,  347. 

Norway,  visited  by  Buddhists,  5 ;  a 
possible  route  to  America,  37. 

Notes  and  Queries  for  China  and 
Japan,  16. 

Notices  of  Fu-sang,  by  Professor  Will 
iams,  230. 

Nou  River,  a  branch  of  the  Amoor, 
45. 

Nu,  a  place  near  Japan,  634. 

Nft-CHEu's  Body,  metamorphoses  of, 
666. 

Nti-CHixG  Mountain,  654. 

NU-HWO-YUEH-MU  Country,  167. 

NU-TSZ'-KWOH,  or  NU-WANG-KWOH,  the 
Chinese  Country  of  Women,  178, 
488. 

Nudity,  partial,  of  people  of  Fu-sang, 
75. 

Nuevo  Leon,  bisons  in,  428. 

Nuns,  Chinese,  duties  of,  583 ;  House 
of,  at  Uxmal,  134. 

Nunneries,  Buddhist,  583  ;  founded 
by  Quetzalcoatl,  544;  of  Mexico, 
576. 


IXDEX. 


775 


Nursing  children  over  shoulder,  106, 

501. 
Nutka,  Mexican  month  used  at,  168. 

O 

Oahu,  junk  wrecked  upon,  101. 

Oaxaca,  a  repetition  of  Ohosaka,  111 ; 
Aztec  place-names  in,  367 ;  calen 
dar  of,  501 ;  tradition  of  Wixipe- 
cocha  in,  539. 

Obi  River,  called  O-PU,  24,  45. 

Object  of  this  work,  11,  12. 

Oblations  offered  to  images,  212. 

Obscure  points,  how  cleared  up,  218. 

Obsidian,  description  of,  522 ;  its  glit 
ter,  529;  its  use  for  ornamenting 
buildings,  528;  its  Aztec  name, 
151 ;  mirrors  made  by  Aztecs,  522 ; 
ring  procured  by  Humboldt,  151. 

Ocelotentlapalli,  a  Mexican  mantle, 
474. 

Ocher,  used  by  Mexicans,  471. 

Ochotsk,  distance  to  America,  87. 

Oc  na  kin,  name  of  sunset,  476. 

Ocosingo,  an  ornament  at,  130. 

Ocotochtli,  the  Mexican  marten,  532. 

Ocotl,  the  Mexican  pine,  471,  532. 

Octli.    See  Agave. 

(Eleococca,  or  the  TUNG-tree,  235. 

Offerings  presented  to  Chinese  em 
peror  by  envoy  from  Fu-sang,  223, 
238. 

Ohio,  fortifications  near,  198 ;  bones 
of  bison  found  in,  429. 

Ohodomono  Sadefiko,  expedition  of, 
628. 

Ohosaka,  name  repeated  in  Oaxaca, 
111. 

0  jibe  way  language,  term  for  milk  in, 
398. 

Oku-jesso,  or  Kamtchatka,  25. 

Old  names  given  to  new  objects,  97, 
100,  111,  115,  426. 

Old  Stories  Revived,  141. 

Ollin,  a  zodiacal  sign,  151 ;  and  a 
mantle,  474. 

Olmecs,  vegetables  raised  by,  517. 

Ome  tetecomayo,  a  mantle,  473. 

Ometochtli,  a  Mexican  god,  411. 

Ommiades,  an  Arabic  dynasty,  37. 

One-legged  men,  account  of,  453. 

Onondaga  chief,  Canassatego,  349. 

Opium,  Chinese  name  for,  414. 

Opochtli,  a  Mexican  god,  380. 

O-PU,  or  Obi  River,  24,  45. 

Orang-utan,  accounts  of  the,  495. 

Orange,  Chinese  name  of  the,  415. 

Orat,  a  Mongolian  tribe,  44 


Ordos,  country  of,  44. 

Oregon,  in  the  region  named  Fu-sang, 
163 ;  Pacific  gulf-stream  near,  9 ;  its 
climate,  75 ;  its  distance  from  Alas 
ka,  164 ;  route  to,  from  Alaska,  447 ; 
planks  used  in  dwellings  of,  420; 
bones  of  horses  discovered  in,  483 ; 
work  on  by  Duflot  de  Mofras,  68. 

Orkhon,  an  Asiatic  river,  44,  187. 

Orlando  di  Lasso,  reference  to,  91. 

Ornaments,  fondness  of  Alaskans  and 
Aleuts  for,  352 ;  upon  breast,  606 ; 
not  worn  by  Buddhist  monks,  442 ; 
resembling  elephants'  trunks,  607. 

Orocomay,  an  Amazon  town,  493. 

Orphans  reduced  to  slavery,  463. 

Ostphalians,  and  other  tribes,  82. 

Ostrich,  said  to  eat  fire,  450. 

Ostrogoths,  and  other  tribes,  82. 

Otomi  language,  111,  156. 

Otosis,  instances  of,  587. 

Otter,  cries  of  the,  679. 

Otumba,  battle  of,  491. 

OU-CHAXG,  foot-prints  in,  554. 

Ouda  River,  25. 

Ouke-motsi-no-kami,  a  god,  47. 

Ouranghai,  visited  by  Buddhists,  7. 

Oussori,  a  branch  of  the  Amoor,  138. 

Oxen,  of  Fu-sang,  425 ;  of  America, 
100 ;  metaphoric  use  of  term,  485. 

Oxiones,  said  to  have  beasts'  bodies, 
678. 

Oxyrinque,  an  astronomical  sign,  145. 

Oyametl,  or  fir-tree,  219. 

Oysters,  eaten  by  monkeys,  512. 

Ozomatli,  or  Mexican  monkeys,  147, 
497,  514. 


PA-YE-KU,  an  Asiatic  tribe,  216. 

Pachcheko,  a  Buddhist  saint,  561. 

Pachisi,  or  Hindoo  backgammon,  620. 

Pacific  coast  of  America,  peculiarities 
of,  447 ;  trends  to  east,  361 ;  Ameri 
can  civilization  confined  to,  173, 
708 ;  colonies  of  Toltecs  upon,  365. 

Pacific  gulf-stream,  121.  See,  also, 
Kuro-siwo. 

Pacific  islands,  how  peopled,  36; 
bread-fruit  trees  on,  165 ;  Chinese 
vessels  wrecked  upon,  106. 

Pacific  Ocean,  Mongolians  upon  coast 
of,  87;  tradition  pf  trade  across, 
169;  Palenque  not  situated  near, 
200 ;  land  in.  336. 

Pagodas,  like  Mexican  temples,  602. 

P'AI-SHUE,  a  Corean  river,  43. 

Paicume.     See  Tume. 

Paints  used  by  Mexicans,  471 ; 


776 


INDEX. 


Painted  Men  or  Painted  Bodies,  trans 
lation  of  name  W!N  SHAN,  21,  186. 

Paintings  on  walls  of  temples,  605 ; 
grotesque,  606. 

Palace,  of  king  of  Fu-sang,  224,  238, 
528 ;  of  Quetzalcoatl,  615 ;  of  rulers 
of  Mexico,  529 ;  of  Toltecs,  190 ;  of 
the  sun — meaning  of,  522,  523. 

Palaf  ox,  account  of  Indian  courtships, 
60. 

Palanquin,  only  conveyance  in  Japan, 
480. 

Palenque,  meaning  of  name,  598 ;  its 
situation,  200;  tribe  in  its  neigh 
bourhood,  111 ;  ruins  at,  56, 95 ;  their 
Buddhistic  character,  127, 134,  602 ; 
Buddhist  paintings  at,  199,  606 ;  in 
scriptions  at,  421;  tablet  at,  591, 
592 ;  date  of  construction,  199,  598 ; 
winged  globe  at,  130;  analogy  of 
civilization  at,  with  that  of  Mexico, 
362;  the  elephant's  head  at,  201, 
607,  608. 

Pali,  its  peculiarities,  6. 

Palibothra,  foot-prints  at,  554. 

PAN,  definition  of,  419. 

Panama,  pearl-fishery  near,  76 ;  route 
to,  from  San  Francisco,  361 ;  Albi 
nos  near,  506. 

Pancha  pro,  patha,  five  divine  feet, 
554. 

Pancha-sil,  Buddhist  commandments, 
567. 

P'XNG-KIU,  a  small  island,  243. 

P'XNG-LAI,  its  situation,  252 ;  an  ex 
pedition  to,  251,  633 ;  a  place  where 
treasure  is  kept,  252;  a  place  in 
SHAN-TUNG,  241 ;  a  name  for  fairy 
land,  240. 

Panuco,  Quetzalcoatl  at,  542.  • 

Papas,  or  sacrificing  priests,  581. 

Papaloyo  tilmatli,  a  mantle,  474. 

Papantla,  monuments  of,  363. 

Paper,  of  Fu-sang,  268 ;  invention  of, 
624,  638 ;  description  of  Aztec,  393 ; 
made  from  agave  fiber,  98, 384, 392 ; 
or  from  bark  of  a  tree,  167,  194 ; 
how  made  in  China,  241 ;  used  to 
adorn  temples,  590 ;  and  idols,  386. 

Paper-mulberry,  confounded  with  hi 
biscus,  46,  110;  used  for  making 
paper,  47 ;  not  the  fu-sang  tree,  117. 
See,  also,  Broussonetia. 

Papuans,  called  CHU-SHU,  84. 

Papula  cornuda,  said  to  be  the  fu- 
sang,  64. 

Papyrus,  paper  made  from,  393. 

Paradise,  described  by  Lily,  454 ;  of 
the  Mexicans,  459. 


ParagaTia  juice,  used  for  mixing  stuc 
co,  605. 

Paraguay,  tales  of  Amazons  in,  489 ; 
tradition  in,  562. 

Paravey,  Chevalier  de,  America  named 
Fu-sang,  49 ;  references  to  articles 
by,  60,  63;  his  troubles,  64;  New 
Proofs,  66 ;  his  researches  preceded 
those  of  others,  67;  Appendix  A, 
Buddhism  in  America,  71 ;  Appen 
dix  B,  73 ;  Appendix  C,  75 ;  Kefu- 
tation  of  M.  Jomard's  Opinion,  76. 

Paris,  Corean  records  taken  to,  528 ; 
Ethnographical  Museum  at,  543, 
595. 

Parras,  grapes  at,  415,  416. 

Parvati,  figure  of,  136. 

Patagonians,  always  on  horseback,  70 ; 
giants,  455. 

Patched  garments  of  Buddhist  priests, 
553. 

Patolli,  a  Mexican  game,  620. 

Paulownia  imperialis,  the  T'uNG-tree, 
176,  235,  387. 

Pausanias,  reference  to,  55. 

Pay,  definition  of,  562. 

Payes,  South  American  sorcerers,  562. 

Pay  Zume.    See  Tume. 

PE-HAI,  the  North  Sea,  87. 

PE-TI.     See  Northern  Barbarians. 

PE-TSI  (or  Fiak-sai),  a  kingdom  of 
Corea,  47,  62 ;  intercourse  with  Ja 
pan,  626-629,  635. 

PE-Y,  author  of  the  SHAN  HAI  KING, 
670,  677 ;  minister  of  SHUN,  671. 

Peaceable  nature  of  Toltecs,  420. 

Peaches,  of  Fu-sang,  41,  211 ;  fruits 
so  called  by  Chinese,  415. 

Pears,  red,  said  to  be  fruit  of  the  fu- 
sang,  211,  266,  288,  393;  doubt  on 
subject,  395 ;  reason  for  statement, 
449;  identified  as  prickly-pears, 
394 ;  none  borne  by  mulberry-trees, 
164;  persimmons  may  be  meant, 
235. 

Pearls,  art  of  fishing  for,  76 ;  found 
in  pigs,  646. 

Peccaries,  called  hogs,  115;  said  to 
have  navel  on  back,  454. 

Pegu,  temples  of,  62. 

P'EI,  meaning  of,  462. 

PEI,  a  sign  of  the  plural,  481. 

PEI-WXN  YIN  Fu,  a  lexicon,  236. 

Pelicans,  description  of,  650;  borne 
on  bows  of  boats,  169. 

PEN-TS'AO,  the  Herbal  of  CHIN-NONG, 
674. 

PEN-TSAO-KANG-MOUH,  a  book,  110. 

Penances  of  Buddhists,  126,  583. 


INDEX. 


777 


Pefiasca  Blanca,  estufas  at,  436. 

Penshinish  Bay,  86,  89. 

Perez,  M.  Jose,  memoir  by,  104. 

Perouse,  strait  of,  46. 

Persea  gratissima,  587. 

Persecution  of  Buddhism,  5,  446, 447. 

Persepolis,  columns  at,  129. 

Persia,  visited  by  Buddhists,  5 ;  its 
distance  from  China,  54 ;  the  home 
of  the  hibiscus,  57 ;  the  four  ages 
of,  158. 

Persimmons,  described  as  red  pears, 
235. 

Peruvians,  civilized  by  Asiatic  visit 
ors,  36 ;  possibly  by  Buddhists,  62, 
74 ;  Vishnuism  in  religion  of,  546 ; 
analogy  of  their  civilization  to  that 
of  Fu-sang,  209 ;  and  that  of  Mexi 
co,  566 ;  pyramids  of,  565 ;  offerings 
to  their  gods,  598 ;  did  not  distin 
guish  years  by  colours,  234 ;  tradi 
tions  of,  563,  564;  cycle  used  by, 
194 ;  beasts  of  burden  of,  170 ;  sus 
pension-bridges,  618;  copper,  58; 
skulls  of,  68. 

Peruvian  language,  resemblance  of,  to 
Malay,  68. 

Peter  and  Paul's  Haven,  87. 

Petroleum  in  Mexico,  533. 

Petty,  a  word  affixed  to  titles,  412. 

Philippine  Islands,  voyages  of  their 
people,  36;  Country  of  Women 
situated  near,  244 ;  Chinese  knowl 
edge  of,  405,  682 ;  Fu-sang  situated 
in,  642,  682 ;  custom  of  blackening 
teeth  in,  682. 

Philostratus,  quotations  from,  58,  69. 

Phocaceans,  Chinese  descriptions  of, 
679. 

Phoanicians,  acquainted  with  Atlan 
tis,  56 ;  their  purple  dye,  76. 

Phonetics,  portions  of  Chinese  char 
acters,  337 ;  can  not  be  inter 
changed,  338 ;  characters  possibly 
used  as,  481. 

PI-K'IU  (or  Bhikshu,  q.  v.),  440. 

Pi  Mi  Hu,  a  Japanese  empress,  626, 
632. 

PI-MU-TI  Hill,  661. 

PI-PI,  a  species  of  animal,  650. 

Piaches,  South  American  sorcerers, 
562. 

PIAN-Y-TIEN,  or  Chinese  Geography 
of  Foreign  Nations,  52,  58,  64,  69, 
75. 

Picietl,  a  species  of  tobacco,  509. 

Picture-writing  of  the  Mexicans,  421. 

Pictured  People.  See  "  Marked 
Bodies." 


PIEX-TEU,  or  bamboo  vases,  631. 

Pigs,  animals  resembling,  646;  hav 
ing  tusks,  655. 

PIH-YANG  River,  652. 

Pillars,  carved,  in  front  of  houses,  351. 

Pilpatoe,  a  Mexican  general,  412. 

Pindapdtika,  definition  of,  441. 

PING-I,  the  god  of  rain,  660. 

PING-NGAN,  a  Corean  province,  43. 

PING-YANG,  a  Corean  city,  43,  65. 

Pintado,  estufas  at,  436. 

Pipes  carved  in  shape  of  elephants,  609. 

Pipiles,  language  of,  3(55 ;  mourning 
customs  of,  466. 

Pisang,  the  Malay  name  of  the  banana, 
58, 405,  682.  ' 

Pita,  cloth  woven  from  fiber  of,  392. 

Place-names,  proof  afforded  by,  366. 

Plan  of  this  work,  13. 

Plan  Carpin,  errors  made  by,  33. 

Planks,  used  in  making  mud  walls, 
419 ;  houses  built  of,  420. 

Plants,  Country  of,  663. 

Plantain,  the  fu-sang  tree,  642,  682. 
See,  also,  Banana. 

Plaster  used  on  pyramids  and  walls, 
605. 

Platforms  upon  pyramids,  600. 

Plato,  his  account  of  Atlantis,  58. 

Pliny,  marvelous  tales  of,  450,  494. 

Plums,  in  America,  116. 

Plumes,  an  American  ornament,  199. 

Plumed-serpent,  Quetzalcoatl,  548. 

Plural,  Chinese  signs  of,  481. 

PO-SSE,  or  Persia,  54. 

PO-WE-CHI,  or  Fabulous  Encyclope 
dia,  674,  677. 

PO-YANG,  home  of  MA  TWAN-LIN,  232. 

PO-YAXG,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  672. 

Poem  regarding  native  of  Fu-sang, 
254. 

POH-SHU-TSZ',  expedition  of,  657. 

Point  Barrow,  245,  346,  347.  . 

Poisonous  insects  in  Japan,  681. 

PO-LO,  temple  of,  near  Canton,  254. 

Polo.  Marco,  a  contemporary  of  MA 
TWAN-LIN,  231 ;  incredulity  regard 
ing,  451 ;  errors  in  his  accounts,  33, 
105 ;  his  account  of  Amazons,  244. 

Polygamy,  620,  632. 

Polytheistic  worship  of  Mexico,  157. 

Pralayas  of  the  Hindoos,  154. 

Pratyeka  Buddhas,  485. 

Prayers,  not  addressed  to  images,  212 ; 
of  Mexican  priests,  581. 

Presents  from  Fu-sang,  223,  237, 238, 
520. 

Preserves  made  from  prickly-pears, 
395. 


7T8 


INDEX. 


Presiding  Spirits,  Country  of,  663, 

680.    ' 

Prester  John,  fables  regarding,  94. 
Prickly-pears,  native  to  America,  77 ; 

description  of,  395 ;  identified  as  the 

red  pears  of  Fu-sang,  394;  Chinese 

term  for,  401. 
Prickly-poppy,  said  to  be  the  fu-sang, 

64. 
Priests  of  Mexico,  198;  called  "tla- 

mas,"  65 ;  welcomed  by  music,  424. 
Primitives.    See  Phonetics. 
Printing,  invention  of,  in  China,  449. 
Prisons,  of    Fu-sang,    270,  457;    of 

Mexico,  459 ;  of  Japan,  164 ;  future 

punishment,  196. 
Proboscis,  representations  of,  614. 
Procyon,  a  star,  147. 
Proper  names,  in  Chinese,  257. 
Prophecies  of  coining  of  Spaniards, 

551. 

Ptolemy,  absurd  stories  of,  146,  487. 
PU-MI,  a  place  near  Japan,  634. 
PU-T'AO,  definition  of,  414. 
Puebla,  dress  of  priests  of,  581. 
PUH-NIU,  adventures  of,  665. 
PUH-TS'AN  Mountain,  645. 
Pulo  Condor  Island,  253. 
Pulque.    See  Agave. 
PUN-TS'AO,  a  Chinese  book,  175,  176. 
Punctuation,  not  used  by  Chinese, 

257,  353. 

P'UNG-LAI.      Se-6  FlNG-LAI. 

Punishment  of  crime,  357,  437,  464, 
465. 

Purgatory,  Chinese  term  for,  459. 

Pygmies,  account  of,  494,  496,  662. 

Pyramids  of  Asia,  601,  605 ;  of  Mexi 
co,  597,  605 ;  resemblance  between 
them,  61,  96,  605 ;  of  Peru,  565. 

Q 

Quadrumana,  described  as  pygmies, 

494.    See,  also,  Monkeys. 
Quails,  kept  by  Mexicans,  430. 
Quaking  Mountain,  665. 
Quaquaquiltin,  or  "  Herb-eaters,"  575, 

Quaqui  Tonatiuh,  sunset,  476. 
Quartz  crystals,  355,  646,  649,  650. 
Quatu-zaca,  a  person  so  called,  74. 
Quauhcalli,  a  Mexican  prison,  459. 
Quauhtemotzin,  high-priest,  588. 
Quauhtla,  or  mountains,  254. 
Quauhtlepatli,  a  plant,  532. 
Quauhxicalco,  a  temple,  467. 
Quauhyetl,  a  species  of  tobacco,  509. 
Queen  Charlotte's  Islands,  102,  344. 


Quepopan,  a  ward  of  Mexico,  370. 

Querechos,  vines  found  in  country  of, 
116. 

Quetzal  feathers  on  cap  of  Quetzal- 
coatl,  543. 

Quetzalcoatl,  derivation  of  name,  548 ; 
title  bestowed  upon,  417;  said  to 
have  come  from  the  east,  197 ;  must 
have  come  from  Asia,  143  ;  a  Bud 
dhist  priest,  162,  543,  544 ;  resem 
blance  to  Buddha,  112;  doctrines 
of,  547;  penances  taught  by,  544; 
temperance  taught  by,  547;  arts 
taught  by,  547;  gentle  nature  of 
his  religion,  575 ;  dsscription  of, 
198,  542;  an  image  of,  543,  595; 
monasteries  founded  by,  575  ;  edi 
fices  attributed  to,  537;  circular 
temples  of,  604 ;  palace  of,  529, 615 ; 
contention  with  Tezcatlipoca,  575 ; 
the  cause  of  a  war,  542 ;  confusion 
between,  and  Wixipecocha,  541 ; 
promise  to  return,  197 ;  belief  there 
in,  547 ;  traditions  regarding,  197 ; 
late  additions  thereto,  549 ;  survival 
of  his  doctrines,  575 ;  tribes  called 
his  children,  575 ;  disciples  in  Peru, 
566 ;  foot-prints  of,  553 ;  represent 
ed  as  a  bird,  198;  thought  to  be 
mythical,  198;  not  mythical,  541; 
a  god,  197. 

Quetzalichtli,  a  species  of  agave, 
392. 

Quetzalli,  definition  of,  548. 

Queues,  introduction  of,  in  China, 
498. 

Quiches,  sacred  book  of,  546 ;  belief 
of,  494 ;  music  plaved  before  king 
of,  423. 

Quichua  language,  68,  111. 

Quicksilver,  called  "  water-silver," 
354;  absurdities  involved  in  this 
translation,  356 ;  Chinese  character 
for,  355 ;  a  friable  earth  mistaken 
for,  22 ;  in  a  tomb,  245. 

Quila,  a  town  in  Cihuatlan,  492. 

Quilted-cotton  armour,  618. 

Quivera,  said  to  have  been  founded 
by  Mexicans,  32 ;  vessels  wrecked 
near,  31 ;  vines  found  in,  116 ;  bisons 
found  in,  33,  115 ;  horns  used  as 
vessels  in,  430. 

R 

JR.,  suppressed  in  Pali,  6 :  in  languages 

of  American  tribes,  157. 
Rabbits,  225,  430,  534. 
Raccoon,  food  of,  512. 


INDEX. 


779 


Radicals,  a  part  of  Chinese  charac 
ters,  337. 

Ragu,  an  imaginary  planet,  72. 

Rain,  in  Kamtchatka,  90 ;  in  Alaska, 
354 ;  omens  of,  646,  648,  655. 

Rainbow,  as  an  escutcheon,  210. 

Rainy  season  in  Mexico,  511 ;  the 
time  of  migrations  of  monkeys, 
498. 

Rama,  his  conquest  of  Ceylon,  495. 

Ramusio,  map  drawn  by,  370. 

Rank,  indicated  by  tattooing,  245, 
318,  347,  631;  by  carved  posts, 
352 ;  by  badges,  600. 

Rats,  birds  resembling,  644,  651,  654, 
680. 

Ravine  of  Manifestation  of  Dawn, 
681. 

Recapitulation  of  arguments,  684. 

Records  of  Japanese  History,  423. 

Records  of  Liang  Dynasty,  260. 

Records  of  the  Ten  Islands,  243. 

Red-skins,  or  American  tribes,  81. 

Reeds  or  rushes  in  Mexico,  415. 

Refined  Gentlemen,  Country  of,  657, 
663,  680. 

Reindeer,  in  both  Asia  and  America, 
35,  175;  in  America,  59,  196;  in 
Siberia,  32 ;  in  Kamtchatka,  64,  83, 
89 ;  in  Canada,  76. 

Relatives  of  criminals  punished.  278, 
464. 

Religion,  in  America  and  Asia,  706 ; 
in  Alaska.  6 ;  in  Mexico,  158,  198, 
574. 

Remedies  used  by  Aztecs,  509. 

Remusat,  translated  account  of  Fu- 
sang,  67. 

'Rn-YA,  or  "  Ready  Guide,"  a  Chinese 
book,  383,  387.  389,  644,  672. 

Rhode  Island,  described  by  North 
men,  452. 

Ri,  Japanese  pronunciation  of  Lr, 
332. 

Ribera,  travels  of,  in  Paraquay,  489. 

Ribero,  Diego  de,  map  drawn  by,  370. 

Ric,  title  of  Gothic  kings,  60. 

Rio  Janeiro,  cochineal  insects  from, 
76. 

Rishis,  hermits  of  the  Ganges,  544^ 

Roc,  Marco  Polo's  account  of  the,  451. 

Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  horns  of,  430. 

Roman  Catholicism,  affected  by  Bud 
dhism,  570 ;  its  resemblances  there 
to,  568 :  and  to  Aztec  religion.  585. 

Roman  Empire,  Chinese  knowledge 
of,  57,  662. 

Rosaries,  used  by  Buddhists,  569. 

Rose  of  China.    See  Hibiscus. 


Rosny,  M.  de,  107,  183,  265,  630. 
Rossel,  Admiral  de,  68,  71. 
Roucou,  used  by  Mexicans,  471. 
Royal  Academy,  memoirs  of,  13. 
Roze,  Admiral,  visit    to   Kangwha, 

528. 

Rualo,  lake,  538. 
Rubruquis,  errors  of,  33. 
Rushes  in  Fu-sang,  212. 
Russia,  Chinese  transcription  of,  404 ; 

Buddhism  in,  5. 
Russians,  explorations  by,  of  Amoor 

valley,  187 ;  and  coast  of  America, 

22. 
Rutting-season,  of  monkeys,  498. 


Sables  of  Fu-sang,  225,  239,  534. 

Sacaa,  or  priests,  579. 

Sacapulas,  a  Mexican  town,  588. 

Sacatecoluca,  a  Mexican  town,  588. 

Sacatl,  meaning  of,  587. 

Saco,  a  Mexican  town,  588. 

Sacrifices,  647,  651,  653;  prohibited 
by  Buddhism,  126. 

Sae  kino  murazi,  images  brought  by, 
628. 

Sagas,  accounts  of  America,  92. 

Sage-brush,  510,  511,  513. 

Saghalien,  identified  as  Fu-sang,  179, 
242;  as  Great  HAN,  44,  186;  not 
Great  HAN,  52. 

Sai,  or  capuchin  monkey,  498. 

Saint  Bartholomew,  in  America,  199, 
561. 

Saint  Christopher,  music  at,  424. 

Saint  Thomas,  in  America,  199,  550, 
561,  563,  564,  568. 

Siikya,  or  Sakya  Muni,  an  appellation 
of  Buddha  (q.  v.),  2 ;  its  meaning, 
2 ;  Chinese  transcription  of,  77 ;  his 
conception,  97 ;  early  disciples,  582 ; 
interment,  96;  name  contained  in 
various  Mexican  place-names,  77, 
587 ;  in  Quatuzaca,  74 ;  and  Chaac- 
mol,  606. 

Salamander,  myth  regarding,  532. 

Salt,  of  China  and  Mexico,  508 ;  Chi 
nese  character  for,  507. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Country  of  Women, 
177. 

Salt-plant,  30,  308,  507. 

Salt-weed,  of  Arizona,  509. 

Salvador,  Aztec  language  in,  367; 
dress  of  priests  of,  472. 

Samarcand,  said  to  be  KI-PIN,  108, 
123,  212,  213,  445,  446 ;  situation 
of,  124 ;  a  center  of  Buddhism,  193  ; 


780 


INDEX. 


missionaries  from,  28,  126;  com 
merce  with  China,  446. 

Samoyedes,  customs  of,  34. 

SAN-KAN,  pays  tribute  to  Japan,  627. 

SAN-MA-CELL-HAN.    See  Samarcand. 

SAN-SAI-DZOU-YE,  an  encyclopaedia, 
212. 

SAN-SIEN-SHAN,  the  Three  Fairy  Hills, 
241. 

San  Andreas  Chachicomula,  605. 

San  Bias,  Fu-sang  near,  95. 

San  Domingo,  estufa  at,  436. 

San  Felipe,  bones  of  bisons  at,  428. 

San  Francisco,  Fu-sang  near,  68, 177; 
east  of  center  of  United  States, 
361 ;  century-plant  in,  386. 

San  Juan  Teotihuacan,  598. 

San  Lorenzo,  river  of,  492. 

Sand  River,  649 ;  and  Marsh,  650. 

Sand,  shifting,  meaning  of,  648. 

Sandwich  Islands,  68,  101,  156,  167. 

SANG,  pronunciation  of,  400,  407. 

Sanga,  the  Buddhist  priesthood,  458, 
485. 

Sanga  Pala,  a  Buddhist  priest,  440. 

Sanger,  strait  of,  85. 

Sanghati,  a  Buddhist  robe,  553. 

Sanskrit,  Chinese  transcriptions  from, 
253,  404,  413,  440 ;  its  use  in  sun- 
myths,  342. 

Santa  Rita  del  Cobre,  432. 

Santarem,  Viscount  of,  67. 

Su-to-wats,  or  horses,  482. 

Satyrs,  description  of,  454. 

Scandinavians,  discoverers  of  Vinland, 
49,  58,  63,  211. 

Schotter,  Nicholas,  map  of,  371. 

Scorched  Pygmy  People,  662. 

Scythia,  the  home  of  Amazons,  487. 

Sea,  of  Varnish,  225,  239;  of  Milk, 
225. 

Sea-calves,  cries  of,  679. 

Sea-cattle,  or  sea-otters,  679. 

Sea-lions,  353,  679. 

Sea-serpent,  story  of  Fu-sang  com 
pared  to,  202. 

Sea-shells,  as    musical    instruments, 

Seals,  given  by  Chinese  emperor,  626, 

Seals,  Chinese  description  of,  90,  679. 
Seated  figure  at  Uxmal,  594. 
SEN  SIN,  a  Buddhist  nun,  629. 
Senegal,  people  of,  38. 
SENG-KIA-LI,  a  Buddhist  robe,  553. 
Seng-ti,  the  lion-headed  couch,  593. 
Sepulchers,  pyramids  used  as,  599, 

Serpents,  worshiped  in  Mexico,  157, 


530 ;  of  Fu-sang,  225,  239,  530,  531 ; 
of  Country  of  Women,  529 ;  taken 
as  husbands,  224 ;  about  idols,  612 ; 
as  ear-ornaments,  657,  660,  665, 
680 ;  tribes  so  called,  111 ;  Quetzal- 
coatl  called  the  plumed,  548 ; 
winged,  451, 454 ;  two-headed,  455 ; 
eight-headed,  678. 

SHA,  interchanged  with  KA,  414. 

Shqfrat  ul  Atrak,  or  Genealogical 
Tree,  82. 

SHA-MO  (Desert  of  Gobi,  q.  v.),  23. 

Shaman,  derivation  of  word,  5,  74; 
belief  that  it  is  an  American  word, 
6;  may  have  given  rise  to  title 
"  Amanam,"  74 ;  arts  of,  in  Kam- 
tchatka,  91 ;  in  Central  Asia,  186. 

SHAN,  meaning  of,  644. 

SH!N,  meaning  of,  444. 

SHAN-CHING,  capital  of  Japan,  21. 

SHAN  HAI  KING,  or  Chinese  "  Classic 
of  Mountains  and  Seas,"  references 
to,  17,  47,  56,  218;  its  references 
to  Fu-sang,  182 ;  description  of  the 
leaves,  387;  description  of  Ainos, 
84;  quotations  from,  249,  250;  its 
fabulous  accounts,  181 ;  reasons  for 
translating,  642 ;  translation  of 
parts  of,  643 ;  preface,  643'}  fourth 
book,  644;  ninth  book,  656;  four 
teenth  book,  661 ;  comments  upon 
it,  669 ;  its  divisions,  669,  677 ;  in 
terpolations,  677 ;  gaps  in,  677 ;  age 
of,  672 ;  its  authorship,  671-673 ;  a 
compilation,  680 ;  not  thought  wor 
thy  of  credit,  671-676;  opinion 
rapidly  changing,  678. 

SHIN-PAN,  a  species  of  mussel,  648. 

SHAN-TSEH,  or  the  Deep  Marsh,  653. 

SHAN-TUNG,  wild  tribes  in,  241. 

SHAO-HAI,  the  Little  Sea,  87. 

SHAO-HAO,  the  emperor,  661. 

SHANG  dynasty,  reign  of,  672. 

Shaving,  by  Buddhist  priests,  567. 

SHE-GOBI,  Tartarian  tribes,  24,  25, 
216. 

SHE-PI'S  Body,  a  god.  656,  657. 

Sheep,  in  Great  HAN,  215,  246 ;  not 

•  raised  in  Japan,  178;  gods  with 
horns  of,  653 ;  American  animals 
so  called,  33,  115;  llamas,  115; 
Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  430 ;  vege 
table,  450 ;  metaphoric  use  of  term, 
485. 

Shem,  references  to,  72,  74. 

SHEU,  or  cubit  length,  331. 

SHI  River,  655 ;  and  Mountain,  654. 

SHI,  definition  of,  444. 

SHI-CHEU-KI,  a  book,  227. 


INDEX. 


781 


SHI-EUL-T'EU-TO  KING,  a  book,  441. 

SHI-HU  Mountain,  651. 

SHI  HWANG-TI,  a  Chinese  emperor. 

251,  626. 

SHI-KIA,  or  Sakya,  77. 
SHI  TAO-AN,  travels  of,  10. 
SHI-WE.    See  SHE-GOEI. 
Shifting  Sand,  meaning  of,  648. 
SHIH,  meaning  of,  327,  394. 
SHIH  River,  644,  647,  654. 
SHIH  CHAU  Ki,  236. 
SHIN  I  KING,  240,  250. 
SHIN  Yi  TIEN,  671. 
SHING  Mountain,  667. 
Shinje,  the  Lord  of  the  Dead,  614. 
Shipwrecks,  of  Chinese  vessels  on  a 
Country  of  Women,  36,  106,  213, 
251,  515;   of  Chinese  emperor  Ti- 
PUN,  34;  of  an  expedition  to  Japan, 
252;   of  TSIN-NGAN  men,  310;   at 
WU-KIEN,  660 ;  on  American  coast, 
122,  233;    on  coast  of  British  Co 
lumbia,  184 ;  of  California,  101 ;  of 
Quivera,  81;    of    Japanese  junks, 
156;  on  Queen  Charlotte's  Islands, 
102 ;  on  Oahu,  101. 
Shin  Shing,  a  Japanese  emperor,  624, 

632. 

SHO-TUAN,  a  Chinese  lord,  222. 
Shrawakas,  a  class  of  Buddhists,  485. 
SHU,  a  division  of  China,  627. 
SHU-HAI,  journey  of,  658. 
SHU  KING,  references  to,  83,  212. 
SHUI  KING,  or  Book  oi  the  Waters,  674. 
SHUN,  an  emperor,  666;  ministers  of, 

670,  671. 
SHY-WEI,  country  of,  45,  137.     See, 

also,  SHE-GOEI. 

SI-KOKF,  an  island  of  Japan,  249. 
SI-NGAN,  Chinese  capital,  54,  82,  87, 

446. 

Siam,  Buddhism  in,  5;  pagodas  of, 
62;    similar  to    Mexican  temples, 
112 ;  altars  of,  133 ;  manuscripts  of. 
618;  disbelief  in  ice  by  king  of, 
354 ;  term  for  Gautama  'in,  558. 
SIANG  Mountain,  651. 
SIAO-CHING,  the  less  translation,  484 
SIAO-TEU,  or  "little  beans,"  314,  517. 
Siberia,  Chinese  transcription  of,  404; 
inhabitants  of,  216;  Buddhism  in, 
5 ;  sea  gradually  filling  up,  70 ;  Led- 
yard's  researches  in,  112;  animals 
of,  32 ;  Great  HAN  situated  in,  22, 
178. 

Sibylline  books,  ages  named  in,  155. 
Siddharta,  name  of  Buddha,  1. 
SIE-HAO,  or  Chinese  absinthe,  30,  308, 
507. 


Siebold,  translation  of,  625. 
Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  532. 
Silk,  use  of,  by  American  tribes,  241 ; 
of  Fu-sang,  223,  224,  238,  520,  685; 
could  have  come  from  Mexico,  705 ; 
vegetable  fiber  so  called,  521. 
Silk-worms  of  Fu-sang,  48,  56,  223, 

224,  238,  25t),  524;  of  Japan,  631. 
Silver,  in  Fu-sang,  288,  431 ;  in  Mex 
ico,  431 ;  in  Japan,  629,  636,  640. 
Simson,  Theos.,  letter  from,  173. 
SIN-FU,  expedition  of,  to  P'!NG-LAI, 

633.    See,  also,  SIU-FU. 
SIN-LO,  or  Sinra,  a  province  of  Corea, 

625-628. 

Sinapis,  fu-sang  leaves  resemble,  387. 
Sipgoun,  a  Japanese  title,  638. 
Sipangu,  Marco  Polo's  name  for  Ja 
pan,  549. 

Sisal  hemp,  the  silk  of  Fu-sang,  521. 
Sitka,  climate  of,  122;  carved  posts 

in,  352. 
SIU-FU,  a  physician,  251;  deified  by 

the  Japanese,  252. 

Siva,  representations  of,  61,  71 ;  the 
cross  a  monogram  of,  552 ;  wives  of, 
546. 

Sivaism,  in   Thibet  and  Java,  545; 
cruel    rites    of,   162;    mixed  with 
Buddhism,  72,  124,  126. 
Skrellings,  or  Esquimaux,  81,  453. 
Skulls    of    American    races,  81 ;    in 

mounds,  598 ;  on  idols,  612. 
Slave-children  of  Fu-sang,  274,  457, 

462. 

Slave  Indians,  tattooing  of,  346. 
Slavery,  among  the  Mexicans,  462; 
relatives  of  criminals  reduced  to, 
465,  632. 

Sloan,  Hans,  collection  of,  29. 
Smasanika,  definition  of,  442. 
Smoking  Mountain,  225,  531. 
Snails,  eaten  by  monkeys,  512. 
Snow,  described  as  feathers,  450. 
Snowy  Range,  532. 
SO-TIEN,  a  Buddhist  priest,  635. 
Sogamozo,  monuments  of,  143. 
Soqano    Jlumako,    temple    of,    628, 

629. 

Somona,  an  epithet  of  Buddha,  558. 
Sonora,  vines  in,  415;  no  bisons  in, 

427;  metals  in,  432. 
Sounds  of  Chinese  characters,  234. 
Soitra,  a  fabulous  fish,  146. 
South,  the  leading  point  of  the  com 
pass,  615 ;  Mexican  paradise  in,  461. 
South  America,  traditions  of,   560; 

non-intercourse  with  Mexico,  556. 
Soy,  derivation  of  the  word,  508. 


782 


INDEX. 


Spanberg,  Capt.,  on  coast  of  Japan, 

22. 

Spain,  conquered  by  Arabs,  37;  place- 
names  of,  366. 
Spaniards  welcomed  by  music,  423, 

424. 

Spinel,  in  Alaska,  356.  . 
Spirits,  worshiped  in  Country  of  Worn- 

en,  225 ;  images  of,  worshiped,  212 ; 

of  the  earth,  and  sun,  671. 
"Spring  and  Autumn,"  a  book  by 

Confucius,  643,  649,  663,  674. 
Springs,  numerous  in  Mexico,  534. 
Sprouts,  of  endogenous  plants,  389; 

of  currant-bushes,  511.    See,  also, 

Bamboo-sprouts. 
Squirrels,  quadrumana  compared  to, 

495. 
Sramana,  an  epithet  of  Buddha,  558 ; 

and  his  priests,  5 ;  from  which  word 

"  shaman  "  has  come,  74. 
Sravana,  or  foot-prints  of  Vishnu, 

152. 

Sripdda,  or  foot-prints  of  Buddha,  553. 
SSE-KI,  a  Chinese  book,  672. 
SSE-MA-CHING,  book  of,  673. 
SSE-MA-KUANG,  a  Chinese  author,  671. 
SSE-MA-TS-'IEN,  a  Chinese  author,  113, 

672. 

Stairs,  Chinese  transcription  of,  404. 
Stanton,  Sir  George,  map  of,  50. 
Statuary  of  Buddhists,  606. 
Statue  of  a  man  from  Fu-sang,  254. 
Statues  upon  pyramids,  600. 
"  Stems,"  the  ten  Chinese,  234. 
Stennis,  monoliths  of,  601. 
Sterculia  plantanifolia,  176. 
Stone,  worked  by  Americans,  151 ;  in 
terred  with  the  dead,  159,  617;  a 

tree  of,  254,  416. 
Stonehenge,  monoliths  of,  601. 
Stucco,  on  pyramids,  599,  605;  and 

temples,  606. 
Su,  meaning  of,  400. 
Su  FUH,  expedition  of,  243. 
Su  KI-YU,  governor  of  FUH-KIEN,  242. 
Sua.    See  Bochica. 
Substantive  verbs  in  Chinese,  444. 
Suddhodana,  father  of  Buddha,  1. 
Suetoi-noss,  a  Kamtchatkan  cape,  26. 
Sugar  extracted  from  century-plant, 

386. 

Sugar-cane,  called  P'U-T'AO,  415. 
SUH-CHU  Mountain,  644. 
Suma.    See  Tuma. 
Sumatra,  36,  245,  396,  681. 
Sun,  temple  of  the,  599 ;  spirits  of  the, 

671 ;  children  named  after,  250. 
Suns,  the  ten,  659. 


Sun-bird,  the  shooting  of,  659. 

Sun-house,  the  Aztec  paradise,  459. 

Sunless  Mountain,  644. 

Sun-myth,  Fu-sang  not  a,  226,  341. 

Sunrise,  place  of,  250,  252,  643,  661, 
663,  664,  667 ;  valley  of,  243  ;  com 
mencement  of  day  with,  476. 

Sunset,  Mexican  name  for,  476. 

Sun's  Palace,  meaning  of,  523. 

SUNG,  a  Chinese  dynasty,  40. 

SUNG-YUN,  his  journey  to  India,  10, 
444. 

Suruga,  a  Japanese  province,  629, 636. 

Survival  of  primitive  customs,  362. 

Surya,  a  god  of  India,  152. 

Suspension-bridges,  618, 

Swan,  Chinese  description  of,  680. 

Swastika,  a  species  of  cross,  552. 

Sweat-house.     See  Estufa. 

Sweden,  Buddhism  in,  5. 

Sweeping  the  paths  of  monarchs,  433, 

Sweet-herb,  a  species  of  sage,  513. 

Swine,  in  Kamtchatka,  89,  90;  pec 
caries  so  called,  115;  name  be 
stowed  on  foreigners,  81. 

Swords,  worn  by  Japanese,  681 ;  rep 
resentation  of  curved,  in  Mexico, 
606. 

Sz'  I  KAO,  or  Researches  into  the 
Four  Frontiers,  232. 

SZ'-MA  TSIEN'S  description  of  a  tomb, 
245. 


TA,  definition  of,  340. 
TA-CHING,  the  great  translation,  484. 
TA-FU,  a  Japanese  embassador,  632. 
TA-HAN.    See  HAN,  Great. 
TA-MO,  a  Siberian  tribe,  216. 
TA-MO,  a  Buddhist,  440. 
TA-O  Mountain,  664. 
TA-T'UNG-KIANG,  a  river,  43. 
TA-TSIN,  the  Roman  empire,  57,  662. 
Taber,  photograph  by  Mr.,  386. 
Table  or  altar  at  Palenque,  133. 
Tacitus,  fables  related  by,  56,  678. 
Tadpoles,  Chinese  names  of,  644. 
Taencas  of  Louisiana,  31,  106. 
Tagala  language,  111. 
Tagul,  Chinese  transcription  of,  404. 
Tahuas,  worship  of  serpents  by,  530. 
TAX,  a  Chinese  officer,  660. 
T'AI  Mountain,  646,  656,  667. 


TAI-CHIN-TONG-WAXG-FU,  a  god,  219. 

AI-FANG,  : 

634,  635. 


TAI-FANG,  route  from 


FU,  a  go 
,  to  Chi 


ina,  630, 


Tai-kan.    See  HAN,  Great. 
T'AI-TSUNG  Mountain,  646. 


INDEX. 


783 


T'AI-WAN.    See  Formosa. 

Tails,  men  with,  451,  495 ;  of  monk 
eys,  498. 

Tamoi,  Tamu,  Tume,  or  Zume,  562. 

T'AN,  meaning  of,  601. 

TAN-CHEU,  a  place  near  Japan,  633. 

TANG,  dynasty,  85,  91. 

T'ANG  Ravine,  658. 

T'ANG-KU,  or  Warm  Springs  Valley, 
56,  250. 

TANG-K'ANG,  a  species  of  wild  pig,  655. 

Tangaxoan,  a  Mexican  chief,  423,  491. 

Tanner,  a  map  by  Mr.,  429. 

Tanzy,  used  to  sweeten  meat,  513. 

TAG,  definition  of,  516. 

TAO-SZU,  expedition  of,  252. 

Taoists,  authors  of  the  SHAN  HAI 
KING,  670,  677. 

Taos,  estufas  at,  436. 

Tapia,  or  adobe,  419. 

Tapir,  references  to,  201,  483,  608. 

Taraikai.     See  Saghalien. 

Tarapaca,  tradition  regarding,  565. 

Tartars,  Chinese  accounts  of,  23,  82 ; 
history  of,  14  ;  relationship  be 
tween,  82;  resemblance  to  Ameri 
can  tribes,  81  ;  in  customs,  143 ; 
and  armour,  420,  618 ;  zodiac  of, 
144,  148,  149 ;  years  of  cycles,  99, 
470 ;  commencement  of  year,  499 ; 
dialects  of,  111 ;  lack  of  beard,  35. 

Tartary,  hares  of,  147 ;  horses  of,  32 ; 
American  women  met  in,  35 ;  dress 
of  priests  in,  567 ;  characters  of,  in 
Canada,  112. 

Tatsima  Mori,  travels  of,  625. 

Tattooing,  in  Eastern  Asia,  245 ;  by 
Ainos,  84,  186 ;  in  Japan,  631 ;  by 
people  of  the  land  of  "Marked 
Bodies,"  245,  318 ;  of  Aleuts,  Alas 
kans,  and  American  tribes,  92,  345, 
346 ;  as  a  mark  of  rank,  245,  347. 

TAU,  definition  of,  644. 

Taxco,  metals  from,  432. 

Taxes,  none  in  Fu-sang,  431. 

Tay,  definition  of,  579,  587. 

Taysacaa,  a  high-priest,  519,  540,  587. 

Tchuktchi,  83,  86,  87. 

TCHO-LONG,  the  "  Luminous  Dragon," 
532. 

Teca,  or  tecatl,  definition  of,  410. 

Tecali,  or  gypsum,  529. 

Teccizyo  tilmatli,  a  mantle,  473. 

Techichi,  an  animal,  430. 

Tecpatl,  a  Mexican  sign,  150,  151. 

Tecuhtli,  a  Mexican  title,  411. 

Tehuantepec,  538,  605. 

Teilpilojan,  a  Mexican  prison,  459. 

Temples,  of  Hindostan,  606;  of  Ja 


pan,  629;  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  599  ; 
on  pyramids;  601 ;  at  Palenque, 
598,  606 ;  of  Quetzalcoatl,  615 ;  dec 
orations  of,  590,  605,  615 ;  age  at 
which  children  are  brought  to,  463. 

Ten  suns,  accounts  of,  163,  182,  250, 
659,  682. 

Tcnextli,  or  Mexican  lime.  605. 

Tenochtitlan,  or  Mexico,  368,  375. 

Teoamoxtli,  the  "  divine  book,"  559. 

Teocallis,  or  temples,  112,  566,  599. 

Teo-cipactli,  the  Mexican  Noah,  146. 

Teo-Culhuacan,  a  city,  491. 

Teopan,  a  ward  of  Mexico,  369. 

Teo-pixqui,  or  Aztec  priests,  578. 

Teotihuacan,  a  town,  363,  599. 

Teotl,  resemblance  of,  to  " Dem'1  589. 

Teoyaomiqui,  an  Aztec  god,  459,  546, 
613. 

TetzontU,  a  species  of  stone,  605. 

Teuan,  or  tetuan,  definition  of,  410. 

Teule,  Teuli,  or  Teuhtli,  412. 

Teutile,  a  Mexican  general,  411. 

Texas,  fossils  in,  428 ;  vines  in,  415. 

Teyas,  vines  in  country  of,  116. 

Tezcacalli,  or  House  of  Mirrors,  529. 

Tezcatlipoca,  a  god,  526,  575,  614. 

Tezcuco,  punishment  of  criminals  in, 
437;  path  swept  before  kings  of, 
617. 

Tharic,  leader  of  the  Arabs,  37. 

Thatches  of  agave  leaves,  384. 

Theft,  punishment  of,  437. 

Themistitan,  the  City  of  Mexico, 
370. 

TJien-balang,  or  Siamese  altars,  133. 

Theory,  explaining  Mexican  civiliza 
tion,  622  ;  by  which  account  of  Fu- 
sang  must  be  explained,  64  ;  which 
has  fewest  difficulties,  342,  358; 
facts  perverted  for,  104. 

Thevenot,  collections  of,  60. 

Thibet,  visited  by  Buddhists,  8;  re 
ligion  of,  97,  545;  term  for  Gau 
tama  in,  558  ;  priests  of,  583  ;  their 
dress,  567,  569;  marriages,  585; 
use  of  crosses  in,  552 ;  walls  of  tem 
ples  of,  615 ;  god  Shinje  of,  614 ; 
zodiac  of,  144,  149 ;  cycles  of,  143, 
470 ;  four  ages  of,  158  ;  resemblance 
of  institutions  of,  to  those  of  Mexi 
co,  143,  154,  155. 

Thistle,  century-plant  so  called,  398. 

Thlinkeets,  carved  posts  of,  352. 

Thorns  of  agave,  195. 

Thread  from  fu-sang,  266  ;  from  fiber 
of  agave,  384. 

Three  Fairy  Hills,  241,  243. 

Three  foot-prints  of  Vishnu,  152. 


784: 


INDEX. 


\ 


"Three  vehicles,"  a  Buddhist  term, 
484. 

Thunder,  the  god  of,  668. 

TI-HUNG,  ancestor  of  the  White  Peo 
ple,  664. 

TI-KO,  spirits  of  reign  of,  671. 

TI-PUX,  a  Chinese  emperor,  34. 

TI-TSIUN,  who  espoused  HI-HO,  250. 

TI-TSUX,  an  emperor,  663,  666. 

TI-YUH,  or  Hades,  459. 

T'IAO  People,  662. 

T'IAO-YUNG,  description  of,  646. 

Tides,  among  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
340. 

TIEX-KIEX,  period  so  called,  515,  519. 

TIEN-WU,  god  of  the  water,  657,  665, 
679. 

Tigers,  in  zodiacs,  149  ;  of  Corea  and 
Jesso,  681 ;  gentle,  657,  663. 

Tilantengo,  high-priest  of,  579. 

Tiles,  in  Mexico  and  China,  155. 

Time,  divisions  of,  470,  475,  476; 
changes  occasioned  by,  335. 

Tin,  known  to  Aztecs,  431 ;  used  as 
medium  of  exchange,  98. 

TING,  confused  with  HIAXG,  502. 

Tingry,  Lake,  218. 

Tititt,  the  month  of  "hard  times," 
512. 

Titles,  of  Fu-sang,  208,  234,  280,  409, 
411,  413 ;  of  Mexico,  411,  413 ;  of 
Japan,  640  ;  of  several  nations,  60. 

Tizatlalu,  a  species  of  stone,  471. 

Tla,  definition  of,  413. 

Tlaca-tecuhtli,  Montezuma's  title, 
410. 

Tlaliac,  a  mineral,  471. 

Tlalocan,  the  Aztec  paradise,  460. 

Tlalxicco,  Mictlantecutli's  temple,  461. 

Tlama,  priests  or  "  medicine-men," 
65,  589. 

Tlamacazqui,  or  deacons,  575 ;  du 
ties  of,  577,  581 ;  dress  of,  580. 

Tlanamiqui,  definition  of,  463. 

Tlascala,  punishment  of  a  thief  at, 
437 ;  entrance  of  Cortez,  423 ;  dress 
of  priests  of,  581 ;  names  for  Hui- 
tzilopochtli  at,  381. 

Tlascalans,  emigrants  from  north, 
149  ;  called  "  women,"  489. 

Tlatelulco  part  of  Mexico,  369. 

Tlatoani,  or 

Tlatoca,  a  Mexican  title,  413. 

Tlepatli,  a  Mexican  plant,  532. 

To,  definition  of,  414. 

TO-P'U-T'AO,  41,  211,  288 :  said  to  be 
grapes,  58,  65  ;  or  tomatoes,  414. 

Tobacco,  97,  569. 

Tollantzinco,  the  prophet  of,  538. 


Toltecs,  meaning  of  name,  96 ;  emi 
grants  from  north,  143,  149;  said 
to  have  come  from  Japan,  62  ;  date 
of  their  arrival,  96,  363,  364;  no 
earlier  inhabitants  known,  363  ;  in 
Mexico  in  days  of  Hwui  Shttn,  364 ; 
spoke  the  Aztec  language,  365; 
colonized  the  Pacific  coast,  365 ; 
their  civilization,  190,  363,  365, 
574;  its  preservation,  575;  their 
peaceable  nature,  420 ;  offerings  to 
their  gods,  598 ;  writing  of,  421 ; 
their  ''  divine  book,"  96 ;  priests, 
581 ;  resemblance  of  religion  to 
that  of  Peru,  566;  religious  wars 
of,  575 ;  caused  by  Quetzalcoatl, 
542 ;  capital  of,  599 ;  palaces  of 
kings  of,  529 ;  taught  agriculture, 
430. 

Tomatoes,  used  by  Mexicans,  415. 

Tombs,  pyramids  used  as,  599,  601 ; 
homes  of  priests  among,  442. 

Tonapa,  tradition  regarding,  565. 

Tonatiuh,  temple  of,  599. 

TOXG-FANG-SO,  a  Chinese  author,  219. 

TOXG-HAI,  the  Eastern  Sea,  633. 

TOXG-HOEN-HEU,  an  emperor,  222. 

TONG-KING,  embassy  from,  114. 

TOXG-KING-FU,  a  poem,  226. 

Tontli,  definition  of,  412. 

Topes  of  Buddhists,  601. 

Topiltzin  Ceacatl.    See  Quetzalcoatl. 

Tortures  of  Mandan  Indians,  198. 

Total  abstinence,  taught  by  Quetzal 
coatl,  547. 

Totepeuh  Nonohualcatl,  a  chief,  542. 

Totonacas,  monastery  of,  578. 

Tourmalines,  in  Alaska,  356. 

Towers,  upon  pyramids,  600,  602. 

Toys,  as  symbols,  620. 

Toy  on,  or  chief,  351. 

Traditions,  of  Aztecs,  362,  536;  of 
Guatemala,  608 ;  of  erection  of 
pyramids,  598 ;  of  trade  across  the 
Pacific,  169 ;  regarding  Deluge,  131 ; 
regarding  elephant,  611 ;  regarding 
Quetzalcoatl,  615;  interpreted  in 
different  ways,  201. 

Trawhivarika,  definition  of,  442. 

Transcriptions  of  foreign  words  by 
Chinese,  404,  414. 

Translations,  a  Buddhist  term,  484, 
486. 

Translations  from  Chinese,  reasons 
for,  255 ;  principle  followed  in,  261. 

Transmigration,  belief  in,  157,  590. 

Travelers  provided  with  food,  348, 
350. 

Trees,  plants  so  called,  383,  384 ;  of 


INDEX. 


785 


stone,  254,  416 ;  Buddhist  priests  to 
sit  under,  442 ;  Land  of  Numerous, 
644. 

Tremblers,  a  tribe  so  called,  517. 

Tricks  of  decipherers,  106. 

Tri  yana,  the  "  three  cars,"  485. 

Trumpets,  421,  422,  476. 

Truths,  told  by  Hwui  Shan,  358,  686; 
found  even  in  wonderful  tales,  336. 

TSAH-YU  River,  649. 

TSAT,  meaning  of,  425,  444. 

TS'AI-KING-CHUNG,  inventor  of  paper, 
638. 

TSAN-YAI,  Country  of  Women  near, 
226. 

TslNG  Mountain,  667. 

TS'ANG-SHAN-WU,  a  poem,  658,  661, 
663. 

TSCANG-TI  River,  654. 

TS'AO,  definition  of,  446,  507. 

TS'AO-CHI  Mountain,  648. 

TSEU-CHI-T'ONG-KIEN,  a  book,  671. 

TSEU-HIA,  a    disciple  of    Confucius, 
672. 

Tsi  dynasty,  40,  206,  222,  440. 

TSIN  dynasty,  40. 

TSIN-NGAN,  situation  of,  244;  ship 
wreck  of  men  of,  ?510,  515. 

TI'IN  SHI  HWANG  Ti,  an  emperor, 
241,  243,  245,  633. 

TSING  People,  663. 

TSING-TSING,  a  species  of  animal,  653.- 

TSO-SSE,  a  Chinese  poet,  674. 

Tsu,  a  Chinese  state,  647. 

Tsu-sima,  43,  630,  634,  636. 

Tsu-su-ga,  a  poisonous  insect,  681. 

Ts'tJ-TAN  River,  647. 

TSU-TSE-YU,  a  book,  675. 

TS'UNG-TS'UNG,   or    six-legged    dogs, 
644. 

Tsz'  rats,  644. 

TSZ'-T'UNG  Mountain  and  River,  655. 

Tu  Sea,  182. 

TU-FU  Mountain,  649. 

Tu-p'o  tribe,  23,  44,  45. 

TU-YEU,  an  encyclopaedia  by,  675. 

TU-YU,  Geography  of,  674. 

Tui-HAi,  a  place  near  Japan,  634. 

TUI-LU,  a  title  of  Fu-sang,  27,  41, 
280,  411 ;  found  in  Corea,  528. 

TUI-MA-TAO,  an  island,  20.  43. 

Tula,  Tulla,  or  Tulan,  415,  599,  614. 

Tule,  or  reeds,  415. 

Tuma,  tradition  regarding,  563. 

Tumuli,  of  Buddhists,  601;   assem 
blies  held  in,  276,  434. 

Tuna,  or  prickly-pear,  394. 

Tung,  a  son  of  Turk,  82. 

T'UNG  tree,  27,  176,  235,  387. 
50 


TUNG  FAXG-SOH,  an  author,  240. 
TUNG-TUNG,  a  species  of  pig,  646. 
Tunguses,  23,  34,  45,  81,  82,  112,  187. 
Tupi-Guaranays,  tradition  of,  562. 
Turks,  81,  82,  111,  414. 
Turkestan,  visited  by  Buddhists,  8. 
Turkeys,  called  "hens,"  115;  kept  by 

Mexicans,  430. 
Turtle,  varieties  of,  670. 
Tusks,  elephants  lacking,  201,  610. 
Tykoon,  a  Japanese  title,  638. 
Typhon,  coupled  with  Horus,  72. 
TS'ING-WANG,  an  emperor,  113. 
Tzequil,  the  attendants  of  Votan,  558. 
Tzin,  meaning  of,  588. 

U 

Ubaque,  foot-prints  in,  560. 

Udonge,  a  great  cloud  of  blossoms, 
401. 

Uixtocihuatl,  a  goddess,  508. 

Ulugh  Beig,  work  of,  499. 

Unalaska,  9;  meaning  of  the  name, 
34. 

Unalaskans,  Esquimaux,  344 ;  can  not 
understand  Aleuts,  344;  their  na 
ture,  347 ;  tattooing,  345 ;  dwellings 
of,  353. 

Unicorn,  145,  451. 

Unipeds,  Northmen's  account  of,  453. 

United  States,  Chinese  name  for,  406. 

Unreliability  of  early  Japanese  rec 
ords,  624,  625. 

Updsakas,  duties  of,  561. 

Urcos,  statue  of  Viracocha  at,  565. 

Uries,  strait  of,  22. 

Urtuezez,  a  tribe  in  Paraguay,  489. 

Usu-fi-toghe,  a  Japanese  mountain, 
638. 

UttarasangJidti,  a  Buddhist  robe,  553. 

Uxmal,  traditions  of  Indians  at, 
598;  pyramids  at,  600;  "House  of 
Monks  "  at,  594 ;  seated  figures  re 
sembling  Buddha  at,  71,  77,  129, 
134,  200,  594 ;  figure  of  dragon  at, 
73;  elephant's  trunk  at,  200,  607; 
paintings  at,  199. 


V  and  M  interchanged,  408. 
Vaccas,  or  cows,  bisons  so  called,  115. 
Vadjra  dtchdrya,  or  "  diamond  teach 
er,"  548. 

Valley  of  Birds,  644. 
Valley  of  Manifestation  of  Dawn,  657. 
Valley  of  Sunrise,  243. 
Variations  in  texts,  260. 


786 


INDEX. 


Varnish,  Sea  of,  225,  239,  533. 

Vases  of  Mexico  and  Japan,  573. 

VdtMpantari,  definition  of,  441. 

Vatican,  manuscripts  of,  152. 

Vegetable-sheep,  description  of,  450. 

Vegetation  characteristic  of  Mexico, 
510. 

Vehicles,  none  used  by  American 
tribes,  481;  "the  Three,"  a  Bud 
dhist  term,  484. 

Velasquez,  occupation  of  Cuba  by, 
550. 

Vera  Cruz,  Gage  welcomed  at,  424. 

Verbs,  Chinese  use  of  substantive, 
444. 

Vermilion  fish,  649. 

Victoria  Weekly  Colonist,  184. 

Vicunas,  used  as  draught  animals, 
170. 

Viharas,  religious  establishments, 
589. 

Village  of  the  Tower,  of  the  Ghiliaks, 
187. 

Vine,  Chinese  name  for,  41,  414;  its 
introduction  into  China,  42,  58, 110 ; 
its  Japanese  name,  42 ;  myth  of  its 
creation,  47 ;  indigenous  to  Ameri 
ca,  49,  58,  94,  110,  116,  162,  169, 
211,  212;  and  found  in  Mexico, 
415 ;  but  not  cultivated,  65 ;  said 
not  to  exist  in  America,  471 ;  but 
to  have  been  brought  from  Europe, 
416. 

Vinegar,  extracted  from  century- 
plant,  386. 

Vinland,  reason  for  its  name,  58,  94, 
110,  116 :  discovered  by  Scandina 
vians,  63,  162;  marvelous  details, 
452 ;  Fu-sang  compared  to,  168. 

Vira-Badhra,  head-dress  of,  135. 

Viracocha,  tradition  regarding,  565. 

Virginia,  animals  of,  483. 

Vishnu,  a  legend  regarding,  152; 
head-dress  of,  135;  the  cross  a 
monogram  of,  552 ;  worship  mixed 
with  that  of  Buddha,  545 ;  in  the 
religion  of  Peru,  546. 

Vitim  River,  Great  HAN  near,  247 

Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  M.,  article 
by,  185 ;  reply  thereto,  136. 

Volcanoes  of  Central  America,  531. 

Volcanic  glass.     See  Obsidian. 

Votan,  a  culture-hero,  558 ;  land  from 
which  he  came,  549 ;  date  of  visit 
of,  559;  brought  the  tapir,  608; 
his  name  a  possible  corruption  of 
"  Gautama,"  558. 

Vows  of  Aztec  priests,  575. 

Vrikshamulika,  definition  of,  442. 


W 

Wa-kan-san-sai-dzou-ye,  a  Japanese 

encyclopaedia,  107,  108. 
WA-KOKF  (or  WA),  Japan,  250. 
WAI-CHWEN,  a  book,  662. 
Walcknaer,  M.,  reference  to,  67, 
Waldeck,  drawings  of  M.  de,  56,  61, 

67,  71-73,  77. 

Walls  about  pyramids,  600. 
Walled  cities  of  Japan,  631,  640. 
WAN-HU,  or  elks,  651. 
W!N  SnXN.     See  "  Marked  Bodies." 
WANG-CHONG,  a  Chinese  author,  673. 
WANG-SHIN,  a  Chinese    philosopher, 

627,  637. 

WANG  YUNG,  remarks  of,  226. 
War,  waged  by  Mexicans,  190. 
Warm-Springs  Valley,  250,  658,  666. 

See,  also,  T'ANG-KU. 
Washington  Territory,  dwellings  of, 

420. 
Water,  destruction  of  mankind  by, 

615;    its  transformation  into  ice, 

354. 
Water -crystal,    quartz  -  crystals     so 

called,  355. 
Water-gems,  quartz-crystals  and  glass 

so  called,  355,  646,  649. 
Water-silver,  Chinese  text  regarding, 

322 ;    quicksilver    so    called,   354 ; 

absurdity  involved  in  this  transla 
tion,  356 ;  possibly  meant  for  "  icy- 
silver,"  355 ;  a  descriptive  term  for 

ice,  327,  354;  reason  for  its  use, 

449. 

Weaving,  by  Mexican  women,  474. 
Weeks,  of  five  days,  432,  434,  571; 

Colours  connected  with  days  of,  475. 
WEI,  definitions  of,  444,  504,  672 ;  a 

division  of  China,  627 ;  a  dynasty, 

634 ;  Mountain,  663. 
WEI-SHI  Mountain,  650. 
WEI-YI,  definition  of,  441. 
Weiser,  Conrad,    conversation    with, 

349. 

Weltingtonia,  of  California,  219. 
WEN-HIEN-TONG-KAO,  a  book  by  MA 

TWAN-LIN,  64,  213,  228,  231. 
WEN-SHIN.    See  "  Marked  Bodies." 
West  and  East,  distance  between,  658. 
Whales,  feast  held  over,  347. 
Wheat,  in  Vinland,  452;   maize,   so 

called,  116. 

Whistles  of  Mexicans,  422. 
White,  indicating  a  superior  nature, 

198. 
White  Land,  the  home  of  the  Nahuas, 

506. 


INDEX. 


787 


White  men,  in  New  Mexico,  123  ;  tra 
ditions  regarding,  490,  555. 

White  People's  Country,  664. 

White  Woman,  a  Mexican  Mountain, 
507. 

White  inhabitants  of  Country  of 
Women,  302. 

White-throated  Mexican  monkey,  506. 

Wild  beasts,  criminals  left  to,  357. 

Williams,  Rt.  Rev.  C.  M.,  letter  from, 
181. 

Williams,  Prof.  S.  Wells,  "  Notices  of 
Fu-sang,"  by,  230;  translation  of 
account  of  Fu-sang,  263  ;  of  Coun 
try  of  Women,  303  ;  of  the  land  of 
"Marked  Bodies,"  317;  of  Great 
HAN,  325  ;  his  knowledge  of  Chi 
nese,  356. 

Wind,  destruction  of  mankind  by, 
615;  blowing  toward  America,  62, 
69  ;  of  knives,  590. 

Wine,  use  of,  in  Japan,  631  ;  a  fount 
ain  resembling,  225,  533. 

Wine-jar,  the  tree  of  the  large,  400. 

Winged-globe,  found  in  America,  130. 

Winged-men,  myth  of,  495. 

Wintun  squaws,  tattooing  of,  347. 

Wisconsin,  elephant-mound  of,  610. 

Witches,  abandoned  to  wild  beasts, 
357. 

Wixipecocha,  tradition  regarding, 
507;  variation  thereof,  539;  de 
parture  of,  538  ;  survival  of  his 
doctrine,  538,  575;  foot-prints  of, 
553  ;  confusion  between,  and  Quet- 
zalcoatl,  541  ;  resemblance  of  name 
to  "  Hwui  Shin,  bhikshu"  540. 

Wiyana,  title  of  Zapotec  priests,  589. 

Wiyatao,  a  Zapotec  high-priest,  538, 
540,  580,  589. 


Wo,  or  Japan,  165,  178,  630. 

og,  the  M 
Wolf  Mountain,  646. 


Wog,  the  Mongolians,  82. 


Woman,  position  of,  in  India,  2;  in 
Fu-sang,  433. 

Women,  Cape  of,  489  ;  River  of,  492  ; 
Buddha's  command  regarding,  567  ; 
conduct  of  Aztec  priests  toward, 
578  ;  tattooing  of,  345-347  ;  sent  to 
propitiate  strangers,  490,  516  ;  un- 
warlike  tribes  so-called,  213,  489  ; 
the  Mexican  Celestial,  460. 

Women,  Country  of,  30,  93,  106,  301, 
302,  312,  700  ;  Chinese  tales  regard 
ing,  213,  224,  238,  514,  529;  tales 
of  other  nations,  93;  its  situation, 
487;  in  Japan,  178,  638,  640;  in 
Kurile  Islands,  245  ;  near  the  Phil 
ippines,  244;  in  the  extreme  east, 


105,488;  an  island,  213,488;  east 
of  Corea,  251  ;  cast  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  177;  no  mom  cast  of  Japan, 
for,  110,  120;  its  inhabitants,  493, 
505;  supposed  absurdities  in  ac 
count  of,  300;  explanations,  94, 
239,  489, 490,  514. 

Wood,  petrified,  in  Japan,  182,  249. 

Wormwood,  the  Mexican,  508. 

Wrangling  People,  Chinese  account 

Writing,  in  Mexico,  34,  168,  421 ;  in 
Japan,  624,  637,  640 ;  not  known  by 
American  tribes,  190;  or  by  Kam- 
tchatkans,  34. 

Wu,  a  division  of  China,  165,  627, 
637,  647. 

WU-KAO  Mountain,  653. 

WU-KO  Mountain,  182. 

WU-TI,  emperors  so  named,  440,  519, 
630. 

WU-WANG,  an  emperor,  165. 

Wylie,  Mr.,  his  opinion,  240. 


X,  sound  of,  540. 

Xi,  pronunciation  of,  407;  meaning, 

376,   378 ;    abbreviations   of,   377, 

378. 

Xicolli,  a  kind  of  fringe,  580. 
Xicoteneatl,  meeting  with  Cortez,  423. 
Xihmtl,  meanings  of,  376,  377,  417; 

abbreviations  of,  377. 
Xincas,  of  Guatemala,  366. 
Xiuhtototl,  a  Mexican  bird,  616. 
Xochicalco,  598,  60(5. 
Xochitl,  Aztec  word  for  flowers,  508. 
Xolotl,  a  Mexican  god,  237. 
Xue-Chimzapaque,  a  name  of  Bochica, 

561. 


Y.  the  author  of  the  SHAN  HAI  KINO, 
673,  674. 

Y-CHI,  or  Y-KI,  title  of  king  of  Fu- 
sang,  27,  41. 

Y  KIXG,  or  Book  of  Changes,  672. 

Yakut  language,  6. 

YANG-KIANO,  a  Chinese  author,  226. 

YANG-KO,  the  Luminous  Valley,  48, 
226. 

YANG-TSZ'  River,  200.  045,  046. 

YAO,  an  emperor,  659;  his*  burial- 
place,  657. 

YAO  Mountain,  667 ;  people,  002,  666. 

Yaqui  or  Yaquimi,  a  river,  427. 

Ychcatetl,  or  "Cotton-stone,"  532. 

Year,  beginning  of,  in  Mexico,  500 ;  in 


788 


INDEX. 


China,  499;    length  of,  143,  434, 

475 ;  designations  of,  470. 
Yebi-icadzoura,  name  of  the  vine,  42. 
YEH-YAO-KIUN-TI  Mountain,  666. 
Yellow  Emperor,  the,  668. 
Yellow-jawed  fish,  645. 
Yellow  River,  arrival  at,  220. 
YEN  Mountain,  655. 
YEN-KOUEN,  or  Burning    Mountain, 

530. 

YEN-LUNG,  ancestor  of  Japanese,  663. 
Yenisei  River,  Great  HAN,  near,  247. 
Yeso.    See  Jesso. 
YIH,  meaning  of,  410. 
YIH-KAO  Mountain  and  River,  648. 
YIH-TAO,  definition  of,  516. 
YIN  Mountain  and  River,  651. 
YIN-KIAH,  an  emperor,  659. 
YING  Country,  664. 
YING  Dragon,  667. 
YING-HWAN-CHI-LIOH,  a  book,  242. 
YIT-K'I,  title  of  king  of  Fu-sang,  41. 
Yiu,  definition  of,  444,  447. 
Yiu  Sea,  653. 
Yiu,  or  gulls,  660. 
YIU-I,  adventures  of,  665. 
YIU-YIU,  a  species  of  animal,  650. 
YIU-T'AN-HWA,  "  a  cloud  of  blossoms," 

401. 

YOH  Mountain,  645,  646. 
Yohual  Nepantla,  or  midnight,  476. 
Yopaa,  edifices  at,  537;  pontiff  of, 

538. 

Young,  Dr.,  approval  of,  67. 
Yu,  SHAN  HAI  KING,  attributed  to, 

670-676. 

Yu,  an  emperor,  643,  658. 
Yti  Marsh,  648,  655. 
YU-CHE,  a  Tartarian  tribe,  25,  187, 

188. 
Yu    KIE,    222,    interrogated    Hwui 

SHAN.  222,  237,  519 ;  his  stories  to 

the  court,  224,  520,  524;  failed  to 

understand  Hwui  SHAN,  448,  521, 

525,  709. 
Yu  Kill  Glum,  of  Corean  embassy, 

401. 

YU-KING  and  YU-KWOH,  gods,  665. 
YU-NGO  Mountain,  649. 
Yu  PEN-KI,  "  The  History  of  Yu," 

675. 

YU-SHI'S  Concubine,  660. 
YU-TO-LO-SENG,  a  Buddhist  robe,  553. 
Yucatan,    civilization    of,    97,    622; 

monuments  of,  56,  61,  598,  605; 


figures  of  Buddha  in,  72;  ele 
phant's  trunk,  607 ;  crosses,  550 ; 
traditions  in,  541,  556,  558;  wor 
ship  of  dead,  468;  calendar,  501; 
mirrors,  522;  peaceable  nature  of 
its  people,  420 ;  details  of  civiliza 
tion,  434,  463,  616,  620. 

YUEN,  an  astronomer,  667;  River, 
650. 

YUEN-KIEN-LUI-HAN,  an  encyclopedia, 
64,  86,  215,  246. 

YUEN- YANG,  a  bird,  655. 

YUNG  River,  665. 

YUNG-YUNG,  description  of,  644. 

Yztacchyatl,  a  plant,  509. 


Zacapa,  a  town,  77,  588. 

Zacatecas,  a  town,  366,  588. 

Zacatepec,  meaning  of,  587. 

Zacatlan,  meaning  of,  587. 

Zacatula,  a  province,  432,  491,  588. 

Zachilla,  explorations  at,  72. 

Zachita,  contains  name  Sakya,  77. 

Zacoalco,  a  town,  588. 

Zambos,  or  monkeys,  497. 

Zamna,  a  culture-hero,  556,  558,  559. 

Zapotecapan,  disciples  of  Quetzalcoatl, 
in,  539,  543 ;  arrival  of  Wixipecocha 
at,  538 ;  Toltec  civilization  of,  575 ; 
feast  of  dead  in,  591;  priests  of, 
540,  580,  581. 

Zayi,  elephant's  trunk  at,  201,  607. 

Zeitschrif t  fur  Allgemeine  Erdkunde, 
15. 

Zeno  Brothers,  errors  of,  454. 

Zeolites,  in  Alaska,  356. 

Zeus,  explanation  by,  678. 

Zig-zag  folding  of  manuscripts,  618. 

Zin-qu  Xwo-ou,  a  Japanese  empress. 
626,632.  " 

Zin-mu,  expedition  of,  679. 

Zodiac,  Chinese,  145,  523 ;  of  Tartars, 
144,  148 ;  of  Aztecs,  149 ;  names  of 
signs  repeated  in  those  of  Mexican 
months,  143 ;  signs  represented  by 
heads,  146 ;  of  animals  not  confined 
to  temperate  regions,  149;  lunar 
changed  into  solar,  152. 

Zume.    See  Tume. 

Zuhe.    See  Bochica. 

Zumarraga  de,  use  of  name  Mexico 
by,  371. 

Zuiiis,  albinos  among,  506. 


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